Photo by: Joe Sullivan
The Replay: Wasabi Fenway Bowl vs. SMU
December 29, 2023 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC used the long game to batter and bruise the Mustangs in a 23-14 bowl victory.
It felt like a Boston College home game.
Thomas Castellanos had just run through the teeth of the Southern Methodist defense to score a 15-yard touchdown one play after he connected with wide receiver Jaedn Skeete on a 32-yard catch-and-run that saw the freshman drag several defensive backs closer to the Mustangs' end zone. He'd separately scored another 14-yard touchdown run after a 40-yard jailbreak by running back Kye Robichaux, and as Fenway Park's lights flickered in celebration, a large chunk of the 16,238 fans who filed through the venerated cathedral's turnstiles erupted in delight.
Capturing the emotion and heat of the moment felt impossible, but as the clock wound closer to the last minute of the fourth quarter, a reviewed play allowed the hometown feel to seep through the continuous rain. The all-too-familiar sight of an interlocking BC logo hung over the Green Monster and the championship banners bearing the storied history of the Boston Red Sox, and as chants rained down from the bleachers, the opening strains of The Killers' "Mr. Brightside" sent an even bigger crowd into a tizzy.
The 2023 Wasabi Fenway Bowl was technically a neutral site game, but the energy in the building sure made it feel like BC was playing within the friendly confines of Alumni Stadium. In less than five minutes at the start of the last quarter, a four-point deficit transformed into a nine-point advantage, and as Vinny DePalma grabbed the Gatorade cooler on the Eagles' half of the shared sideline, the inevitable feeling allowed Boston to celebrate a 23-14 win for its college football team like so many other victors experienced.
"I'm just really proud of our team," said head coach Jeff Hafley as he basked in the sunshine hidden behind the rainclouds. "I thought we had some of our best preparation and best practices [last week]. Guys were enjoying [the process] and getting better, and we went pretty hard. We changed up how we practice and did more good-on-good. It really focused on fundamentals, and we had some new guys step up, guys that had been playing well. I just can't tell you how proud I am of our guys for how hard they played, how they brought energy and juice on the sideline. That was as good as we've played, and we played with confidence."
Fenway Park was no stranger to hosting events featuring local Boston College sides, but the hearty crowd venturing into the oddly-shaped intersection of Ipswich, Van Ness, Landsdowne and Jersey Streets watched this particular BC team earn one of its largest-scale victories against a bowl opponent bound for a future within the ACC. It took all of one drive for BC to give that same group a sense of wonder after Donovan Ezeiruaku's first-quarter strip sack sent the high-powered Mustang offense to the sideline with a turnover, but ending the 40-plus yard drive only led to three points as a stalemate between the two teams dug into the sod and dirt-based trenches.
A tougher sled emerged between both sides, but neither allowed their respective slow start to prevent a second quarter explosion. SMU quartberback Kevin Jennings in particular shook off the fumble from the first quarter by settling into the offense, which in turn adjusted its blocking scheme to prevent BC's defense from rushing around the edge. It looked more traditional, but SMU's movement into a more spread-based formation removed the tight ends and receivers from the offensive line area to allow tackles to get out in space against the BC rushers.
The change subsequently enabled Jennings to complete high percentage throws through the outer areas, and he found himself operating with more time and space as the first period bled into the second inning. His ability to extend plays with his feet became even more apparent as he started to roll out from the pocket, and he twice extended plays in the later portion of the quarter by keeping his eyes downfield. A nine-yard, third-down pass to Jordan Hudson was particularly key in keeping SMU's offense on the field during its extended drive near the end of the quarter, and a separate rush through the middle of the point of attack gained an additional nine yards before Jaylan Knighton plowed a touchdown through the goal line.
"Early in the game, I felt like I thought we did quite a lot really well," Hafley said. "We thought the quarterback would be heavily involved, but on third down in the first half, we rushed four too much and gave him a chance to get outside. We had a chance to sack him for about minus-30 [yards], and that would've taken away seven points. But then we came into halftime and I asked if we should be running the same blitz. [Kam Arnold] said yes, and we stopped him dead."
