Boston College’s 25-16 loss to No. 21 SMU on Saturday didn’t just send the Eagles into their first bye week with a second straight defeat. It also laid bare the same problems that have been hanging around all season: penalties, shaky protection, missed chances, and an offense that keeps asking too much of Mason McKenzie.
Bill O’Brien didn’t sugarcoat any of it afterward. Through five games, he said the Eagles are moving forward only in tiny steps.
"I think this team's made progress, but it's very, like, incremental,” O’Brien said. “We battled a really good Virginia Tech team, we battled an SMU team, but we lost.
We're not in the business of losing. We're in the business of winning, and we're not winning."
That message fit the game itself. Boston College was flagged 11 times, and the offense repeatedly sabotaged itself with false starts and other breakdowns.
Pass protection fell apart at times, and McKenzie was sacked five times. Even routine plays turned messy when the Eagles simply failed to catch the ball.
“Too many mistakes,” O’Brien said. “False starts, 11 penalties, just too many mistakes.
We’re not that type of team. … We work very hard to coach a disciplined team, [and] we weren’t a disciplined team today.”
McKenzie was once again carrying far more than his share of the load. He accounted for 282 of Boston College’s 322 total yards, another reminder that this offense is still leaning heavily on one player to create momentum.
That imbalance showed up everywhere, but especially in the fourth quarter, when the Eagles had a real chance to turn the game into a one-score fight. Trailing 19-10, BC drove to the SMU five-yard line. On third-and-1, McKenzie was stopped for no gain, leaving O’Brien with a decision: kick a field goal and make it a six-point game, or keep the offense on the field.
He chose the latter. McKenzie then lofted a catchable ball to Cameron Kossmann on the perimeter with no defender around him.
The throw had enough on it to turn into a touchdown after the catch. Instead, Kossmann couldn’t haul it in, the ball bounced off his fingertips, and the moment vanished.
Kossmann, a transfer from Florida, was stunned after the drop, and the reaction in the stands wasn’t much calmer. It wasn’t the only costly mistake in crunch time, but it was the one that helped SMU bleed another 4:17 off the clock - time Boston College never got back.
The issues up front kept compounding the problem. The Eagles had false starts and delay-of-game penalties on the first play of drives three separate times in the game, a killer for any offense trying to find rhythm.
“I mean, yeah, it’s hard when you start out the drive like that,” McKenzie said. “It was a lot of, like, first plays of the drives.
But, I mean, we also have to be able to overcome it, too. Things happen.
It’s not always going to be perfect. Obviously, you don’t want that to happen.
We got to clean that up.”
McKenzie did what he could on the ground, rushing for 74 yards on 21 carries, but the rest of the offense managed just 40 rushing yards combined. Some of that comes down to design, but a lot of it also traces back to the blocking and the way lanes are being created - or not created - for the backs.
Boston College’s defense, meanwhile, gave the team a chance. Ted Roof’s plan once again frustrated SMU, holding the Mustangs to 160 passing yards, more than 100 below their average entering the game, and just two passing scores, 1.5 fewer than usual. The Eagles also limited SMU to 58 rushing yards on 32 carries, a 1.8-yard average that stands out as one of the more encouraging numbers from the afternoon.
“Ted did a good job with the plan, and the guys executed it really well,” O’Brien said. “You know, trying to keep [quarterback Kevin Jennings] in the pocket [was key].
Once he gets outside the pocket, it was tough, right? Trying to contain them, limit the explosive plays.They’ve got a lot of speed, and I thought our guys fought hard.”
That defensive effort came with two freshmen, Cam McGee and Gavin Neil, starting on the interior defensive line because Chris Marable Jr. and team sack leader E’LIa Boykin were out injured.
“I thought those guys fought,” O’Brien said. “We gotta, you know, we got to score more points.”
In Other News...
Boston College Sailing Keeps Stacking Strong Finishes Across Busy Weekend
Boston College sailing kept itself on the move over a packed weekend, spreading its roster across four regattas and collecting another set of solid team results. The Eagles were in contention throughout the BU Invite, the George Warren Smith Trophy and the Danmark Trophy, while also getting a look at championship-level competition in the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship Round 1 B. Across the board, different skippers and crews contributed in the A and B divisions, giving Boston College a broad showing of depth as the fall schedule continues to build.
The most encouraging part for the Eagles is how often they stayed near the front while juggling so many events at once. There were strong finishes at BU and at George Warren Smith, along with a fifth-place effort at Danmark, and the experience in the women's conference qualifier added another layer to the weekend. For a program trying to keep momentum in a busy stretch, that kind of steady presence across multiple regattas matters just as much as any single result. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Tennis Built Real Momentum Ahead Of Its Next Test
Boston College womens tennis left the Harvard Fall Classic with a strong early-season foundation, using the three-day event from Oct. 2-4 to sharpen its doubles and singles play against a quality field. The Eagles posted a 6-3 mark in doubles and a 12-7 record in singles, the kind of balanced showing that suggests the roster is settling in nicely as the fall schedule starts to build.
Bella Camacho and Tola Glowacka formed one of the steadier pairs in the draw, and Camacho also turned in a spotless run in singles. The next chance to measure that momentum comes at the ITA Regional Championships at Yale next week, where Boston College will try to carry the same edge into a bigger test. [Read more 🡒]
Boston Colleges Next Shot At Ranked Pitt Just Got More Real
Boston Colleges next chance to test itself against a ranked ACC opponent is now on the calendar. The Eagles will host No. 25 Pitt in Week 7 at Alumni Stadium, and the conference announced the kickoff time along with a batch of other league games for that Saturday. It gives BC a clear stage for a home matchup that should carry plenty of weight in the league race.
The Panthers arrive unbeaten and already off to a strong start in conference play, which only adds to the interest around this one for the Eagles and their fans. A noon kickoff creates an early window at Alumni, and with multiple other ACC games being set around the same time, the leagues Saturday slate is starting to take shape. For BC, the real question is how it will respond when another ranked opponent comes to Chestnut Hill. [Read more 🡒]