The Replay: Michigan State

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Boston College and Michigan State each approached Saturday night's game in East Lansing as the potential turning point for their programs and seasons. Their cross-section of college football quickly emerged in the off-season as a spot where both teams could prove their respective growth under their head coaches, but lining up against one another ultimately offered the golden opportunity for a tangible result against an overall record.

The rarity of their head-to-head comparison contrasted mightily against the increasing numbers of blowouts and non-competitive results or upsets dotting the first two to three weeks of the college football season. Yet the postgame aftermath of a 42-40 double overtime thriller somehow elevated both teams despite the changing and variable trajectory of a loss versus victory.

"We have a lot to build on," said head coach Bill O'Brien. "We have a lot to fix, but to come out on the road to play a really good team that's playing tough, it hurts to lose like that. Give Michigan State a lot of credit. They're very well-coached. They have a lot of good players, and they did a great job. They played a little bit better than us, but we have a lot to build on. We have a lot of things that are positive, and we have to really clean up the negative things."

Losses tend to accentuate the gaps and holes that existed in a team's performance, but BC exited Spartan Stadium with more of a spotlight on how quarterback Dylan Lonergan's ability to alter a game through the team's overall passing attack. Building on his performance in the first game against Fordham, he went 34-for-45 for 390 yards and four touchdowns without an interception in what narrowly missed becoming the first 400-yard passing game since Dennis Grosel's 2020 game against Virginia tied Doug Flutie with 520 yards in a single game.

Passing for four scores in a second straight game to start his career eluded Emmett Morehead after the four-touchdown performance against Duke in 2022, and no quarterback since Anthony Brown claimed as many as eight touchdowns without an interception to start a season. Even then, Brown was in his second year as a starter, and quarterbacks dating back to Matt Ryan all threw at least one pick at the start of their BC career. In Chase Rettig's case, the first start of his career against Notre Dame ended with an ankle injury - far from the perfect type of night enjoyed by the Alabama transfer.

"He's a smart guy," said O'Brien. "He's got a lot of experience in the system that we run. It's very similar to what we ran at Alabama, so he understands it. He has a lot of poise, and I thought the offensive line protected [him] very well."

The blistering passing attack emerged in a way that hasn't been seen in Chestnut Hill since the mid-2000s. Its numbers blew past the performances associated with the offensive breakout at the start of the decade and carved through much of the Spartans throughout the first half. In the first quarter alone, a 56-yard pass to VJ Wilkins preceded a second 19-yard pass to Lewis Bond, and a later 18-yard pass to Jeremiah Franklin exposed linebacker Jordan Hall's coverage lapses in front of safeties that left too many receivers behind its back line. As BC moved closer to the Spartan goal line, negligence in deep coverage allowed Lonergan to switch to a touch-based pass that arced its way into the hands of awaiting receivers.

"I think the offensive line might be overlooked a little bit," explained O'Brien. "They pass-protected very well, and I thought the backs helped to pick up when Michigan State blitzed. I still think we need to run the ball better, but I'm not blaming the offensive line for that."

That last point was the more natural criticism after the Eagles failed to gain 100 yards on the ground for the second consecutive game. That said, Turbo Richard still averaged four yards per carry and scored a touchdown on 13 carries, so finding positives within the game are more likely to carry over as the team prepares for Stanford in the upcoming week. He paired two four-yard carries on the clock-killing and game-tying drive in the fourth quarter and later caught a nine-yard pass in overtime to move the sticks after Lewis Bond gained seven yards on a direct snap carry.

"Give Michigan State a lot of credit," said O'Brien. "They've got a really good run defense, but I think we're still on the right track."

Syncing those elements of the offense are likely going to keep BC moving in the right direction after absorbing its first loss of the season. The Spartans weren't at their best when the BC defense was well-rested and defending a long field, and their lone second half touchdown occurred at the start of the third quarter. Two BC scoring drives sandwiched Michigan State's four-and-out turnover on downs, and just two of the seven Spartan scoring drives traveled more than 50 yards with the last two touchdown "drives" occurring in overtime.

Quarterback Aidan Chiles naturally fit into that storyline with four touchdown passes and a separate rushing score. He passed for 231 yards on 19-of-29 attempts while primarily targeting Nick Marsh in the receiving game, to which the sophomore grabbed five of 11 targets for 68 yards and two scores.

But even then, the large bulk of his passing attack came on chunk plays. Marsh grabbed a 41-yard touchdown catch with Omari Kelly separately going for a 30-yard catch in the second half, so there's a corollary outlining BC's ability to win the game if it creates mistakes for an opponent or is able to limit explosive plays.

The Eagles outgained Michigan State and held the Spartans to under 400 yards of offense despite the inflated 42-point outburst, so there's an additional message outlining a road map for the future: if BC is able to hold opponents and control field position, then the defense will likely improve significantly over its week-to-week totals.

"We couldn't contain the quarterback," admitted O'Brien. "That guy is a great player, so while there's a lot of build on, it's never good to lose."

BC returns to the field on Saturday when it travels to Stanford for its first conference matchup with the Cardinal. Game time is slotted for 10:30 p.m. with television coverage on the ACC Network.

Players Mentioned

Lewis Bond

Jeremiah Franklin

Dylan Lonergan

Turbo Richard

VJ Wilkins

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