SMU had used safe play to gain its halftime lead, but those executions masked several different issues that eventually haunted the Mustangs against the stingy BC front. Knighton's touchdown had come after Jennings missed Hudson in the end zone with a corner flag route that Amari Jackson got a hand under, and the running game's committee approach combined for 70 yards on 14 carries for a team averaging close to 200 yards per game.
Thomas Castellanos, meanwhile, ran for 90 yards on 11 carries and became the second BC quarterback with a 1,000-yard rushing season during that first half, and his success softened SMU's defense within the wet conditions. When the second half began, the cold and wet team looked more distracted by a deteriorating field than by the no-huddle, high-gambit tempo approach that produced near-consecutive explosive plays to Alex Broome and Lewis Bond.
It wasn't perfect - Castellanos threw an interception on that same drive with a pass that sailed into no man's land - but the Mustangs grew more weary and tired as the cumulative amount of packed hits took their toll on the front seven. Guards Kyle Hergel and Jack Conley more specifically exploded holes away from center Drew Kendall, which in turn allowed Robichaux to batter the linebackers while Castellanos took away the edge rushers and linebacker spies.
The entirety of the performance nailed SMU dead-to-rights in the fourth quarter, and the quick-hitting BC offense buried the game with Castellanos' two touchdown runs. The Mustang offense was then properly neutralized by incomplete passes, and after drilling the BC defense in the first half, Jennings failed to cross midfield on all except for one drive in the second half - which was blocked by KP Price, who had earlier lost a step against receiver Key'Shawn Smith, who in turn dropped a wide open pass in the end zone.
"We didn't play great," SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee admitted. "Our defense kept us in it and had a good second quarter, but we had an opportunity in the third quarter to kind of take control of the game. We had an opportunity to score a touchdown when Kevin made a great scrambled throw that would have put us up 21-10. We didn't [get the score], and we got a kick blocked, and from that point on, they really took control over the last quarter-and-a-half of the game. Credit to them for that. We didn't make ourselves hard to beat, which is something we'd done a lot this year, and we didn't make plays to win that game."
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Thomas Castellanos had just run through the teeth of the Southern Methodist defense to score a 15-yard touchdown one play after he connected with wide receiver Jaedn Skeete on a 32-yard catch-and-run that saw the freshman drag several defensive backs closer to the Mustangs' end zone. He'd separately scored another 14-yard touchdown run after a 40-yard jailbreak by running back Kye Robichaux, and as Fenway Park's lights flickered in celebration, a large chunk of the 16,238 fans who filed through the venerated cathedral's turnstiles erupted in delight.
Capturing the emotion and heat of the moment felt impossible, but as the clock wound closer to the last minute of the fourth quarter, a reviewed play allowed the hometown feel to seep through the continuous rain. The all-too-familiar sight of an interlocking BC logo hung over the Green Monster and the championship banners bearing the storied history of the Boston Red Sox, and as chants rained down from the bleachers, the opening strains of The Killers' "Mr. Brightside" sent an even bigger crowd into a tizzy.
The 2023 Wasabi Fenway Bowl was technically a neutral site game, but the energy in the building sure made it feel like BC was playing within the friendly confines of Alumni Stadium. In less than five minutes at the start of the last quarter, a four-point deficit transformed into a nine-point advantage, and as Vinny DePalma grabbed the Gatorade cooler on the Eagles' half of the shared sideline, the inevitable feeling allowed Boston to celebrate a 23-14 win for its college football team like so many other victors experienced.
"I'm just really proud of our team," said head coach Jeff Hafley as he basked in the sunshine hidden behind the rainclouds. "I thought we had some of our best preparation and best practices [last week]. Guys were enjoying [the process] and getting better, and we went pretty hard. We changed up how we practice and did more good-on-good. It really focused on fundamentals, and we had some new guys step up, guys that had been playing well. I just can't tell you how proud I am of our guys for how hard they played, how they brought energy and juice on the sideline. That was as good as we've played, and we played with confidence."
