This was an instant classic. But the good guys did not emerge victorious.
The Boston College football team traveled to East Lansing on Saturday night for a nationally televised game against Michigan State. BC quarterback Dylan Lonergan did NOT disappoint in his first career start against an FBS team and his first career start on the road. He walked into Spartan Stadium and started dropping dimes, finishing the game with 34/45 passing, 390 yards, and 4 TDs. But in the end it wasn’t enough, as Michigan State claimed
a 2OT victory over Boston College, 42-40.
Things got off to an exciting start for BC when their opening drive punt was fumbled by the Michigan State returner, which set the Eagles up in enemy territory. The Boston College offense took advantage of the early luck and used some outside running to get all the way to the goal line, but Turbo Richard fumbled on his way to the endzone. The Spartans drove all the way down the field on their ensuing drive, capped off by an incredible Nick Marsh catch and run as he carried two Eagles into the endzone with him. Chiles threw for 27 yards and ran for another 10, looking very comfortable in the pocket and avoiding pressure well.
Late in the first quarter, Dylan Lonergan completed a very pretty pass to VJ Wilkins over the middle for a 56 yard gain. Then after a couple of nice catch-and-runs by Lewis Bond, Lonergan connected with Turbo Richard on an 8-yard TD pass to tie the game up at 7-7. BC struggled to run the ball between the tackles, but every other part of their offense was clicking. Receivers got open, Lonergan found them with accuracy, and Bond ran laterally to slip by defenders and gain yards.
The BC defense got a huge 4th down stop at midfield on the following drive. MSU went into wildcat formation and tried to convert 4th & 1, but the Eagles DL got penetration and stopped the runner well short. From there, Dylan Lonergan continued his passing onslaught. He was hitting his receivers on both sides of the field, long and short, consistently putting the ball right where it needed to be. There were a couple of drops by BC receivers, but the Eagles persisted and found their way to the endzone yet again. Lonergan completed a wide open strike to Jaedn Skeete over the top of the Sparty defense to give BC a 14-7 lead.
Michigan State returned the ensuing kickoff for 60+ yards, though, and immediately put themselves in position to answer with a touchdown of their own. After a questionable penalty call on a BC player for losing his helmet, MSU QB Aidan Chiles hit his tight end Masunes for a fade TD, tying the game up at 14-14. Don’t ask the referee how exactly the BC player lost his helmet… (illegal hands to the face).
After a roughing the passer penalty bailed out the next BC drive, the Eagles drove down the field again thanks to some more accurate passing by Dylan Lonergan. The Eagles’ QB found Reed Harris over the top of the MSU defense with 40 seconds left in the first half to give BC a 21-14 lead at halftime.
Michigan State did not wait to get back into the game after that. In just about 2 minutes, Chiles delivered two deep strikes to Omari Kelly and Nick Marsh, completely blowing up the Boston College secondary. That made it a tie game yet again, 21-21.
Lonergan kept the BC offense chugging along when he got the ball back, but a false start in the redzone forced a field goal try. Luca Lombardo drilled it to give Boston College a 24-21 lead midway through the 3rd quarter. Michigan State responded with a FG drive of their own to tie it back up at 24-24. Aidan Chiles led the way on the ground and BC’s defense struggled to get him to the ground. Overall, the tackling that the Boston College defense displayed on Saturday night was a huge flaw in their game. Sparty playmakers constantly broke tackles and gained extra yards because an Eagle couldn’t wrap them up.
Both offenses slowed down in the fourth quarter. After a few possessions that went nowhere, Michigan State dialed up a long drive down into the redzone with Aidan Chiles bailing out MSU with his legs multiple times. But a holding call on the Spartan OL put them behind the sticks yet again and forced them into a field goal rather than a touchdown. They kicked it true, taking a 27-24 lead with four minutes remaining in the game.
Dylan Lonergan had a shaky second half, so to win the game, he would really need to dial it in on the final drive. After a couple of missed passes, he hit Jeremiah Franklin on 3rd & 10 to move the sticks at midfield. Then Bond inside the 40-yard line. Then Bond again for another first down. Then Franklin again for 6 yards for a 4th-straight completed pass as BC approached the redzone. But then two missed passes into traffic fell incomplete, and BC was forced to kick a field goal to tie the game at 27-27 with just over one minute remaining.
On the final drive, Chiles ran for a first down and made a pass for another, putting MSU in great field position. But BC’s Quintayvious Hutchins brought the hammer down with a huge sack and then forced another hurried incomplete pass, completely killing Sparty’s momentum and banging up Chiles in the process. MSU was forced to punt and the game went to overtime.
Michigan State started with the ball in OT with Chiles under center. He found Kelly over the middle to get close to the endzone, then completed a pass to Jay Coyne for a touchdown. Boston College answered right back with passes to Richard and Bond to get down to the goal line, followed by a strike to Jeremiah Franklin in the endzone to tie the game up.
In double overtime, Lonergan immediately found Franklin again for a big gain to set up 1st & goal. Turbo Richard quickly ran the ball into the endzone from there. But a failed 2-point conversion left only 6 points on the board for Michigan State to match. MSU’s Makhi Frazier gashed the Boston College defense on the ground to set up Aidan Chiles to run in for a touchdown. Chiles then passed to Omari Kelly in the corner of the endzone to win the game, 42-40.
Takeaways
- Dylan Lonergan. Accurate passing. This unlocks so many doors. Even though BC lost the game, this offense has a TON of potential. Feels good!
- The BC run game was disappointing. They had to get some screen passes going because the OL couldn’t generate any push at the line of scrimmage. Lonergan played well but he was asked to do A LOT.
- BC really struggled to wrap up Aidan Chiles. Mobile QBs are going to be a problem for this defense. Tackling in general was a problem. The BC defense was largely not ready for gameday.
- If it wasn’t for a few holding penalties by the MSU offensive line, BC could have lost this game by 3 scores in regulation. The defense played even worse than the score indicates.
- The refs sucked in both directions. There was a lot of contact with BC receivers downfield that wasn’t called and could have potentially flipped the game. But the BC defense got bailed out by a bunch of no-calls, too.
