Photo by: Brody Hannon
The Replay: Fordham
August 30, 2025 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC dominated the Rams to head into their next game with a 1-0 record.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Whatever momentum remained in Fordham's football tank reeled by the time the Rams ran out of their visiting team tunnel for the third quarter. Boston College didn't hold cards for a two-for-one opportunity around the halftime break after receiving the opening kickoff, so ending the Patriot League's lingering threat of an upset rested on the team's ability to create a disruptive play. More than a stifling defense, the Eagles needed to create and generate a massive play to end Fordham's afternoon in the middle of a Rockwellian and sunsplashed afternoon.
Nobody had to wait very long to find out what BC had in its inventive back pocket.
Daveon Crouch intercepted Fordham quarterback Gunnar Smith for a pick-six on the first play of the opening drive of the third quarter, and whatever tightness existed in BC's early 14-3 lead quickly dissipated into one of the most dominant blowouts in recent program history as the Eagles used a destructive second half to roll to a 66-10 victory over the football championship subdivision's Rams in Saturday's season-opening game at Alumni Stadium.
"We have to be an explosive team," said head coach Bill O'Brien. "We hit some chunk plays, which I thought was good to see. [Quarterback Dylan Lonergan] hit some, and Grayson [James] hit a couple. Those were good to see, and that has to be a part of our offense, but in order to do that, we have to run the ball better. If we can run the ball better, which we'll work hard on this week, that will help our play action offense. We definitely don't want to be three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust because that's not who we are. We will do it if we have to, but we really believe in chunk plays and have to continue to work on it."
BC began the game with a manufactured drive lasting 13 plays, 71 yards and over six minutes as an attempt to establish Lonergan on his first plays as the team's starting quarterback, but revamping the offense around its latest weapon moved into those explosive plays on his second time on the field. There had been a 17-yard pass to Lewis Bond before the team shifted into its first red zone attack, but a 3rd-and-2 conversion by Turbo Richard illustrated the setup of a well-placed running play ahead of the 11-yard touchdown pass to Jordan McDonald.
He had missed Reed Harris earlier on an open pass across the middle, but Lonergan broke out with a 27-yard catch-and-run to Bond at the start of his second drive behind center. Another 32-yard explosive play moved the fifth-year wide receiver to within 500 yards of the program's top-10 career receivers, but meant more to the growing connection between the new starter and his offense by favoring a target for six passes and 96 yards through the first 20 minutes.
"It was a different feeling," said Lonergan of playing his first game action in a BC uniform. "I was really excited. It felt great to be out there, but we just have to get back to work this week to get ready [to clean up our performance]."
A second quarter slowdown limited BC to its 14-3 lead until the last minute of the first half, but Lonergan's overall performance within the framework of the offensive scheme launched the Eagles into the second half's blowout. He had been 21-for-29 for 225 yards and three scores while McDonald and Richard combined for 39 yards on 13 carries. A 17-yard touchdown pass to an elevated Harris in the corner of the end zone then added another layer to the budding quarterbacks' overall game, and later explosive plays enabled Richard and Alex Broome to extend BC's lead to 45-3 and 52-3 before Bo MacCormack III's first score for the Eagles pushed the program to its highest offensive outburst since 2018's win over Holy Cross.
"We really just cleaned up the little things," said Lonergan of the second quarter, "getting on the same page with the offensive line and running backs. I think we did a good job of that before halftime, and that propelled us right into the second half."
Lonergan finished with 268 yards on 26-of-34 passing, to which his 76.4 percent completion rate offered the highest efficiency since Emmett Morehead went 29-for-38 in a 32-23 loss to Syracuse in the 2023 season finale. It was the first four-touchdown performance since Thomas Castellanos threw for four scores in last year's 56-0 win over Duquesne, while the overall team performance notched its most points in a game since 2015's 76-0 win over Howard.
Lonergan finished with the highest completion percentage by a quarterback with 30 passing attempts in a BC win since Chase Rettig began the 2013 season with a 23-for-30 performance in a 24-14 win over Villanova.
It was also the first four-touchdown, 20-attempt passing performance in a win since Anthony Brown went 16-for-25 for 304 yards and five scores in 2018's 41-34 win over Wake Forest - 12 days after Brown went 15-for-21 for 279 yards and four touchdowns in a 55-21 win over UMass.
"There was a lot to build on," said O'Brien. "Scoring that many points and getting a defensive touchdown with Bam's interception - I thought we did a good job of getting into a rhythm. There were three-or-four series that we have to look at and fix because those can't happen in these games that are coming up, so we have to do a good job of overcoming that. We can't have four three-and-outs in a row, but I was happy overall with how the players dealt with adversity and came back."
Richard became the primary back in the second half and finished with 16 carries for 48 yards and a touchdown, and Franklin notched five catches on six targets for 50 yards. Skeete scored a pair of end zone receiving touchdowns, and both Harris and McDonald caught their first scores of the season.
BC, meanwhile, produced 60-plus points for only the third time since the turn of the century. Prior to 2018, the previous 60-point performance was a 66-14 win over Temple during the third game of the 1993 season, which ended with the Eagles' infamous win over No. 1 Notre Dame and a No. 12 national ranking after a 31-13 win in the Carquest Bowl.
