BC’s Win in Amherst Overshadowed by Injuries, Penalties and Bad Defense
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Staff Writer
AMHERST, MASS. — Nightmare in Amherst.
Boston College star wide receiver Zay Flowers had to be helped off the field after being dragged to the ground on a third-quarter jet sweep, losing the ball and injuring his left leg in the process. Flowers needed medical assistance to get off the field. BC had already lost starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec to a right wrist or hand injury in the first quarter, and now his right-hand man—BC’s other ACC Preseason Player of the Year vote getter—was sidelined.
Shortly after, UMass true freshman quarterback Brady Olson hung a deep ball over the Eagles’ secondary for a momentum-shifting touchdown. Rico Arnold was on the other end, and the Minutemen were within one score of their 37-point favorite, in-state foes.
But Flowers bounced back, and so did BC.
At least enough to survive UMass and advance to 2-0.
In a track meet of a second half, Dennis Grosel quarterbacked the Eagles to a 45-28 win. The victory wasn’t without a horde of penalties, missed tackles and a head-scratching muffed punt. There were peaks, there were valleys and a bevy of questions were raised.
Wearing its Red Bandana uniforms to honor Welles Crowther on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, BC (2-0) made a point to pound the rock down the throat of UMass (0-2), which was second-to-last in the country in run defense in 2020.
After Josh DeBerry intercepted an underthrown Olson pass on the Minutemen’s game-opening drive, the Eagles stitched together a marathon series of 14 plays, 65 yards, spanning more than six and a half minutes. BC ran the ball 10 times that drive, with starting running back Alec Sinkfield getting the bulk of the work. The West Virginia transfer piled up inside zone runs, recording seven carries for 32 yards and a six-yard touchdown to put BC up, 7-0.
It wouldn’t have happened without Jurkovec keeping the series alive, courtesy of a 17-yard pass to tight end Trae Barry on a 3rd-and-9 in UMass territory. It was his final throw of the day. Jurkovec left with medical staff later that quarter and never returned to the game.
Once again, BC veteran backup quarterback Dennis Grosel was called into action. Grosel replaced Eagles three-year starter Anthony Brown Jr. in 2019 after Brown tore his ACL at Louisville, and Grosel started the final seven games of that year. Then, he filled in for Jurkovec last season when the Notre Dame transfer suffered a knee injury against Louisville, and Grosel proceeded to fend off a Cardinals comeback and tie Doug Flutie’s single-game program record for passing yards the following week at Virginia.
He added to his resume Saturday with an 11-of-14 performance for 199 yards and a score through the air, not to mention some productive running and a quarterback sneak touchdown.
“It’s almost like I’m more comfortable with doing that than I am starting a game at this point,” Grosel said. “I’ve done it enough where just being a backup, you always want to be ready to go—I always have the mindset of ‘Not much to lose.’”
Grosel started his first drive of the afternoon with a 14-yard dot to true freshman wide receiver Jaden Williams, who would eventually limp off the field in the third quarter. After that, Pat Garwo III began his career day (15 carries, 160 rushing yards) with a 36-yard run. He sprinted off tackle, untouched, and booked it down the right sideline before stepping out of bounds. Grosel was the one who got in the end zone, though. A few plays after he nearly juked his way into the paint, the redshirt senior tumbled in over his offensive line to increase BC’s lead to two touchdowns.
Neither team scored the rest of the half, despite UMass orchestrating a 14-play, 68-yard drive that milked 8:27 off the clock. The Minutemen went for it on fourth down twice that drive, converting the first with an option play but failing to score on 4th-and-Goal.
BC was only ahead, 14-0, and when Flowers went down holding his leg in pain after fumbling the ball on a jet sweep, it looked like the Eagles were in serious trouble.
Olson, who was replacing injured Colorado grad transfer Tyler Lytle, started to find a groove. The 6-foot-4 Bellingham native was 10-of-19 for 189 yards, a trio of scores and one interception in the final two quarters of play. The first of his three touchdowns was a perfectly-timed, 56-yard pass to Arnold. BC needed an answer, and it got one.
Grosel pushed the Eagles to midfield with a 21-yard pass to Barry. Garwo ripped off a 21-yard run, and, three plays later, Travis Levy burst through the trenches for a 20-yard score. The Eagles found the end zone again in less than two minutes.
Following a UMass three-and-out, a backpedaling Grosel fired a pass to a wide-open Barry, who snuck through the second level on a wheel route. Like he did in the season opener, the Jacksonville State transfer caught the pass and made a bee-line for six, this time sans-hurdle. The 44-yard touchdown made it 28-7, BC.
Special teams, which BC head coach Jeff Hafley said is UMass’ best-coached unit, breathed some life back into McGuirk Alumni Stadium. UMass punter George Georgopoulus booted a 52-yarder to Levy late in the third quarter. Levy trotted backwards and tried to field the kick in the sun, but he dropped the ball on its way down. UMass recovered the muffed punt on BC’s one-yard line and, shortly after, Kay’Ron Adams punched the ball to halve the Minutemen’s deficit.
The special teams pendulum swung the other way on the very next Eagles possession. Grant Carlson punted to UMass wide receiver Eric Collins, who fielded the line-drive kick and, after making one move, was leveled by BC linebacker Vinny DePalma, popping the ball loose.
“They didn’t give us a block look, which we were expecting, so we punted, and we went to cover,” DePalma said. “I think Gunner Daniel, the long snapper, did a great job of tying [Collins] for a second. I just came in … and I attacked the ball.”
Eagles strong safety Jaiden Lars-Woodbey was there to scoop it up and run 41 yards for his first career touchdown. Collins redeemed himself on offense, beating DeBerry in coverage for a 15-yard score. It was a quick counter by the Minutemen, who registered 236 yards of total offense in the second half.
UMass, which scored 12 total points in a four-game 2020 slate, was humming on offense, in part because of bad tackling—four BC starters had missed tackle rates higher than 14% Saturday, per Pro Football Focus—and the fact that laundry day came 24 hours early for the Eagles. BC committed 11 penalties, including two 15-yarders on the UMass touchdown drive that culminated in Collins winning a 1-on-1 battle with DeBerry.
“Really, truthfully disappointing,” Hafley said. “I felt like we were just giving them yards and first downs. … It was like every drive was a result of self-inflicted wounds. So that clearly starts with me. I thought I had it fixed. I clearly don’t.”
The back-and-forth continued, with Danny Longman converting a 27-yard field goal to kick off the fourth quarter. UMass wasn’t done yet. Olson dialed up a gutsy third-down pass with a hand in his face to keep the drive alive. He hit running back Ellis Merriweather for the score on an empty set slant pattern.
Just when things were getting too close for comfort for BC again, Levy restored the Eagles’ 17-point advantage with a 96-yard kick return touchdown. Olson had the Minutemen on the move once more, but a Brandon Sebastian interception deep in BC territory sealed the deal.
The Eagles ran out the clock and didn’t take any chances, with Grosel completing a 49-yard pass to Flowers on 3rd-and-6 to put the game to bed.
BC woke up from what felt like a nightmare early in the third quarter.
That said, the game itself was a wake-up call for the Eagles, who lost their starting quarterback, gave up 99 yards in penalties and allowed more points to UMass than any team since UConn in 2019.
