Boston College had the quarterback performance it needed. It just didn’t have the finish.
On a drenched Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium, Mason McKenzie did plenty to drag the Eagles into the ACC opener, but Virginia Tech found the last word and left Chestnut Hill with a 21-14 win that sent Boston College to 2-2.
McKenzie turned in a career day in miserable conditions, rushing 26 times for a personal-best 138 yards while also passing for 111 yards on 11 completions in 23 attempts. He topped 2,000 career rushing yards and scored both of Boston College’s second-half touchdowns, giving the Eagles a chance to take control in a game that was mostly a slog through wind, rain and field position.
Instead, the Hokies ripped it away late.
Virginia Tech tied the game at 14-14 when quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer hit Marlon Jackson for a 14-yard touchdown with 8:05 remaining, and Jeffrey Overton added the two-point conversion. Not long after, Overton delivered the knockout blow with a 76-yard rushing touchdown on the only play of a 12-second drive, putting the Hokies ahead for good.
“We stopped the run well for three quarters and then they hit us on that add-on play for the long touchdown,” Eagles head coach Bill O’Brien said. “Overall, they hit us on the weak side a little bit, but the guys battle hard. They were on the field and they fought hard.”
The game opened under light rain, but the weather quickly turned brutal. Wind gusts reached 40 mph during the first half, and the conditions shaped everything that followed. Even the stadium soundtrack leaned into the moment, with Natasha Beddingfield’s “Unwritten” among the songs rolling through the storm.
For the players, though, it was all business.
“You kind of know when you go into a game like that, it’s going to be a field position battle,” McKenzie said. “When you get backed up .. .just try to flip the field.
You have to just do your best to get first downs and then put your defense in a good position. You obviously can’t turn the ball over, which we did a good job of that today.
But we also have to capitalize when our defense does take the ball away.”
That battle showed up early in a first half that moved slowly and stayed scoreless until the 13th drive. There were two turnovers on downs and a recovered fumble before Virginia Tech finally broke through. John Love drilled a 45-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in the half to put the Hokies up 3-0.
Love added a 22-yard field goal on Virginia Tech’s opening possession of the second half, stretching the lead to 6-0 before Boston College’s offense finally caught a spark.
McKenzie answered with a five-play, 75-yard drive that took a little more than two minutes and included a 45-yard run. He finished it himself with a five-yard rushing touchdown, and senior Luca Lombardo made the extra point to cut the deficit.
The Eagles kept pressing in the fourth quarter. McKenzie’s second touchdown run came on a nine-play, 67-yard march that lasted five minutes and pushed Boston College within 14-6 before the comeback effort stalled.
Junior Jaedn Skeete led Boston College’s receivers with two catches for 37 yards. On defense, senior KP Pryce finished with 10 tackles, and junior E’Lia Boykin recorded two sacks.
Even with the loss, Boston College left the field feeling like the weather and the late collapse had cost it a game it could have claimed.
“We’ve been there before,” Price said. “We’ve just got to finish.”
The Eagles now head to No. 22 SMU next Saturday at 12 p.m.
“It’s tough not to win the game, but we get 24 hours to kind of be upset about it, and then we’re on to SMU,” McKenzie said. “That’s all you can do.”
In Other News...
Boston College Let A Winnable ACC Game Slip Away Late
Boston College had a chance to bank a valuable ACC road win and looked positioned to do it for most of the night, carrying an eight-point lead late before the game slipped away. Mason McKenzie was a bright spot for the Eagles, rushing for 111 yards and a touchdown, giving them enough offensively to keep Virginia Tech at arms length for much of the contest.
Virginia Tech, though, kept chipping away and eventually flipped the game in the closing minutes. The Eagles could not sustain drives when they needed them most and repeatedly backed themselves into tougher situations with penalties, a combination that left them exposed once the Hokies found a late surge and turned a winnable finish into a 21-14 loss. [Read more 🡒]
Bill OBrien Zeroed In On What Cost BC Late
Bill OBrien came away from Boston Colleges 21-14 loss to Virginia Tech with more than one thing to chew on, but he also made a point of crediting the effort his team put into the game. The Hokies gave the Eagles enough trouble on third down, and the weather made the passing game harder to get into rhythm, yet OBrien framed the day as one where the opponent was good and his players still competed.
What bothered him most was how the game changed late, when BC could not protect the position it had built for itself in the fourth quarter. OBrien said the Eagles have to clean up those finishing moments if they want to turn tight games into wins, and he made clear the frustration comes from letting a late lead situation slip away rather than from a lack of fight or preparation. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Let A Winnable Night Slip Away Late
Rain and wind made life miserable for both offenses, and for much of the night Boston College looked like the team better equipped to grind through it. The Eagles found a way to lean on Mason McKenzie on the ground, and his running gave them the kind of edge that usually travels in ugly conditions.
But after a hard hit sent McKenzie briefly out following a scramble, he came back and kept pushing, including a 45-yard run and two rushing touchdowns that kept Boston College in position. Even so, the game swung late in Virginia Techs favor, and the Eagles were left staring at a result that felt there for the taking. [Read more 🡒]