BC suffers another disheartening ACC loss after squandering late lead, go-ahead scoring opportunity vs. Cal
At a crossroads Saturday night against California, in need of a magical moment to salvage a spiraling season, the Boston College football team had two opportunities in the final minutes to break through.
First, the Eagles failed to secure a critical defensive stop, allowing a back-breaking touchdown with 1:30 remaining that vaulted the Golden Bears ahead. BC still had a chance, but Reed Harris dropped a pass in the end zone and Dylan Lonergan threw an interception with 15 seconds left.
The result was a crushing 28-24 loss that dramatically shifted the complexion of the season. The sputtering Eagles (1-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) have dropped three straight and are now 3-8 in games decided by 10 points or fewer under coach Bill O’Brien.
“I haven’t been able to get it done in this program, to this point, of these guys learning how not to lose before they can learn how to win,” O’Brien said.
With two disheartening setbacks to learn from, and a bye week to improve, BC entered a pivotal ACC matchup against the Golden Bears (4-1, 1-0) eager to regain momentum.
The Eagles showed flashes, and nearly prevailed in thrilling fashion, but BC once again was unable to deliver with the game on the line.
“I feel as though we have to learn how to not beat ourselves before we can beat anybody else,” said linebacker Bryce Steele. “It wasn’t coaching. We just didn’t execute.”
BC jumped ahead, 24-21, on a 71-yard touchdown run from Turbo Richard (15 carries, 171 yards, 2 touchdowns) early in the fourth. BC’s defense came up with a key stop on Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who was held to no gain on a fourth-and-1 run from the BC 29 with 8:18 remaining.
The Eagles took over and were unable to capitalize after going 19 yards in six plays and forced to punt with 4:48 remaining.
Cal capitalized when Sagapolutele hit tight end Mason Mini with a 51-yard touchdown to surge to a 28-24 lead with 1:30 left in the game.
With two timeouts left, BC had one final chance, driving 70 yards in nine plays to the Cal 5. But Lonergan’s second-and-goal pass was intercepted by linebacker Luke Ferrelli in the end zone, halting the promising drive and silencing an energized Alumni Stadium crowd.
Long before the late-game chaos, BC jumped out to an early 14-0 lead on Lonergan’s 7-yard keeper and Richard’s 27-yard TD run with 7:47 left in the first quarter, the latter of which was set up by Omar Thornton’s interception in Cal territory.
After fumbling on the goal line in BC’s two previous losses at Michigan State and Stanford, Richard bounced back in a major way.
“After every game, you go back and watch film, see mistakes the team made or I made,” Richard said. “You take the mistakes, build on them and correct them. You make sure they won’t happen in the game, and you just keep getting better and better.”
All momentum was with BC at that point, but the Golden Bears responded with a 1-yard score from LJ Johnson Jr. on fourth-and-goal to trim BC’s lead to 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. Jacob De Jesus added a 5-yard TD reception with 3:46 left in the half to tie it.
Richard skillfully hauled in a pass on fourth and 3 on BC’s ensuing drive to set up a 52-yard field goal from Luca Lombardo with 37 seconds remaining in the first half. Lombardo, who added a 51-yarder at Stanford, remained perfect on the season and has emerged as a steady presence.
“He’s definitely a weapon for us,” O’Brien said. “He’s had a hell of a year.”
Despite Cal’s decisive advantage in time of possession (17:16 to 12:44), BC took a 17-14 advantage into halftime. BC averaged 6.3 yards per rush and allowed just 2.3 per attempt, addressing two major areas of concern that had haunted the Eagles against Stanford.
BC’s defense, playing without injured standout linebacker Daveon Crouch and cornerback Amari Jackson, stymied the Golden Bears in a scoreless third quarter.
Isaiah Farris helped BC’s defense register a key stop on fourth and goal from the BC 3 early in the fourth, but the Eagles turned it over moments later.Hezekiah Masses intercepted a floating Lonergan ball, and Kendrick Raphael converted from 2 yards out to give Cal its first lead, 21-17, with 13:47 left.
Lonergan (21 for 37, 197 yards, 2 interceptions) had been brilliant to start the year, but has regressed significantly in BC’s last two losses.
Richard’s run provided a major jolt, but Sagapolutele and the Golden Bears seized the moment.
Lonergan found Lewis Bond on fourth and 8 to keep the final drive alive, then hit Harris for a 26-yard gain down the left sideline.
Harris almost corralled a 5-yard touchdown pass, sending the BC faithful into a frenzy, but he bobbled it when he hit the ground, prompting the officials to rule it an incomplete pass.
On second and goal at the Cal 5, Lonergan ripped the ball into heavy traffic in the middle of the field, looking for tight end Kaelan Chudzinski, but Ferrelli read the play and snared it to pin BC with another devastating loss.
The season is only a third complete, but at the moment, the Eagles lack a killer instinct.
“You’ve just got to keep fighting,” O’Brien said. “We’ve got to figure it out.”
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