It was a tale of two games for Boston College yesterday in Charlottesville. For 28 1/2 minutes the Eagles dominated the game, building a 14-3 lead nearing halftime with a chance at a third down stop to build on the lead. But a questionable targeting penalty on Khari Johnson sparked a long field goal drive by Virginia that changed the tenor of the game. Despite a stagnant offense in the second half, BC was still in good shape with a 14-9 lead with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, a Thomas Castellanos pass was batted in the air and landed in the arms of a Virginia defensive lineman for an interception. Virginia quickly turned that possession into a touchdown then scored another TD on a Castellanos fumble.
Castellanos played exceptional football to start the game. He completed his first 11 passes for 116 yards and a couple of TDs. But the BC second half possessions were: punt, punt, interception, fumble, turnover on downs, interception. The BC defense held Virginia to 57 total yards on 25 plays prior to the Johnson ejection (2.3 yards per play). From that point on, Virginia had 282 yards on 40 plays (7.1 yards per play). An injury to Amari Jackson only added to the problems.
Boston College (4-2) will have a little extra time off before visiting Virginia Tech (3-3) on Thursday, October 17th. In a weird scheduling quirk, BC will not play a Saturday game for the next four weeks.
New Head Coach: Bill O'Brien
The Boston College football program made big news on Friday with the announcement that former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien will be the next head coach at BC. O'Brien spent two years as the head coach at Penn State where he went 15-9. He was named National Coach of the Year in 2012 after taking over the program in the wake of the Sandusky scandal. He then went on to coach the Houston Texans for seven seasons. O'Brien won four division titles and two playoff games between 2015 and 2019 but was fired in 2020 following an 0-4 start. He was 52-48 with Houston. O'Brien spent the past three seasons as the offensive coordinator for Alabama and the New England Patriots. O'Brien grew up in the Boston area and attended Brown University. The hire feels like a home run for a program that desperately needed one.
2023 MVP: Thomas Castellanos
Quarterback Thomas Castellanos easily won the 2024 Boston College Football MVP vote. Thomas ended up with 65% of the vote. Kye Robichaux was second with 19% and Elijah Jones came in third with 11%.
Voters were not so kind to Jeff Hafley. His approval rating dropped to 19% this season, down from 25% last season. The voting occurred over a three to four week period with Hafley getting 73% approval the first week (following the win over Syracuse) and just 5% in the last week.
MVP results for previous years are located HERE.
Coaching staff approval ratings for previous years are located HERE.
Boston College: 2024 NCAA Rankings
Statistic | Total | Run | Pass |
Offense | 95 | 71 | 97 |
Defense | 40 | 26 | 73 |
Top 25 Polls: AP and Coaches Polls
Email: Patrick at pjreilly@dublin.com
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2024 SCHEDULE | ||
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Sep 2 | BC 28 Florida St 13 | (1-0) |
Sep 7 | BC 56 Duquesne 0 | (2-0) |
Sep 14 | Missouri 27 BC 21 | (2-1) |
Sep 21 | BC 23 Mich St 19 | (3-1) |
Sep 28 | BC 21 WKU 20 | (4-1) |
Oct 5 | Virginia 24 BC 14 | (4-2) |
BYE WEEK | ||
Oct 17 | at VA Tech (Thu) | 7:30 |
Oct 25 | Louisville (Fri) | 7:30 |
BYE WEEK | ||
Nov 9 | Syracuse | TBA |
Nov 16 | at SMU | TBA |
Nov 23 | North Carolina | TBA |
Nov 30 | Pittsburgh | TBA |
TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE | ||
Visit bceagles.com for latest times |
ACC STANDINGS |
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2023 BC Football MVP
Thomas Castellanos
Links |