Recap: BC 23, Northern Illinois 20

DeKALB, Ill. - Junior kicker Colton Lichtenberg hit a 37-yard field goal with 2:13 remaining in the game to break a 20-20 tie and lift the Boston College football team to victory over Northern Illinois on Friday night at Huskie Stadium. The Eagles (1-0) start the season with a victory for the fourth time under head coach Steve Addazio.

Redshirt freshman Anthony Brown earned his first career start at quarterback, becoming just the second freshman in BC history to start a season opener at quarterback. He was 26-for-42 with 191 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Lichtenberg recorded a career-high three field goals for a career-high nine points, including the game winner. On the game-winning drive, Brown converted twice on fourth down to set up the winning score.

GAME INFORMATION
Boston College 23, Northern Illinois 20
Records: Boston College (1-0), Northern Illinois (0-1)
Location: Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Ill.
Attendance: 16,421
Time of Game: 3:28
Weather: Clear, 56 degrees

BC HIGHLIGHTS

Redshirt freshman Anthony Brown was 26-for-42 with 191 yards passing and 10 yards rushing in his first career start. He threw his first career touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Michael Walker at the end of the first half.
Redshirt freshman Kobay White had six receptions for a team-high 76 yards receiving in his first career start in the Maroon and Gold.
Sophomore tight end Ray Marten recorded his first career touchdown in an Eagles uniform.
Junior wide receiver Michael Walker had eight receptions for 50 yards with one touchdown.
Senior wide receiver Thadd Smith finished with six rushes for 55 yards, averaging a game-high 9.2 yards per carry.
Junior defensive back WIll Harris had a team-high 10 tackles, including seven solo stops and one tackle for a loss.
Junior defensive back Lukas Denis recorded four tackles, two breakups and one interception.
Junior kicker Colton Lichtenberg converted all three of his field goal attempts from 42, 35 and the game-winning kick from 37 yards with 2:13 remaining in the game

KEY MOMENT

The Eagles broke the 20-20 tie with 2:13 to play in the fourth quarter on a 13-play, 46-yard scoring drive. Brown converted twice on fourth down - a two-yard rush and a 12-yard pass to redshirt freshman Kobay White - before junior Colton Lichtenberg hit a 37-yard field goal to put BC up by three with 2:13 to play.
The BC defense held NIU on a third-and-nine and with 26 seconds to play in the game, Huskie kicker Christia Hagan missed a 39-yard field goal attempt to seal the BC victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first score of the game came off a 32-yard field goal by Hagan, giving NIU a 3-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first quarter.
With nine seconds left in the first quarter, the Eagles evened the score at three with a 42-yard field goal by Lichtenberg.
NIU opened the scoring just four seconds into the second quarter when Ryan Graham threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Brown to give the Huskies a 10-3 lead.
With just under four minutes to play in the first half, Brown converted a 20-yard pass to White to set the Eagles up on the NIU 22-yard line. Lichtenberg connected on a 35-yard field goal to make the score 10-6 with 2:05 to go.
With under a minute to play in the first half, Brown threw a 20-yard pass to junior wide receiver Michael Walker to set the Eagles up at the NIU five-yard line. With 30 seconds left, Brown converted a five-yard touchdown pass to Walker to give the Eagles a 13-10 lead.
Brown converted a 17-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Chris Garrison to set the Eagles up on the NIU 11-yard line. He hit Marten on a four-yard touchdown pass to increase the Eagles lead to 20-10 with 7:48 to go in the third.
With 2:15 to play in the third quarter, Graham completed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Shane Wimann, cutting the BC lead to three.
After junior defensive back Lukas Denis broke up a pass at the goal line, Hagan converted a 21-yard field goal to tie the score at 20 with 14:18 to play in the game.
Tied midway through the fourth, the Eagles marched 46 yards in just over five minutes and converted on fourth down twice to set up Lichtenberg's third successful field goal of the night. This time from 37 yards to give BC the 23-30 lead with 2:13 remaining.
With just over two minutes remaining, NIU marched 53 yards in 1:52 - aided by a 19-yard completion on fourth-and-seven, a 16-yard reception and a BC pass interference penalty - but Hagan's 39-yard field goal attempt was short, kicking off the crossbar with 21 seconds left, to give BC the victory.

UP NEXT
The Eagles open the home slate with a 1 p.m. ACC conference matchup against Wake Forest on Saturday, Sept. 9 at Alumni Stadium. ACC Network Extra has the broadcast and it will be be carried on the radio by the Boston College IMG Sports Network, including WEEI 850 AM.

Players Mentioned

Anthony Brown

Lukas Denis

Chris Garrison

Colton Lichtenberg

Ray Marten

Thadd Smith

Michael Walker

Kobay White