Boston College’s 27-21 win over Pitt on Saturday in Chestnut Hill started with a shock and ended with a blueprint.
The Panthers jumped on the Eagles almost immediately at Alumni Stadium, ripping off a 75-yard first play from scrimmage and then getting a blocked punt on BC’s opening offensive sequence. Less than two minutes had come off the clock, and the home crowd was staring at a two-score hole before most fans had even settled in.
But BC didn’t unravel. The Eagles answered with the kind of response head coach Bill O’Brien has been pushing for over the first six weeks: a 14-play drive that ate six minutes, a scoring run from Bo MacCormack III that cut a 12-0 Pitt lead in half, and then Javarius Green’s first career touchdown catch to close the second quarter with BC in front.
That comeback was helped by a critical shift after Pitt’s early 9-0 edge. The safety from the blocked punt gave the Panthers possession after Andy Quinn’s free kick, and Pitt still managed eight straight positive plays on the ensuing drive. Even so, BC kept the damage to a field goal after the Panthers reached the red zone and came away with just three points instead of a much bigger swing.
That sequence mattered. It kept the Eagles from sliding into a deeper hole and helped turn the game into the kind of lower-scoring, possession-by-possession fight BC wanted. Pitt’s uptempo style never really found traction after that, while the Eagles settled into a rhythm that carried them to their first ACC victory of the season.
“These guys did a really good job of being resilient,” said O’Brien. “It didn't start very well at all.
The first play was a touchdown, and then there's the blocked punt safety. These guys are tough.
They're resilient. They hung in there offensively.
We put together a good drive after the safety, and we were able to get something going. It's cliche, but we played six seconds per play, one play at a time, and we just played every single play.
It's a story of its own, and we did a good job of it.”
Pitt’s quarterback situation added another layer to the game. With Mason Heintschel out for the season after the injury he sustained against Virginia Tech, the Panthers turned to freshman Corey Dailey for his first start. Dailey had flashed big numbers earlier in the year, including 453 yards and seven touchdowns against Miami (Ohio) and 403 yards and six touchdowns against Bucknell, but Pitt’s offense had also stalled in recent weeks, and Saturday was another uneven outing.
Dailey finished 11-for-25 for 193 yards, with 118 of those yards coming outside of Pitt’s 75-yard opening strike. He did not add another touchdown, and KP Price picked him off in the second quarter. After that, the Panthers’ only scoring success came through field goals on three of their five second-half drives, and none of the possessions after the long opening play ended in a touchdown.
“He's a young quarterback,” said defensive back Carter Davis. “This was his first start, and he's talented.
He has some things in his game that are going to be problems in the future. He has a good arm and can run.
We got glimpses of that while we were playing, but I think we just did what we had to do. Pitt has a very good team, but overall as a team, we did our job.”
BC’s defense did plenty to shape the night, and O’Brien pointed to the way his team kept Pitt out of the end zone.
“It was huge to hold them to field goals,” explained O’Brien. “That was a big part of the game, and that was one of the main reasons - that and the explosive plays - of why we won.”
Once the Eagles got control of the game’s tempo, they kept stretching the field in their own way. BC piled up three drives that lasted about six minutes or longer, put together six possessions of 50 yards or more, and turned four of those into touchdowns. The other two ended with interceptions deep in Pitt territory.
The raw numbers told the rest of the story. BC’s offense finished with 395 yards, and quarterback Mason McKenzie went 17-for-28 for 295 yards with two interceptions.
His biggest throws came in the second half, starting with a 69-yard completion to Landon Wright that opened the third quarter and pushed the Eagles ahead 21-12 for their third straight score. Later, McKenzie connected with Wright again for 53 yards to set up Evan Dickens’ one-yard touchdown run.
“There really wasn't anything new,” said O’Brien. “There were a couple of wrinkles here and there, but nothing was totally brand new. I just thought that these guys really played well, for the most part, played a good game.”
Wright said the message stayed simple.
“We just tried to focus on one play at a time,” said Wright. “Coach [O'Brien] was just telling us to finish one play at a time, reset after one play, and [move] onto the next.
That was really just it. We were just trying to stay one play at a time.”
In Other News...
Boston College Heads To Georgia Tech With Real Momentum At Stake
Boston College finally found a foothold in ACC play, and it came at a useful moment. The Eagles 27-21 win over Pitt gave them their first conference victory of the season, with quarterback Mason McKenzie helping steady the offense and Landon Wright providing the kind of burst that made the result feel more than just a one-off. Now the challenge shifts to Atlanta, where Boston College visits Georgia Tech on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 3:30 p.m. ET with a chance to turn one breakthrough into something more durable.
Georgia Tech comes in off a loss to Virginia Tech, so both teams are trying to reassert themselves in a conference race that can change quickly from week to week. The Yellow Jackets will lean on quarterback Alberto Mendoza and receiver Jordan Allen, which should give Boston College a clear test on the road, especially as the Eagles try to carry last weeks momentum into a game that can say a lot about where this season is headed. [Read more 🡒]