Boston College had enough in the first half to make No. 21 SMU sweat, but not enough to survive the mess that followed.
The Eagles looked sharp early, holding the nation’s top passing offense to 68 yards through the air before halftime and getting a big day from Mason McKenzie. He finished 20-for-31 for 208 yards and two touchdowns, and he added 74 rushing yards, his best passing performance of the season. But the second half belonged to SMU, and Boston College’s own mistakes did plenty of damage along the way.
BC fell 25-16 to the Mustangs, dropping to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the ACC. SMU improved to 4-1 and 2-1 in conference play.
The numbers told the story of how the game unraveled. Boston College piled up a season-high 11 penalties for 95 yards, and six of those were charged to offensive linemen. The offense never found any rhythm for long, and the line was a constant source of trouble.
The turning point came early in the third quarter. After SMU took a 13-10 lead into the break, Boston College got the second-half kickoff and moved the ball to the SMU 37-yard line. But the drive stalled when Javarius Green was tackled for a four-yard loss on second down, setting up a long third down.
On 3rd-and-16 from the 41, McKenzie was hit by Marques White 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage and coughed up the ball while trying to throw from his back foot. Aakil Washington scooped it up and raced to the Eagles’ 13-yard line, setting up a quick three-play SMU drive. Kevin Jennings finished it with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Randy Pittman Jr. to stretch the lead to 19-10.
That was one of two touchdown passes for Jennings, who had entered the game averaging 3.5 passing touchdowns per contest.
Boston College still had a chance to claw back in the fourth quarter, and this was the one that got away. Down nine, the Eagles drove into the red zone and reached 4th-and-1 at the SMU 8-yard line. Bill O’Brien kept the offense on the field instead of sending out the field-goal unit.
McKenzie took the snap out of the shotgun, faked to Bo MacCormack III, rolled right and lofted a pass to a wide-open Cameron Kossmann. It should have cut the deficit to one score. Instead, the ball slipped through Kossmann’s hands, and BC came away empty.
SMU had opened the game with a two-yard touchdown run by Kendrick Raphael on the first possession, though the extra point failed. Boston College answered with a 52-yard field goal from Luca Lombardo, tying a career long, and then grabbed the lead at 10-6 when McKenzie connected with Evan Dickens on a 43-yard touchdown over the seam.
But the Mustangs answered with a long, 15-play, 83-yard drive that took 6:30 and ended with Jennings scoring on a four-yard run. From there, Boston College never fully recovered from the third-quarter strip sack and the fourth-quarter drop.
Jennings added the clincher with 4:37 left, hitting Derrick McFall on a 20-yard touchdown pass. McKenzie responded with a six-yard touchdown of his own, and BC failed on the two-point try. SMU recovered the onside kick, then needed only one first down to finish it off, getting there on Jalen Cooper’s 16-yard reception before kneeling out the clock.
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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 🡒]