Fenway Park was no stranger to hosting events featuring local Boston College sides, but the hearty crowd venturing into the oddly-shaped intersection of Ipswich, Van Ness, Landsdowne and Jersey Streets watched this particular BC team earn one of its largest-scale victories against a bowl opponent bound for a future within the ACC. It took all of one drive for BC to give that same group a sense of wonder after Donovan Ezeiruaku's first-quarter strip sack sent the high-powered Mustang offense to the sideline with a turnover, but ending the 40-plus yard drive only led to three points as a stalemate between the two teams dug into the sod and dirt-based trenches.
A tougher sled emerged between both sides, but neither allowed their respective slow start to prevent a second quarter explosion. SMU quartberback Kevin Jennings in particular shook off the fumble from the first quarter by settling into the offense, which in turn adjusted its blocking scheme to prevent BC's defense from rushing around the edge. It looked more traditional, but SMU's movement into a more spread-based formation removed the tight ends and receivers from the offensive line area to allow tackles to get out in space against the BC rushers.
The change subsequently enabled Jennings to complete high percentage throws through the outer areas, and he found himself operating with more time and space as the first period bled into the second inning. His ability to extend plays with his feet became even more apparent as he started to roll out from the pocket, and he twice extended plays in the later portion of the quarter by keeping his eyes downfield. A nine-yard, third-down pass to Jordan Hudson was particularly key in keeping SMU's offense on the field during its extended drive near the end of the quarter, and a separate rush through the middle of the point of attack gained an additional nine yards before Jaylan Knighton plowed a touchdown through the goal line.
"Early in the game, I felt like I thought we did quite a lot really well," Hafley said. "We thought the quarterback would be heavily involved, but on third down in the first half, we rushed four too much and gave him a chance to get outside. We had a chance to sack him for about minus-30 [yards], and that would've taken away seven points. But then we came into halftime and I asked if we should be running the same blitz. [Kam Arnold] said yes, and we stopped him dead."
SMU had used safe play to gain its halftime lead, but those executions masked several different issues that eventually haunted the Mustangs against the stingy BC front. Knighton's touchdown had come after Jennings missed Hudson in the end zone with a corner flag route that Amari Jackson got a hand under, and the running game's committee approach combined for 70 yards on 14 carries for a team averaging close to 200 yards per game.
Thomas Castellanos, meanwhile, ran for 90 yards on 11 carries and became the second BC quarterback with a 1,000-yard rushing season during that first half, and his success softened SMU's defense within the wet conditions. When the second half began, the cold and wet team looked more distracted by a deteriorating field than by the no-huddle, high-gambit tempo approach that produced near-consecutive explosive plays to Alex Broome and Lewis Bond.
It wasn't perfect - Castellanos threw an interception on that same drive with a pass that sailed into no man's land - but the Mustangs grew more weary and tired as the cumulative amount of packed hits took their toll on the front seven. Guards Kyle Hergel and Jack Conley more specifically exploded holes away from center Drew Kendall, which in turn allowed Robichaux to batter the linebackers while Castellanos took away the edge rushers and linebacker spies.
The entirety of the performance nailed SMU dead-to-rights in the fourth quarter, and the quick-hitting BC offense buried the game with Castellanos' two touchdown runs. The Mustang offense was then properly neutralized by incomplete passes, and after drilling the BC defense in the first half, Jennings failed to cross midfield on all except for one drive in the second half - which was blocked by KP Price, who had earlier lost a step against receiver Key'Shawn Smith, who in turn dropped a wide open pass in the end zone.
"We didn't play great," SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee admitted. "Our defense kept us in it and had a good second quarter, but we had an opportunity in the third quarter to kind of take control of the game. We had an opportunity to score a touchdown when Kevin made a great scrambled throw that would have put us up 21-10. We didn't [get the score], and we got a kick blocked, and from that point on, they really took control over the last quarter-and-a-half of the game. Credit to them for that. We didn't make ourselves hard to beat, which is something we'd done a lot this year, and we didn't make plays to win that game."
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Players Mentioned
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WR
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RB
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QB
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OL
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DE
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CB
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