Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Joe Sullivan
October 18, 2024 | Football, #ForBoston Files
An epic third quarter comeback fell short in the fourth after BC went down early.
Two schools of thought emerged from the aftermath of Boston College's 42-21 loss to Virginia Tech.Â
For eternal optimists, the third quarter comeback broke an insurmountable halftime lead and regained BC's mojo after the Hokies shattered the Eagles in the first two quarters. The 28-0 deficit all but disappeared over a five-minute span - an indicator of Thomas Castellanos and the potential explosiveness harbored within his offense.
Eternal pessimists, meanwhile, witnessed fourth quarter issues on par with the first half meltdown, and the three-touchdown final schism between BC and Virginia Tech mirrored the four-score chasm from the first half. The 12-day break after the 24-14 loss to Virginia didn't change the outcome of the next game, and the Eagles lost their second straight game after suffering through less than a 60-minute performance.
Each line of thinking had reason to hold their ground at Friday morning's water cooler debate, but neither doctrine nor philosophy nor rationalization changed the outcome from Thursday night's flight back to Boston. Now 4-3 after starting the year with a 4-1 record that returned the Eagles to the national rankings, they face a path requiring a bridge capable of linking the divide between their successes and failures.
"It's awful [to get off to that start]," said head coach Bill O'Brien after the loss. "We've done that in all of our losses, so we have to figure out how to correct it. You can't turn the ball over and win. There's no correlation between winning and turnovers, and there's nothing more important than possession of the ball. We work on it every day in practice, but it's obviously not translating to the games."
Virginia Tech entered Thursday with a reputation for creating havoc against opposing offenses, but the Hokies built their first half advantage because of BC's introverted inability to protect the football. They converted two Eagle turnovers into touchdowns and flipped a potential tie-score or one-score game into a three-touchdown advantage because of overall miscues, and they used an end-of-half inability to protect the quarterback to turn consecutive sacks into a punting situation that led directly to a final second quarter score.
Kyron Drones scored the first two of those touchdowns by carrying the ball into the end zone, and his 20-yard pass to running back Bhayshul Tuten bookended the burly running back's 83-yard score at the start of a second quarter that featured a 225-48 offensive advantage for the Hokies. They finished the first half with 332 total yards and 188 rushing yards and passed the century mark even without the broken run to daylight that handed a 21-0 lead to the Hokies' defense, and Drones went 12-for-13 for 144 yards and a score despite absorbing two sacks.
"We had trouble stopping the run," said O'Brien. "Give them credit, they did a good job. We were out of our gaps because they knocked us out of our gaps, and we didn't tackle. I just thought that I had the team ready to go tonight, but I obviously didn't. So I've got to figure out how to get the team ready to go because we're better than that."
The turnovers and quick scores produced a unique effect on BC's offense, and the Eagles wound up staying on the field for nine minutes despite enduring a landslide of less than 50 yards of total offense. In the weirdest of outcomes, the team needed to start the third quarter with its defense on the field, but the potential for a Virginia Tech 2-for-1 quickly subsided after the unit counterpunched its way into its first real rhythm.
Finding that groove ultimately removed the Hokies' momentum from a suddenly-sleepy Lane Stadium crowd after a bulk of the sold-out crowd made its way to the exits. Forcing a punt ahead of BC's first third quarter drive helped, and Turbo Richard's 30-yard run to start the offense's second half broke Castellanos for a 14-yard run and a 17-yard pass to tight end Kamari Morales. In an instant, a 25-yard pass to Treshaun Ward brought BC back within a 28-7 score that felt less out-of-reach than the three-score deficit indicated. Two turnovers later, the field flipped, and the remaining Virginia Tech crowd murmured silently as energy returned to BC's game.
"One thing I know, my coaches and my teammates know, is that I'm never going to quit," said Castellanos. "No matter what the score is, I'm going to finish and fight to the end. No matter what the scoreboard looked like, we wanted to finish the game, and I think we did a pretty good job of that in the second half. We were playing better, even though there was stuff to work on. We didn't quit, and we didn't lay down."
