On Saturday afternoon, Boston College opened the 2026 season against Cincinnati. After a 2-10 year, BC tore the roster down to the studs and reset, with the biggest new face being starting quarterback Mason McKenzie, a dangerous dual threat at Saginaw Valley State last season.
BC leaned on the run early. Evan Dickens broke out for an 18-yard rush on the first play of the season, but three straight runs after that went nowhere and forced a punt. Cincinnati answered with outside zone runs that moved
them quickly downfield before BC’s defense got a third-down stop, with downfield coverage forcing a sack. The Bearcats settled for a 54-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
The Eagles kept running on their next possession, converting a 4th down on a McKenzie keeper up the middle to carry the drive into the second quarter. But once Cincinnati started bringing pressure and McKenzie had to throw, his early-season jitters showed — the drive ended on an incompletion and another punt.
BC looked to have stopped Cincinnati again on their next possession before the Bearcats faked a punt on 4th down. BC didn’t cover the gunner, and the conversion opened the floodgates: a 20-yard JC French pass, a 20-yard Zion Johnson rush, then French to JV Gibson in the endzone for 10-0.
That’s when the problem with the BC offense truly came into focus. BC’s passing plays took too long to develop and forced McKenzie to needle throws into tight coverage over the middle. Whether he had a shy trigger finger or his receivers weren’t getting open, the ball didn’t come out fast, and BC leaned heavily on his scrambling to move at all. And on the margins, a slew of false starts on basically every drive were making things harder than they had to be. A coverage sack on the next drive set up another 3rd and long and another punt.
The defense forced a three-and-out to give the offense one more shot before halftime, and McKenzie finally found rhythm — 15 yards to Javarius Green, then 20 more to Green down the seam, the exact area he’d struggled with early. A pass interference call pushed BC further downfield. He overthrew an open Reed Swanson in the back of the endzone by a yard, then rushed 15 yards on third down to save the possession after a false start.
The drive came to a climax with a pass to Danny Edgehill, who fumbled on his way to the endzone but recovered for the score. The refs preposterously ruled it incomplete on the field and upheld it on review, despite clear video evidence of Edgehill securing possession, getting two feet down, and making a move toward the endzone. Luca Lombardo then missed the ensuing 35-yard field goal, and BC went into halftime down 10-0.
Cincinnati didn’t waste any time making it 17-0. They marched down the field to start the second half, taking advantage of BC’s already-injured defensive line by racking up rushing yards, capping it off with a JC French QB power into the endzone. After being robbed of a one-possession game, Boston College was now down by three possessions.
Their next drive didn’t inspire any confidence that they would pull out a comeback. On a pass to Brady Clough towards the sideline, he came down with the catch but lost the ball as the defender hit him as his feet came down. The referees, in their ever-consistent wisdom, ruled it a fumble despite previously taking away a Boston College touchdown on a remarkably similar catch-and-fumble in the previous half. Two calls inconsistent with each other, both going against Boston College.
Cinci took advantage of the turnover and started to pile on the points. JC French broke out a sideline run for 25 yards to set up another short rushing TD up the gut, taking a commanding 24-0 lead.
On BC’s next drive, Mason McKenzie took a huge hit to his upper body, resulting in an injury that sent him to the ground for an extended period. BC brought in freshman transfer Grayson Wilson in at quarterback for a play, but McKenzie was able to come back in on the next play. Evan Dickens had an impressive 27-yard gain on a screen pass after that, which set up BC’s first score of the season, a Dickens 4-yard TD rush, followed by a 2-pt conversion from McKenzie. But Eagles center Michael Crounse went down with an injury on the drive, a huge blow to their offensive line if it’s serious.
Cinci punted back to BC right away after an unnecessary roughness penalty. The Eagles’ next drive started the 4th quarter, down 28-8. McKenzie started to settle in from the pocket, connecting with his receivers under duress and moving his offense through the air with some consistency. That allowed rushing lanes to open up and BC found themselves downfield fairly quickly, picking up first downs in quick succession. But they got stuffed repeatedly once they reached the goal line, with the offensive line giving up pressure in the backfield on three straight plays. A 4th & goal sack snuffed out BC’s scoring opportunity and their best shot at mounting a comeback.
BC’s defense once again held strong on the following drive, their secondary staying on top of UC’s receivers and preventing a big play down the sideline. So after another punt, Boston College took control of the ball with under seven minutes remaining, down by 16. It was now or never. But the Eagles got called for offensive pass interference on 4th down and failed to convert on their first and only series of the drive.
From there, the game dwindled down to a 34-15 finish after another Cincinnati field goal and touchdown, then a BC garbage time TD. Despite the lopsided score, there were some real moments of promise for Boston College. They outgained Cinci for much of the game, and the touchdown that was stolen from them would’ve made the game much closer. But McKenzie’s early jitters, poor special teams play, and lots of pre-snap penalties put the Eagles at a disadvantage they couldn’t overcome. Not to mention multiple injuries to the offensive and defensive lines do not bode well moving forward. They’ll at least get to try again next week at home against Rutgers, a team who just lost to UMass in a huge upset.
