Boston College Athletics
Saturday, October 17
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
12:00 p.m.
Boston College
vs
Pitt
October 14, 2026 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC used the free week to reset its team ahead of Saturday's game against Pitt.
Boston College had just left Dallas with the familiar feeling that a winnable game had slipped through its fingers. The 25-16 loss to SMU represented a second straight defeat after a hard-fought loss to Virginia Tech, and both games very easily could have swapped into the win column if one or two extra plays broke correctly. The feeling chewed particularly hard at head coach Bill O'Brien because competitive losses were still losses, so this past week's bye beckoned him with the harsher reality of a 2-3 overall record.
The criticality of this past week left O'Brien with a welcome pause in the schedule after the first half of the year exploded forward with an unrelenting pace. There had been flashes of improvement over the first five games, and over the past week, his coaching staff met with the team and worked to hone in on the positives that emerged ahead of this week's return against a Pittsburgh team that most recently lost its national ranking.
"We did a lot [over the bye week]," said O'Brien during his media availability on Tuesday afternoon. "We practiced. We scrimmaged. We approached it the way that we've approached every bye week since the beginning because we have to do a lot of things better. We have to execute better in certain situations on offense. We have to play better in the fourth quarter on defense. We have to punt the ball more consistently and kick the ball more consistently. There were a lot of things that we worked on, and I think we got better as a football team."
The Eagles dealt with an illness during the week leading up to the trip to Texas, so the timing of the bye most critically allowed the roster to get back to full health. An extra window of preparation specifically enabled the depth chart to recover and increase averages that are closer to flipping into the team's favor.
Scoring, for example, entered the bye with BC within one possession of flipping a statistical disadvantage. The defense's 37 tackles for loss are third best in the ACC, and two players - E'Lla Boykin and Demetrius Ballard - remain two of the top-10 sack leaders in the ACC while the eight takeaways are fourth-most in the conference. Compared to a yardage output that's averaging close to 350 yards per game and more than five yards per play, it's not difficult to see how the Eagles can therefore use their own advantages to stabilize their record while increasing numbers that are already near the top of the conference.
"It feels like we've been getting better every day," said defensive back Charlie Comella. "We're putting the pieces together and really taking the coaching as a big point that this defense has, day-by-day, gotten better."
Comella had a career-best seven tackles over consecutive games against Virginia Tech and SMU, but spreading his improvement over the rest of the unit is ultimately going to enhance the foothold of an offense that continued discovering its new identity over the first half of the year. What started as a run-first and quarterback-centric unit ultimately spread its wings in the SMU game after Mason McKenzie led running back Evan Dickens for a 43-yard touchdown pass, and his five receptions against Rutgers led a group of pass catchers with different primary targets in any one contest.
Javarius Green, for example, caught six balls in the season-opening game against Cincinnati before Dickens and Johnathan Montague led the team in receptions over the next two weeks, after which Green reascended to the top of McKenzie's target and catch list for the SMU game. Virginia Tech was therefore the only game without a receiver who caught five balls, but the nor'easter conditions made it impossible to sustain any kind of passing attack over the full four-quarter effort.
"We're tough," said Montague about the receivers. "We're great guys, and we still have room to improve."
"I've seen him [Mason McKenzie] improve," he explained. "I've seen our receiver room improve. The whole team has improved, and I'd say we still have some steps to go, just like any other team."
Getting into the bye week allowed O'Brien and the team to fully reset how to push that effort forward for Saturday's matchup against a Pittsburgh roster that recently lost a hard-fought 21-17 decision against North Carolina. Coming off of an undefeated start, the Panthers had balanced a solid offense with a takeaway defense in their 35-33 win over Virginia Tech, and quarterback Mason Heintschel had two games with 400-plus yards and six touchdowns. A torn ACL removed him from the lineup ahead of the UNC game, but senior Holden Geriner admirably completed 61 percent of his passes against the Tar Heels despite throwing two interceptions.