"We have to watch the film and learn from our mistakes before taking that into next week," said Lonergan.Â
BC next plays Michigan State on next Saturday night with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff that's set for NBC's national television coverage.
Nobody had to wait very long to find out what BC had in its inventive back pocket.
Daveon Crouch intercepted Fordham quarterback Gunnar Smith for a pick-six on the first play of the opening drive of the third quarter, and whatever tightness existed in BC's early 14-3 lead quickly dissipated into one of the most dominant blowouts in recent program history as the Eagles used a destructive second half to roll to a 66-10 victory over the football championship subdivision's Rams in Saturday's season-opening game at Alumni Stadium.
"We have to be an explosive team," said head coach Bill O'Brien. "We hit some chunk plays, which I thought was good to see. [Quarterback Dylan Lonergan] hit some, and Grayson [James] hit a couple. Those were good to see, and that has to be a part of our offense, but in order to do that, we have to run the ball better. If we can run the ball better, which we'll work hard on this week, that will help our play action offense. We definitely don't want to be three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust because that's not who we are. We will do it if we have to, but we really believe in chunk plays and have to continue to work on it."
BC began the game with a manufactured drive lasting 13 plays, 71 yards and over six minutes as an attempt to establish Lonergan on his first plays as the team's starting quarterback, but revamping the offense around its latest weapon moved into those explosive plays on his second time on the field. There had been a 17-yard pass to Lewis Bond before the team shifted into its first red zone attack, but a 3rd-and-2 conversion by Turbo Richard illustrated the setup of a well-placed running play ahead of the 11-yard touchdown pass to Jordan McDonald.
He had missed Reed Harris earlier on an open pass across the middle, but Lonergan broke out with a 27-yard catch-and-run to Bond at the start of his second drive behind center. Another 32-yard explosive play moved the fifth-year wide receiver to within 500 yards of the program's top-10 career receivers, but meant more to the growing connection between the new starter and his offense by favoring a target for six passes and 96 yards through the first 20 minutes.
"It was a different feeling," said Lonergan of playing his first game action in a BC uniform. "I was really excited. It felt great to be out there, but we just have to get back to work this week to get ready [to clean up our performance]."
A second quarter slowdown limited BC to its 14-3 lead until the last minute of the first half, but Lonergan's overall performance within the framework of the offensive scheme launched the Eagles into the second half's blowout. He had been 21-for-29 for 225 yards and three scores while McDonald and Richard combined for 39 yards on 13 carries. A 17-yard touchdown pass to an elevated Harris in the corner of the end zone then added another layer to the budding quarterbacks' overall game, and later explosive plays enabled Richard and Alex Broome to extend BC's lead to 45-3 and 52-3 before Bo MacCormack III's first score for the Eagles pushed the program to its highest offensive outburst since 2018's win over Holy Cross.
"We really just cleaned up the little things," said Lonergan of the second quarter, "getting on the same page with the offensive line and running backs. I think we did a good job of that before halftime, and that propelled us right into the second half."
Lonergan finished with 268 yards on 26-of-34 passing, to which his 76.4 percent completion rate offered the highest efficiency since Emmett Morehead went 29-for-38 in a 32-23 loss to Syracuse in the 2023 season finale. It was the first four-touchdown performance since Thomas Castellanos threw for four scores in last year's 56-0 win over Duquesne, while the overall team performance notched its most points in a game since 2015's 76-0 win over Howard.
Lonergan finished with the highest completion percentage by a quarterback with 30 passing attempts in a BC win since Chase Rettig began the 2013 season with a 23-for-30 performance in a 24-14 win over Villanova.
It was also the first four-touchdown, 20-attempt passing performance in a win since Anthony Brown went 16-for-25 for 304 yards and five scores in 2018's 41-34 win over Wake Forest - 12 days after Brown went 15-for-21 for 279 yards and four touchdowns in a 55-21 win over UMass.
"There was a lot to build on," said O'Brien. "Scoring that many points and getting a defensive touchdown with Bam's interception - I thought we did a good job of getting into a rhythm. There were three-or-four series that we have to look at and fix because those can't happen in these games that are coming up, so we have to do a good job of overcoming that. We can't have four three-and-outs in a row, but I was happy overall with how the players dealt with adversity and came back."
Richard became the primary back in the second half and finished with 16 carries for 48 yards and a touchdown, and Franklin notched five catches on six targets for 50 yards. Skeete scored a pair of end zone receiving touchdowns, and both Harris and McDonald caught their first scores of the season.
BC, meanwhile, produced 60-plus points for only the third time since the turn of the century. Prior to 2018, the previous 60-point performance was a 66-14 win over Temple during the third game of the 1993 season, which ended with the Eagles' infamous win over No. 1 Notre Dame and a No. 12 national ranking after a 31-13 win in the Carquest Bowl.
"We have to watch the film and learn from our mistakes before taking that into next week," said Lonergan.Â
BC next plays Michigan State on next Saturday night with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff that's set for NBC's national television coverage.
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