"We definitely fought back to get back in the game," O'Brien agreed. "We dug ourselves such a deep hole. It's very difficult to come back from a four-score deficit, but we came back. But then when we had it to 4th-and-1 or 4th-and-6-inches, we couldn't get it. Then we roughed the punter, had an illegal formation, and had a false start. So that just made it a rough night."
O'Brien was referring to Kye Robichaux's fourth down run up the middle near the start of the fourth quarter, and the swing that came with Tuten's second touchdown run extended the potential tie-game back to a two-score deficit. Like the first half, it somehow knocked BC away from its sync, and the presnap false start starting the ensuing drive ended when a fumbled snap turnover led directly to Tuten's 61-yard touchdown run. Within a handful of plays - the three turnovers, the missed fourth down and the sacks near the end of the second quarter - a full-blown 35-point swing turned the game on its head.
In total, Tuten finished with four total touchdowns and a program-record 266 rushing yards with three rushing scores while Drones added 10 carries for 40 yards and a score. He separately passed for 164 yards on 14-of-18 passing with a touchdown and an interception, and the Hokies finished the night with 532 yards of total offense - the most yards surrendered by BC since the Hokies registered 600 yards in last year's 48-22 victory.
BC countered with 372 yards, a number that included Castellanos' 17-for-26 night passing for 205 yards and two scores without a pick alongside 20 carries for 58 yards. Turbo Richard averaged seven yards per carry by going for 64 yards on nine rushes, and Robichaux pounded 35 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. Kamari Morales, meanwhile, caught all five of his targets for 36 yards while fellow tight end Jeremiah Franklin caught three targets for 49 yards and a score.
"I have to do a better job of taking care of the football," admitted Castellanos. "The ball is in my hands on every play, every snap. I have to do a better job of protecting the football and being better."
"Give our guys credit," O'Brien said. "They fought back. They were down 28-0 at halftime, and a lot of teams would have quit. Our team's not going to quit. They're just very frustrated. I felt really good about our preparation for the game, and obviously I was wrong. We have to prepare differently, better, whatever it might be. We have to figure it out on a plane ride home, figure it out [over the weekend], and figure it out on Sunday when we get back with the players. We have to coach better. We have a good coaching staff. We have a lot of experience, but we didn't have the guys playing well tonight, so that's on the coaching staff to coach better."
For eternal optimists, the third quarter comeback broke an insurmountable halftime lead and regained BC's mojo after the Hokies shattered the Eagles in the first two quarters. The 28-0 deficit all but disappeared over a five-minute span - an indicator of Thomas Castellanos and the potential explosiveness harbored within his offense.
Eternal pessimists, meanwhile, witnessed fourth quarter issues on par with the first half meltdown, and the three-touchdown final schism between BC and Virginia Tech mirrored the four-score chasm from the first half. The 12-day break after the 24-14 loss to Virginia didn't change the outcome of the next game, and the Eagles lost their second straight game after suffering through less than a 60-minute performance.
Each line of thinking had reason to hold their ground at Friday morning's water cooler debate, but neither doctrine nor philosophy nor rationalization changed the outcome from Thursday night's flight back to Boston. Now 4-3 after starting the year with a 4-1 record that returned the Eagles to the national rankings, they face a path requiring a bridge capable of linking the divide between their successes and failures.
"It's awful [to get off to that start]," said head coach Bill O'Brien after the loss. "We've done that in all of our losses, so we have to figure out how to correct it. You can't turn the ball over and win. There's no correlation between winning and turnovers, and there's nothing more important than possession of the ball. We work on it every day in practice, but it's obviously not translating to the games."
Virginia Tech entered Thursday with a reputation for creating havoc against opposing offenses, but the Hokies built their first half advantage because of BC's introverted inability to protect the football. They converted two Eagle turnovers into touchdowns and flipped a potential tie-score or one-score game into a three-touchdown advantage because of overall miscues, and they used an end-of-half inability to protect the quarterback to turn consecutive sacks into a punting situation that led directly to a final second quarter score.
Kyron Drones scored the first two of those touchdowns by carrying the ball into the end zone, and his 20-yard pass to running back Bhayshul Tuten bookended the burly running back's 83-yard score at the start of a second quarter that featured a 225-48 offensive advantage for the Hokies. They finished the first half with 332 total yards and 188 rushing yards and passed the century mark even without the broken run to daylight that handed a 21-0 lead to the Hokies' defense, and Drones went 12-for-13 for 144 yards and a score despite absorbing two sacks.