"This is going to be a big week," said O'Brien. "We have to tackle. When we tackle, we do a good job. It's when we start missing tackles that guys get extra yards after first contact. That's one thing that Pitt does a great job of doing. They're good tacklers. We believe that we're good tacklers, and that has to show up on Saturday."
Boston College and Pittsburgh kick off on Saturday, October 17, from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Game time is slotted for 12 p.m. and can be seen on national television via ESPN2.
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The criticality of this past week left O'Brien with a welcome pause in the schedule after the first half of the year exploded forward with an unrelenting pace. There had been flashes of improvement over the first five games, and over the past week, his coaching staff met with the team and worked to hone in on the positives that emerged ahead of this week's return against a Pittsburgh team that most recently lost its national ranking.
"We did a lot [over the bye week]," said O'Brien during his media availability on Tuesday afternoon. "We practiced. We scrimmaged. We approached it the way that we've approached every bye week since the beginning because we have to do a lot of things better. We have to execute better in certain situations on offense. We have to play better in the fourth quarter on defense. We have to punt the ball more consistently and kick the ball more consistently. There were a lot of things that we worked on, and I think we got better as a football team."
The Eagles dealt with an illness during the week leading up to the trip to Texas, so the timing of the bye most critically allowed the roster to get back to full health. An extra window of preparation specifically enabled the depth chart to recover and increase averages that are closer to flipping into the team's favor.
Scoring, for example, entered the bye with BC within one possession of flipping a statistical disadvantage. The defense's 37 tackles for loss are third best in the ACC, and two players - E'Lla Boykin and Demetrius Ballard - remain two of the top-10 sack leaders in the ACC while the eight takeaways are fourth-most in the conference. Compared to a yardage output that's averaging close to 350 yards per game and more than five yards per play, it's not difficult to see how the Eagles can therefore use their own advantages to stabilize their record while increasing numbers that are already near the top of the conference.
"It feels like we've been getting better every day," said defensive back Charlie Comella. "We're putting the pieces together and really taking the coaching as a big point that this defense has, day-by-day, gotten better."
Comella had a career-best seven tackles over consecutive games against Virginia Tech and SMU, but spreading his improvement over the rest of the unit is ultimately going to enhance the foothold of an offense that continued discovering its new identity over the first half of the year. What started as a run-first and quarterback-centric unit ultimately spread its wings in the SMU game after Mason McKenzie led running back Evan Dickens for a 43-yard touchdown pass, and his five receptions against Rutgers led a group of pass catchers with different primary targets in any one contest.
Javarius Green, for example, caught six balls in the season-opening game against Cincinnati before Dickens and Johnathan Montague led the team in receptions over the next two weeks, after which Green reascended to the top of McKenzie's target and catch list for the SMU game. Virginia Tech was therefore the only game without a receiver who caught five balls, but the nor'easter conditions made it impossible to sustain any kind of passing attack over the full four-quarter effort.
"We're tough," said Montague about the receivers. "We're great guys, and we still have room to improve."
"I've seen him [Mason McKenzie] improve," he explained. "I've seen our receiver room improve. The whole team has improved, and I'd say we still have some steps to go, just like any other team."
Getting into the bye week allowed O'Brien and the team to fully reset how to push that effort forward for Saturday's matchup against a Pittsburgh roster that recently lost a hard-fought 21-17 decision against North Carolina. Coming off of an undefeated start, the Panthers had balanced a solid offense with a takeaway defense in their 35-33 win over Virginia Tech, and quarterback Mason Heintschel had two games with 400-plus yards and six touchdowns. A torn ACL removed him from the lineup ahead of the UNC game, but senior Holden Geriner admirably completed 61 percent of his passes against the Tar Heels despite throwing two interceptions.
"This is going to be a big week," said O'Brien. "We have to tackle. When we tackle, we do a good job. It's when we start missing tackles that guys get extra yards after first contact. That's one thing that Pitt does a great job of doing. They're good tacklers. We believe that we're good tacklers, and that has to show up on Saturday."
Boston College and Pittsburgh kick off on Saturday, October 17, from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Game time is slotted for 12 p.m. and can be seen on national television via ESPN2.
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Players Mentioned
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