Boston College’s season opener turned fast and ugly in Cincinnati, where the Eagles were beaten 34-15 after a night full of self-inflicted damage in every phase.
Bill O’Brien didn’t sugarcoat it afterward. Boston College had too many breakdowns to survive, and the head coach pointed straight at the basics.
"We have to coach it better. Too many false starts, snaps over the head, missed tackles, things like that," said Eagles' head coach Bill O'Brien.
"We'll get right back to work here, in a short week. We fought to the end, but we have to understand that we can't do those things and expect to win, we don't have that type of team. No team can do that, so we have to coach it better."
The Bearcats controlled the ground game from start to finish, piling up 254 rushing yards. Gi'Bran Payne led the way with 108 yards, while JC French IV added 52 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Boston College quarterback Mason McKenzie kept battling, but the passing game never found a real rhythm. He finished 18 of 35 for 223 yards with one touchdown and one interception. O’Brien said the problems weren’t all on McKenzie.
"I think there were some guys open that maybe we missed once in a while," said O'Brien.
"We've got to look at it, maybe the rush got to him (McKenzie) a little at times, but I have to watch it on film to be able to tell you. If we had some good plays, we had some play calls that I wish I could've had back. Overall we just have to do a better job."
The Eagles actually opened with a jolt. Transfer running back Evan Dickens burst 18 yards up the left sideline on the first play from scrimmage, but the drive quickly stalled after a confusing handoff call on third-and-6 forced a punt.
Cincinnati answered with a physical march into BC territory, leaning on chunk runs before the Eagles briefly tightened up. Christian Hudson and E'Lla Boykin combined on a sack of JC French to force a 54-yard field-goal try, and Cincinnati cashed it in for a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
From there, the offense never really caught fire for either side for a stretch. Boston College and Cincinnati traded punts three more times as the Eagles struggled to generate anything through the air.
The second quarter brought the Bearcats’ biggest early momentum swing. BC’s defense forced Cincinnati into a fourth down, but the Bearcats broke out a perfectly timed fake punt.
The snap went directly to Malachi Henry, who lofted a pass to punter Max Fletcher, and Fletcher rumbled up the left sideline for a first down. That sequence led to a touchdown pass from French to JV Gibson on a slant, pushing Cincinnati ahead 10-0.
Boston College had a chance to answer late in the half. The Eagles pieced together multiple third-down conversions and moved into Cincinnati territory.
Then Mason McKenzie found Danny Edgehille over the middle inside the 20, and Edgehille appeared to fight across the goal line before losing the ball. He recovered it, but officials ruled he never had possession.
The broadcast crew on Fox was stunned, and Boston College’s frustration only deepened when Luca Lombardo missed a 35-yard field goal on fourth down. Instead of heading into halftime down one score, the Eagles went to the locker room trailing by two.
Cincinnati took control immediately after the break. The Bearcats went 75 yards in 10 plays and finished the drive with a four-yard French keeper to make it 17-0.
Boston College’s first possession of the second half also unraveled because of ball security. What had initially been ruled an incompletion to Brady Clough was punched loose by a Cincinnati defender and recovered by the Bearcats at their own 44.
By then, Cincinnati had the Eagles on the ropes. The Bearcats drove right back down the field and French scored again on a four-yard keeper, stretching the margin to 24-0 with 5:24 left in the third quarter.
Boston College finally got on the board with an Evan Dickens touchdown run, but the comeback never really got moving. The Eagles then stalled on fourth down deep in Cincinnati territory, and the drive had already been put behind the chains when Charlie Comella let a punt roll 30 yards backward instead of fielding it, leaving BC to navigate a 95-yard march.
Cincinnati closed it out from there, finishing on a 10-7 run to secure the 34-15 win and send Boston College into its home opener searching for answers.
The Eagles return on September 11th to face Rutgers in the Red Bandana game, on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
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