Week 12 Notes: The Pittsburgh Game

The BC defense huddles up before kickoff at Notre Dame.

November 25, 2019 | Football

Game Notes Gameday Central Addazio Media Availability

Preview the regular season finale with complete game notes for the BC-Pitt match-up.

By: Athletic Communications

Familiar Eastern rivals meet for the 31st time as Boston College travels to the Steel City to face Pitt at Heinz Field. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. with live coverage on ACC Network. Chris Cotter (play-by-play), former Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich (analyst), and Kelsey Riggs (sideline reporter) have the call. Coverage on the Boston College Learfield IMG Sports Network begins at 3 p.m. with Jon Meterparel, Pete Cronan and Scott Mutryn. Fans can listen to the game locally on WEEI 93.7 FM, nationally on TuneIn and on Sirius channel 121, XM channel 203 and online via SiriusXM channel 966.

Boston College looks for its sixth win of the season after last week's 40-7 setback at No. 15 Notre Dame. The Eagles are one victory away from the sixth bowl in seven years under head coach Steve Addazio. Pitt looks to rebound following last week's 28-0 shutout at Virginia Tech.

The Series
• For the first time since 2014, Boston College and Pitt meet on the gridiron Saturday.
• Pitt and BC met regularly from 1970 through 2004 as Eastern independents and later in the Big East Conference. The series between the two schools began in 1959.
• Boston College is 13-17 all-time against the Panthers. Pitt has won four straight in the series, including two overtime victories. The last win for Boston College in the series was a 45-7 win in 2001 at Alumni Stadium.
• BC's last win at Pitt was a 23-15 victory at Pitt Stadium in 1998.
• BC head coach Steve Addazio is in his seventh season at The Heights (43-44) and is 0-1 against Pitt.
• The Eagles have five Keystone State natives on the roster in 2019: Aaron Boumehri, Pat Garwo, Aaron Gethers, Hayden Mahoney and Kobay White. In addition, Tanner Karafa grew up in Pittsburgh before moving to Virginia as a child.

Record-Breaking Win
• Boston College finished with the most yards gained in a single game in 121 seasons of football as the Eagles rolled to a 58-27 victory at Syracuse on Nov. 2.
• BC's 496 rushing yards were the most by a team in a FBS vs. FBS game this season. Middle Tennessee's 471 yards were the previous high against FIU last week.
• Boston College finished with a school record 691 yards of offense. The previous record for a single-game was 656 versus Penn State in 1982.
• BC's 58 points were the most in school history in an ACC game. The previous record was 52 in the win against NC State in 2009.
• BC's 58 points are the most in 53 all-time meetings against Syracuse. The record was 42, set in the last visit to the Carrier Dome in 2017.
• Boston College finished with 496 rushing yards, the most ever in a conference game (BIG EAST or ACC).
• Syracuse allowed a school-record 496 yards rushing on 65 attempts against the Eagles. The previous Syracuse opposing team rushing record was 457 yards by West Virginia in 2006.

No. 2 is Now No. 1
• AJ Dillon became Boston College's all-time leading rusher with 76 yards rushing at No. 2 Clemson. Dillon broke the record with a 10-yard carry in the third quarter to move past Andre Williams into the top spot in BC history.
• One of the most impressive aspects of Dillon breaking the BC career rushing record? It took Andre Williams 44 games to total the previous record of 3,739 yards rushing. Dillon set the new school record in just his 31st career game.
• Dillon broke the all-time BC rushing record in just three seasons. He became the first player in BC history to run for 1,000+ yards in each of his first three seasons at the Heights.
• Dillon finished with 242 yards rushing, the ninth-best single-game total in Boston College history, in the 58-27 win at Syracuse on Nov. 2. It was the fourth 200-yard game of his career.
• Dillon became Boston College's all-time leader with 35 rushing touchdowns as he scored on a 51-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter against the Orange. He entered the game tied with Keith Barnette (1973-75) with 34 rushing touchdowns. Dillon ended the day with three touchdowns to up his career total to 37 rushing scores.
• Dillon became BC's all-time leader in total touchdowns with his 37th career score on the 51-yard run. Dillon now has 37 rushing touchdowns and two touchdown receptions in his career. He was tied with William Green and Troy Stradford entering the day.
• Dillon is now fourth in ACC history with 4,204 career rushing yards. He is the eighth player in conference history to reach the 4,000-yard plateau.
• Against Florida State, Dillon moved into second place in Boston College history with his 19th career 100-yard game. Dillon finished with 165 yards on a career-high 40 carries. He moved into a tie for eighth place in ACC history with the 19, 100-yard games with Virginia's Tiki Barber (1993-96).
• Dillon is third nationally in rushing yards (1,507) and rushing yards per game (137.0) in 2019.
• Dillon is also fourth nationally with 153.1 yards per game from scrimmage in 2019.
• Dillon is 399 yards away from setting the ACC record for career rushing yards.

