Rutgers Runs Through BC for Shocker in Chestnut Hill
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
There were more gaps in Boston College's rushing defense than there were in the top deck bleachers of Alumni Stadium during Saturday's season opener against Rutgers.
The Scarlet Knights, who finished with 212 rushing yards, ran the ball down the Eagles' throat in what turned out to be the game-winning drive.
There were 12 plays in the 96-yard series, and 11 of them were on the ground.
"That's probably the most disheartening part," BC head coach Jeff Hafley said.
The last chunk came on a 22-yard Salaam Al-Shadee touchdown scamper.
Graduate BC cornerback Elijah Jones said it left the same bad taste in his mouth as when the Eagles gave up 293 rushing yards to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome last year. There were shades of BC's 2021 mishaps throughout the 2022 opener, notably a bad snap exchange—which gifted Rutgers its second touchdown—and poor pass protection.
Despite at one point being up nine points in the third quarter, the Eagles, who fumbled six times (lost one) and threw two interceptions, couldn't put away Rutgers, which left Chestnut Hill with a 22-21 win, its first victory over BC since 1991.
"We know we should have won that game," wide receiver Zay Flowers said. "We know we gave it away."
With five new starters, BC's inexperienced offensive line struggled mightily. The Eagles (0-1) allowed four sacks and eight tackles for loss. Twice, running back Pat Garwo III, a 1,000-yard rusher in 2021 who finished with 25 yards on 14 carries Saturday, was stuffed for a loss of four yards.
Rutgers (1-0) had its own issues on offense. The Scarlet Knights alternated between quarterbacks Gavin Wimsatt—a former four star with dual-threat ability—and Evan Simon—more of a pocket passer who backed up the injured Noah Vedral last season—as they mustered just six first downs in the opening half.
BC got on the board first, in large part because of excellent field position from a Rutgers three-and-out. First, Eagles signal caller Phil Jurkovec hooked up with his old Notre Dame teammate, tight end George Takacs, for a gain of 29 yards. Jurkovec and Takacs were on the same page all day. In fact, Takacs surpassed his Notre Dame career receiving total with 84 yards on seven receptions.
Soon enough, Flowers scored his first touchdown of the season, making a great mid-air adjustment to the ball in the end zone while staking BC to a 7-0 lead.
Rutgers nearly countered, but because of an array of penalties—Rutgers mounted 10 infractions on the day—a 1st-and-Goal transformed into a 4th-and-Goal from the BC 43-yard line.
The ensuing drive featured the first of two Jurkovec picks. He was looking for Flowers, who was draped in double coverage, and Rutgers' Christian Braswell was there for the interception.
The Scarlet Knights scored two touchdowns off BC turnovers, and the first came via creative play-calling from offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson. Running back Kyle Monangai flipped the ball to slot wide receiver Aron Cruickshank on a reverse, and Cruickshank zoomed 26 yards to the end zone.
But Rutgers place kicker Jude McAtamney missed the extra point. The Scarlet Knights' one-point deficit soon became an eight-point hole after Flowers gobbled up his fair share of yards after the catch on the ensuing drive. The speedy wideout was the heartbeat of the Eagles' offense Saturday. He piled up a career-high 10 receptions for 117 yards, in addition to 16 more yards on the ground, courtesy of two carries.
His second touchdown, a 25-yard catch and run, capped a 10-play, 79-yard drive that put BC up, 14-6. The score stayed that way until intermission, even though an Elijah Jones interception put the Eagles in position for more points. Unfortunately for Hafley and Co., place kicker Connor Lytton—who missed only one field goal all last season—pushed a 44-yarder wide right.
BC got the ball to start the second half, however, a low snap from redshirt freshman center Drew Kendall resulted in a fumble that Jurkovec couldn't recover. A couple plays later, Monangai punched the ball into the paint. The Scarlet Knights failed to convert the two-point attempt, though.
That said, the Eagles did respond. Jurkovec used a trio of passes that went for 10 or more yards to push BC downfield. In the red zone, the redshirt senior dialed up a backshoulder fade for sophomore Jaden Williams.
Rutgers drew within one score again, 21-15, thanks to a 33-yard McAtamney field goal. The Scarlet Knights vaulted into BC territory after a late hit by nickel Josh DeBerry.
More offensive dysfunction set back the Eagles, who committed three "illegal receiver downfield" penalties Saturday. There was even a play where backup quarterback Emmett Morehead had to come in, and, because that snap hit a motioning Williams, the redshirt freshman gunslinger had to hop on a loose ball. Jurkovec then returned, only to throw a pick to Rutgers' Robert Longerbeam moments later.
Although BC recovered all but one of its own fumbles, it couldn't scoop up the fumbles it forced. Edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku hit Simon while he was in his throwing motion, except the Eagles couldn't cleanly secure the takeaway. Instead, Rutgers punted, BC stalled near midfield on its ensuing drive, and then the Scarlet Knights orchestrated their sucker punch on the ground.
That 96-yard, run-dominated series included three 3rd-and-1 conversions.
BC got the ball back with two timeouts and under three minutes to go. The first play ended with a Takacs drop, and the next two culminated in Jurkovec sacks. BC used one of its timeouts before Danny Longman booted the ball away on 4th-and-25.
Hafley called the other with 1:46 left. Rutgers milked the clock before punting with 17 ticks remaining. It didn't matter how many seconds there were, though, because a running into the kicker penalty gave the Scarlet Knights a game-clinching first down.
Rutgers snapped its 11-game losing streak to BC, which arguably hasn't suffered a more embarrassing defeat under Hafley.
"This is not doomsday for me," the third-year head coach said. "I’m really upset. I am. Like really upset, because I do believe we could have won that game. I don’t want to say we should have, because that’s what losers say. We had every chance to win and we didn’t, and that’s on me."
Jurkovec, a captain and battle-tested quarterback, said that his message to his team is, "let it hurt." Then, learn from the loss and move on, he explained.
The Eagles can't blink.
They've got two ACC games in the next three weeks and a lot to fix, including several recurring issues from a 2021 season everyone in the program believed was behind them.
