Boston College Eagles: 4 standouts from victory over Rutgers
The Boston College Eagles are back in the win column thanks to a workmanlike performance at Rutgers on Saturday.
Perhaps the Boston College Eagles football team prefers being out of the spotlight, doing their work in the shadows of Saturday at midday.
One week after a letdown performance against the Kansas Jayhawks, the Eagles (3-1) bounced back with a 30-16 victory over Rutgers. It was Boston College’s first road game of the season and they responded with a nice win over their former Big East foes.
AJ Dillon found the endzone twice as the ground game was in fine form. The Eagles rushed for 272 yards and produced all four of Boston College’s touchdown. This production helped overcome a shaky performance from quarterback Anthony Brown.
Brown was 13-25 on the day, throwing for 159 yards. He was out of sync most of the game, overthrowing open receivers on multiple occasions. Brown did have a much better second-half, completing five of seven for 73 yards.
Brown also carried the ball 11 times for 40 yards with a one-yard touchdown run included.
The defense of Boston College did a much better job against Rutgers (1-2, 1-1). One week after giving up 329 rushing yards and 48 points to Kansas, the Eagles dug in. The Scarlet Knights managed only 76 yards on the ground, averaging a meager 2.9 yards per carry.
Boston College still had a propensity for giving up the big play. Rutgers only touchdown was on a 74-yard catch-and-run from quarterback Artur Sitkowski to Raheem Blackshear. Sitkowski, filling in for normal starter McLane Carter, threw for 304 yards.
Mike Palmer had an interception for the Eagles and Brandon Barlow forced a fumble, recovered by Mehdi El Attrach.
All told, a nice way to get back in the win column. Here are four standouts from the victory.
Standout in the backfield
For the second straight week, AJ Dillon plowed and darted his way to the 150-yard mark. He landed on that number exactly, toting the ball 32 times.
His total on the season now stands at 468 yards, with 301 of those coming in the last two weeks. The offensive line, despite a slew of penalties today, is starting to gel, giving Dillon running lanes. Even when the lanes of traffic aren’t clear, Dillon manages to find gains of three yards or more. Since he was a freshman, Dillon has proved difficult to be a tough back to tackle.
Dillon’s touchdowns were his fifth and sixth on the ground in 2019, bringing his career total to 30. He is now in the third spot for career rushing touchdowns, four behind Keith Barnette.