On Saturday night, the Boston College Eagles football team hosted the Michigan State Spartans for their annual red bandana game at Alumni Stadium. It was a very rainy night as BC donned their red paisley uniforms to honor Welles Crowther, a Boston College graduate and hero who sacrificed his life to save others on September 11, 2001. And BC pulled out a thrilling victory despite the rain, scoring a last-minute touchdown to take the lead and win the game 23-19.

The game started slow for Boston College’s offense. They managed three & outs and kicked a poor punt that gave the Spartans great starting position. But the Eagles defense stood strong early on and held MSU to a field goal that quickly gave them a 3-0 lead. BC responded well by moving down the field and Treshaun Ward and Turbo Richard made great runs outside of the tackles, but Ward fumbled the ball in the redzone and immediately gave possession back to the Spartans before BC could score any points.

However, Boston College’s defense responded and gave the ball back to BC almost immediately with a stop. This allowed Thomas Castellanos, Treshaun Ward and Turbo Richard to break through Michigan State’s defense again, driving the ball down their throats and bouncing it outside for big gains. This time they capped it off with a Turbo Richard touchdown. A bad snap on the PAT led to a miss, leaving BC with a 6-3 lead early in the second quarter.

Boston College’s defense couldn’t hold out much longer, however, as they finally allowed MSU QB Aidan Chiles to hit a receiver from 40 yards deep for a short touchdown that put Michigan State back up 10-6. Chiles had missed a few of those passes earlier in the game, but he finally got one that paid the Eagles’ secondary, who were giving the Spartans’ wide receivers a little too much space in the defensive backfield. After a three & out by the BC offense, Sparty marched down the field again, but a lousy throw from Chiles went to the middle of the field and was intercepted by BC’s Carter Davis. Thomas Castellanos took a bad sack on BC’s next possession, forcing a punt back to MSU, who again stormed down the field and scored a field goal to go into halftime with a 13-6 lead.

As the first half progressed, it became very clear that Boston College’s defense was struggling to defend MSU’s receivers further down the field, and Chiles did a great job running around to extend plays and find open receivers. They were lucky to come through the first half with only 13 points against them, largely due to the interception and timely stop at the end of the half. Meanwhile, BC’s offense never got going other than their one touchdown drive, and their special teams put them at a tactical disadvantage in more ways than one.

The second half started very poorly for Michigan State. Their returner dropped the football on the kickoff and BC recovered the ball at the five-yard line, giving them excellent field position. But the BC offense couldn’t punch it in and Castellanos ran back about 12 yards on third down, allowing a long field goal that Lombardo converted to cut MSU’s lead to 13-9. Soon after, Aidan Chiles threw his second INT of the night and gave the ball right back to BC, who immediately passed it to Treshaun Ward, who made a 36-yard touchdown run down the sideline. All of a sudden, BC led 16-13 less than three minutes into the second half.

On the ensuing possession, Michigan State showed a lot of what we’d already seen. Chiles threw a pass right into the arms of BC defender Max Tucker, who couldn’t hold onto the INT. Then Chiles missed a completely free WR on the sideline that would have been a sure touchdown, giving BC a huge opportunity. Sparty had to settle for a long field goal instead to tie the game 16-16. A few back-and-forth possessions didn’t do much for either team as the third quarter wore on, especially with the rain pouring down and the wet football flying everywhere. But the Eagles eventually managed to get back into the redzone, capping it off with a wild play that saw Castellanos fumble the ball at the goal line, which was recovered by the OL, and TC couldn’t punch it in on the ensuing fourth down.

Michigan State started at their own 1-yard line and then stormed down the field into field goal range, giving their kicker a chance to give them the lead. He sank the short kick to put Sparty ahead 19-16 with just under 4 minutes left. BC’s defense had done well against the run for most of the night, but a few bad outbursts allowed MSU to run down the clock and extend the offense much further than before.

So BC basically had one drive left to march down the field and either tie or win, but things unfolded faster than they might have expected. A couple of short passes to Lewis Bond got the Eagles to the halfway line, and then Bond blew up the MSU defense and blasted home a 42-yard toss that was thrown a little short by Castellanos, giving BC a 23-19 lead with just 1:28 left in the game.

MSU drove the ball down the field with frightening efficiency and got into BC territory with plenty of time to spare. But an ill-advised long pass, like so many Chiles had thrown all night, landed right in the hands of Max Turner, who won the game with an INT. Boston College eventually won the game 23-19.

Findings:

• What a win! These guys struggled at times and had some chaotic plays, but they trusted the game plan and fought hard for a truly meaningful win. Kudos to the culture BoB has already built.
• Where was Kye Robichaux? He wasn’t on the injured list, but BC decided to play Treshaun Ward and Turbo Richard all night. I’m curious to see what the coaches say after the game. Treshaun Ward looked phenomenal despite the fumble.
• Thomas Castellanos was very inconsistent. Sometimes he did exactly what was needed, making short passes to an open man or running himself to gain a modest advantage. But far too often he held onto the ball longer than necessary and took some ugly sacks, as well as making some bad throws that went into the dirt.
• BC’s defensive line is clearly the strength of their defense. With Ezeiruaku, Horsley, Okapala, Rooks, and even Bam Crouch at LB, they did an excellent job of pressuring the QB and keeping the MSU runners at bay for the most part.
• The BC secondary once again came under heavy fire and would have had an even worse game if the opposing quarterback had not missed a series of completely free throws.
• Lots of mistakes from BC’s special teams in this game, that’s a worrying trend. It doesn’t seem like Bill O’Brien has found a punter he can trust.