Postgame Notes: BC-NIU

Northern Illinois vs. Boston College
Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
September 26, 2015
Game Notes

Team

With the victory today, the Eagles improve to 2-0 all time against Northern Illinois and have won the last 21 meetings against MAC opponents. They are 39-8 all-time against MAC opponents.
Boston College has now held five straight opponents under 10 points in the first half.
The Eagles have held five consecutive regular-season opponents to four or fewer third-down conversions. Teams are just 8-of-49 on such conversions in that span.
Boston College held Northern Illinois without a first down in the first quarter.

Offense

Sophomore RB Jon Hilliman picked up his second touchdown of the season - 14th of career - on a 21-yard run with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter. He tallied 119 yards on the day for his first 100-yard game of the season and fourth of his career.
Redshirt freshman QB Troy Flutie made his first career start, throwing for 92 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 5-of-11 passing.
Sophomore WR Charlie Callinan hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass from Flutie with 8:54 remaining in the second quarter. It was his first touchdown of the season and second of his career.
True freshman QB Jeff Smith entered on the Eagles third drive of the game, rushing for 56 yards on nine carries.
Sophomore WR Sherman Alston's 30-yard catch in the second quarter was his longest of the season.

Defense

For the fourth time this season, the Eagles held their opponent to under 100 rushing yards. It was the 11th time the BC defense did so in 17 games.
Sophomore LB Connor Strachan had a career-high nine tackles on the day to lead the BC defense. He also tallied one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss.
Senior LB Steven Daniels had five tackles on the day, tallying his 200th career tackle in the first quarter. He has 203 in his career.
Junior DB John Johnson recorded his first career forced fumble in the first quarter and his first career interception in the third quarter. Senior DB Justin Simmons recorded his second career fumble recovery on the first-quarter fumble.

Special Teams

Junior LB Matt Milano blocked his second punt of the season in the fourth quarter. His first came in the win over Howard on Sept. 12. It was the first for the Eagles since 2013.
Freshman K Colton Lichtenberg recorded his first career field goal - a 25-yarder - in the fourth quarter to give BC a 17-7 lead. He went 2-for-2 on extra-point attempts and averaged 56.0 yards on three kickoffs.
The last time the Eagles allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown was against Massachusetts on Sept. 24, 2011 (Jesse Julmiste)
Senior P Alex Howell punted nine times for 341 yards, averaging 37.9 yards per punt. He had a long of 55 and recorded one punt inside the 20-yard line. The last time Howell punted more than eight times was on Oct. 18, 2014 against Clemson when he punted 10 times for 501 yards. The 341 yards was the second-highest total of his career.

Other

Former BC quarterback Brian St. Pierre (1999-2002) was honored on the field at the end of the first quarter, while former linebacker, current New York Giants player and cancer survivor Mark Herzlich (2006-08,10) was honored in the second quarter.
Both the BC and NIU coaching staffs wore Coach to Cure MD patches to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. JB Harvey, the Eagles' adopted teammate through Team Impact, suffered from DMD.

Game Captains: Senior LB Steven Daniels, Senior OL Harris Williams
Attendance: 30,193
Weather: 63 degrees, partly cloudy Wind: ENE 13 MPH
Coin Toss: NIU won the toss and elected to defer to the second half

Boston College Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Sherman Alston

Charlie Callinan

Steven Daniels

Troy Flutie

Jon Hilliman

Alex Howell

John Johnson

Colton Lichtenberg

Matt Milano

Justin Simmons

Jeff Smith

Connor Strachan

Connor Strachan

Harris Williams

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