"We had trouble stopping the run," said O'Brien. "Give them credit, they did a good job. We were out of our gaps because they knocked us out of our gaps, and we didn't tackle. I just thought that I had the team ready to go tonight, but I obviously didn't. So I've got to figure out how to get the team ready to go because we're better than that."
The turnovers and quick scores produced a unique effect on BC's offense, and the Eagles wound up staying on the field for nine minutes despite enduring a landslide of less than 50 yards of total offense. In the weirdest of outcomes, the team needed to start the third quarter with its defense on the field, but the potential for a Virginia Tech 2-for-1 quickly subsided after the unit counterpunched its way into its first real rhythm.
Finding that groove ultimately removed the Hokies' momentum from a suddenly-sleepy Lane Stadium crowd after a bulk of the sold-out crowd made its way to the exits. Forcing a punt ahead of BC's first third quarter drive helped, and Turbo Richard's 30-yard run to start the offense's second half broke Castellanos for a 14-yard run and a 17-yard pass to tight end Kamari Morales. In an instant, a 25-yard pass to Treshaun Ward brought BC back within a 28-7 score that felt less out-of-reach than the three-score deficit indicated. Two turnovers later, the field flipped, and the remaining Virginia Tech crowd murmured silently as energy returned to BC's game.
"One thing I know, my coaches and my teammates know, is that I'm never going to quit," said Castellanos. "No matter what the score is, I'm going to finish and fight to the end. No matter what the scoreboard looked like, we wanted to finish the game, and I think we did a pretty good job of that in the second half. We were playing better, even though there was stuff to work on. We didn't quit, and we didn't lay down."
"We definitely fought back to get back in the game," O'Brien agreed. "We dug ourselves such a deep hole. It's very difficult to come back from a four-score deficit, but we came back. But then when we had it to 4th-and-1 or 4th-and-6-inches, we couldn't get it. Then we roughed the punter, had an illegal formation, and had a false start. So that just made it a rough night."
O'Brien was referring to Kye Robichaux's fourth down run up the middle near the start of the fourth quarter, and the swing that came with Tuten's second touchdown run extended the potential tie-game back to a two-score deficit. Like the first half, it somehow knocked BC away from its sync, and the presnap false start starting the ensuing drive ended when a fumbled snap turnover led directly to Tuten's 61-yard touchdown run. Within a handful of plays - the three turnovers, the missed fourth down and the sacks near the end of the second quarter - a full-blown 35-point swing turned the game on its head.
In total, Tuten finished with four total touchdowns and a program-record 266 rushing yards with three rushing scores while Drones added 10 carries for 40 yards and a score. He separately passed for 164 yards on 14-of-18 passing with a touchdown and an interception, and the Hokies finished the night with 532 yards of total offense - the most yards surrendered by BC since the Hokies registered 600 yards in last year's 48-22 victory.
BC countered with 372 yards, a number that included Castellanos' 17-for-26 night passing for 205 yards and two scores without a pick alongside 20 carries for 58 yards. Turbo Richard averaged seven yards per carry by going for 64 yards on nine rushes, and Robichaux pounded 35 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. Kamari Morales, meanwhile, caught all five of his targets for 36 yards while fellow tight end Jeremiah Franklin caught three targets for 49 yards and a score.
"I have to do a better job of taking care of the football," admitted Castellanos. "The ball is in my hands on every play, every snap. I have to do a better job of protecting the football and being better."
"Give our guys credit," O'Brien said. "They fought back. They were down 28-0 at halftime, and a lot of teams would have quit. Our team's not going to quit. They're just very frustrated. I felt really good about our preparation for the game, and obviously I was wrong. We have to prepare differently, better, whatever it might be. We have to figure it out on a plane ride home, figure it out [over the weekend], and figure it out on Sunday when we get back with the players. We have to coach better. We have a good coaching staff. We have a lot of experience, but we didn't have the guys playing well tonight, so that's on the coaching staff to coach better."
Players Mentioned
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