College Sports
The Eagles faced a 13-point fourth quarter deficit but rallied for the win even without starting quarterback Thomas Castellanos.
Boston College’s matchup with Western Kentucky on Saturday had all the makings of a trap game.
With starting quarterback Thomas Castellanos sidelined, a Red Bandanna Game thriller behind them, and the heart of conference play on the horizon, the Eagles looked sluggish early against the Hilltoppers.
BC teams in the past may have crumbled and stumbled to defeat, but so far under head coach Bill O’Brien, the Eagles have displayed a different level of fortitude. Boston College erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit, outlasting Western Kentucky, 21-20, in a thriller at Alumni Stadium.
It was the largest fourth-quarter deficit the Eagles (4-1) have overcome in a victory in program history, surpassing 12-point comebacks against Holy Cross in 1980 and Pittsburgh in 1988.
“The message from player to player was don’t panic,” defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku said. “We’re a resilient team. We just need to go out there and show that.”
Ezeiruaku (14 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 quarterback hits) forced a fumble at the Western Kentucky 20-yard line with 6:26 remaining, which led to an 8-yard pass from quarterback Grayson James to Jerand Bradley at the 3:33 mark. KP Price broke up a last-ditch heave from the Hilltoppers (3-2), as the Eagles escaped.
“I feel like we were able to seize the moment,” James said.
James, a junior Florida International transfer filling in for Castellanos, finished 19 of 32 for 168 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and a rushing TD. He sputtered early, then found a rhythm as the game progressed.
Pre-existing chemistry with his John Paul II (Texas) High School teammate Bradley paid dividends in his first start at BC. James floated the ball where only the 6-foot-5-inch Bradley could corral it, and Bradley took care of the rest.
“It was just like having flashbacks from what we used to do,” Bradley said.
While it was certainly a powerful finish from the Eagles, it was far from a convincing all-around showing.
The Hilltoppers jumped ahead, 7-0, on a 3-yard pass from Caden Veltkamp to Kisean Johnson with 3:05 left in the first quarter.
On the next Western Kentucky drive, BC’s Khari Johnson swooped in and intercepted a floating ball from Veltkamp. The Eagles briefly had momentum, but James gave it right back when he threw a pass directly into Keondre Williams’ arms for an interception early in the second. James looked jittery early and struggled to make the right reads on short and intermediate passes.
James said Castellanos approached him after the pick and reassured him that he would be more than fine.
“He had a lot of belief in me,” James said. “The whole offense did.”
Western Kentucky capitalized with a 7-yard TD pass from Veltkamp to Easton Messer. At that point, WKU had a 129-12 edge in passing yards.
BC showed signs of life late in the second, when James found Lewis Bond for a key third-down conversion to set up a 3-yard TD rush from Kye Robichaux (18 carries, 81 yards, 1 TD) against his former team.
“It was almost a goose egg there at halftime, which would have been thoroughly embarrassing,” O’Brien said.
The Hilltoppers struck back when Lucas Carneiro drilled a 22-yard field goal as time expired.
WKU took a 17-7 edge into halftime, racking up 247 yards compared to 133 for BC. The Hilltoppers had 106 yards after the catch, while the Eagles had just 33. James finished the half 12 of 16, settling in late after a slow start.
The sluggishness offensively wasn’t shocking given the quarterback situation, but the inconsistency defensively was puzzling given BC’s success on that side of the ball this season.
“We’ve got to play better in the first half of these games,” O’Brien said. “I know we can, so I’ve got to figure it out.”
BC started the second half with a promising drive, but Bond tried to hurdle a defender and fumbled. Carneiro tacked on a 35-yard field goal, pushing WKU’s lead to 20-7 with 8:44 left in the third.
The Eagles caught a break when Veltkamp’s pass hit off Michael Mathison’s fingertips and ricocheted into Kam Arnold’s hands for an interception late in the third. That led to a 1-yard TD rush from James, slicing the deficit to 20-14 with 11:36 remaining.
“I feel like I was able to settle in and have the guys rally around me,” James said.
Ezeiruaku registered a key sack, leading to a Western Kentucky punt moments later. On the next Hilltoppers drive, Ezeiruaku delivered a crushing hit on Veltkamp to force the fumble on a strip sack and set up the Bradley score.
The Eagles almost certainly wouldn’t have prevailed without the brilliance of Ezeiruaku, who now has the fourth-most sacks in BC history and is in the running for Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
“Donovan is a hell of a player,” O’Brien said. “One of the best players in the ACC. He’s a playmaker, he’s smart. He knows when the time is right to make a play.”
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