Closer Look at AJ Dillon in the Starting Lineup
• In 30 games since AJ Dillon was named the starter at running back on Oct. 14, 2017 at Louisville, Boston College has averaged:
32.2 points per game
237.8 rushing yards per game
194.6 passing yards per game
432.4 total offense yards per game
3,871 rushing yards by Dillon
138.3 rushing yards per game by Dillon
35 rushing touchdowns by Dillon
18 100-yard rushing games by Dillon
• Dillon missed the games at No. 23 NC State and vs. Louisville with an ankle injury in 2018.
• Since Oct. 14, 2017, Dillon is second nationally with 138.3 rushing yards per game and 3,871 rushing yards. Only Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor has averaged more rushing yards per game during that time span.

100-Yard Games Piling Up
• In 28 career starts, AJ Dillon has 19 career 100-yard games at Boston College in 34 games played.
• He is second in BC history with 19 career 100-yard games. BC is 12-7 when Dillon rushes for 100+ yards in a game.

"The Buffalo Boys" Are The Nation's Best 1-2 RB Duo
• Boston College features two of the most physical running backs in the country - 250-pound AJ Dillon and 240-pound David Bailey. The "Buffalo Boys" are first nationally with 2,298 combined rushing yards in 2019 for a pair of running backs. Only Oklahoma State's duo of RB Chuba Hubbard and QB Spencer Sanders (2,457) have more combined rushing yards.
• Dillon and Bailey became the first two running backs in school history to run for 180+ yards in the same game in BC's 45-24 victory over NC State. Dillon finished with 223 rushing yards and three touchdowns while Bailey added 181 yards rushing and two scores against the Wolfpack.
• The Buffalo Boys were the first BC teammates to rush for over 100 yards in the same game since Bailey (102) and Ben Glines (107) did so vs. Louisville on Oct. 13, 2018.
• Dillon and Bailey combined for 414 yards and five touchdowns in the 58-27 win at Syracuse on Nov. 2. Dillon totaled 242 yards and three scores while Bailey ripped off 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Orange.
• Prior to this season, the last time two Boston College running backs gained at least 150 yards on the ground in the same game: Oct. 18, 1997 in a 45-44 home loss to Miami. Omari Walker (185) and Mike Cloud (157).

Offensive Explosion
• Boston College scored 44 points and totaled 484 yards of offense in the first half of the 58-27 win at Syracuse. It marked the most points and total yards in a half for the Eagles in an ACC game. The 44 points scored were the most by any ACC team in the first half in 2019 and the 484 yards were the third-most by any FBS team in the first half in 2019.

O-Line U
• Most college football pundits predicted it would be a rebuilding year on the Boston College offensive line after losing a first-round pick in Chris Lindstrom along with multi-year starters in left tackle Aaron Monteiro and center Jon Baker.
• Despite the graduation of that trio of full-time starters along with co-starter Sam Schmal, the Eagles have been strong up front in 2019 with new starters at left tackle (Tyler Vrabel), left guard (Zion Johnson) and center (Alec Lindstrom).
• BC is fourth nationally with 0.91 sacks allowed per game in 2019. The Eagles are sixth nationally in rushing with 268.2 rushing yards per game.

First Half Fireworks
• Boston College has been explosive in the first half in 2019 on offense. BC has totaled 239 points in the first half, an average of 21.7 per game in the first 30 minutes of play.
• The Eagles have scored touchdowns on their first possession in four games this season (Richmond, Kansas, Rutgers, Florida State).

Max Effort
• Max Richardson is first in the ACC and ranks 17th nationally with 9.5 tackles per game in 2019. He leads BC with 104 total tackles, 68 solo stops, 14.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and 3.5 sacks.
• Richardson is third nationally with 68 solo tackles this season.
• The Georgia native is 21st nationally with 14.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage in 2019.

Big-Play Passing Offense
• Boston College is tied for 14th nationally with eight pass plays of 50+ yards in 2019.
• In 2018, BC had just three pass plays of 50 yards or more the entire season.
• Going back to 2014, the Eagles have just five total passing plays covering more than 50 yards.
• Steve Addazio's first season marked the largest total of 50-yard pass plays as BC connected on eight passes of 50 yards or more.

Chunk Plays
• Boston College is third in the ACC with 29 plays of 30+ yards in 2019.
• The Eagles are tied for 25th nationally with 29 plays covering 30 yards or more.

Putting Up the Numbers ...
• Boston College features the nation's 23rd overall total offense (457.1 yards per game) in 2019. The Eagles are sixth nationally in rushing offense (268.2 yards per game) and are 13th nationally in turnovers lost (11).

Scouting Pitt
• Pitt brings a 7-4 record overall and 4-3 mark in the ACC into Saturday's regular season finale for both schools. Pitt owns wins over Ohio (20-10), No. 15 UCF (35-34), Delaware (17-14), Duke (33-30), Syracuse (27-20), Georgia Tech (20-10) and North Carolina (34-27, OT) while losing to Virginia (30-14), No. 13 Penn State (17-10), Miami (16-12) and No. 25 Virginia Tech (28-0).
• Pitt averages 20.2 points per game, 114th nationally. The Panthers rank 96th in the country in total offense (372.3 ypg), 53rd in passing offense (247.1 ypg) and 112th nationally in rushing offense (125.2 ypg).
• On defense, Pitt ranks ninth nationally in total defense (294.8 ypg), 31st in scoring defense (21.5 ppg), sixth in rushing defense (92.6 ypg) and 34th in passing yards allowed (202.2 ypg).