Eagles Fall to Cincinnati in Season Opener

Saturday, September 5

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:30 p.m.

Boston College

0-1 , 0-0

Cincinnati

1-0 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Boston College	0	0	8	7	15
Cincinnati	3	7	14	10	34

Photo by: Jordan Arnold

Eagles Fall to Cincinnati in Season Opener

September 05, 2026 | Football

Box Score Gamebook Photo Gallery

Dickens and Montague Jr. both find the endzone in the first game of the season

By: Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Boston College football team fell to the Cincinnati Bearcats by a score of 34-15 on Saturday afternoon in the Eagles' 2026 season opener.

Mason McKenzie finished with 223 passing yards and one touchdown along with 78 yards on the ground. Evan Dickens ran for 47 yards with one touchdown and had one reception for 27 yards, while Johnathan Montague Jr. had two receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown. Anthony Palano led all players with 13 tackles and KP Price also finished in double digits for tackles with 10.

Cincinnati opened the scoring on their first drive of the afternoon with a 54-yard field goal from Stephen Rusnak to put the Bearcats ahead 3-0. The Bearcats added to their lead midway through the second quarter when JC French IV found JV Gibson in the endzone for a four-yard touchdown.

The Eagles drove the ball down the field during the final two minutes of the first half. On the second play of the day, McKenzie found Javarius Green for a 20-yard pickup, his longest throw of the day. Later in the drive on 3rd and 15, McKenzie scrambled for 15 yards to get the first down. BC progressed the ball down to the Cincinnati 25-yard line, but was unable to convert on the drive.

The Bearcats added a pair of four-yard rushing touchdowns in the third quarter to extend their lead to 24-0.

Dickens got the Eagles on the board with a four-yard rushing touchdown late in the third quarter to make it a 24-8 game.Earlier in the drive, Dickens caught a pass out of the backfield and picked up 27 yards to put BC in the redzone. After an illegal substitution penalty against the Bearcats and back-to-back three yards rushes by Dickens, the redshirt junior punched it in from four yards out.

After Cincinnati pushed the lead to 34-8, McKenzie connected with Montague Jr. over the middle for a 23-yard passing touchdown with just over one minute remaining to give the Eagles their second touchdown of the day.

The Eagles open the home slate this coming Friday, September 11, against Rutgers in the 13th annual Red Bandanna Game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will air live on ESPN2. Tickets for the game can be purchased here or by calling the ticket office at 617-552-GoBC.