A career-day from Dennis Grosel and a high-octane offense weren’t enough to lead the Boston College Eagles to victory number seven in 2020.
It’s fair to say this was not the season-ending result the Boston College Eagles expected when Saturday began.
With no guarantee of a bowl game on the horizon, the Eagles (6-5, 5-5) set out to treat this game as a finale for 2020. Boston College, however, had trouble all day on defense, resulting in a 43-32 victory for the Virginia Cavaliers.
It was the first-ever victory by Virginia over Boston College, who had defeated the Cavaliers (5-4, 4-4) in six previous meetings.
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This was despite Dennis Grosel having the game of a lifetime as the Eagles were able to pass with ease most of the afternoon.
Grosel — filling in for an injured Phil Jurkovec — passed for 520 yards, a mark that tied him with Boston College legend Doug Flute for a single-game record. Grosel was 32-46 and tossed four touchdown passes as he relied on the deep ball all game long.
Jurkovec was injured in the third quarter of Boston College’s victory last week over Louisville and missed this game with shoulder and knee injuries.
Filling in admirably, Grosel also threw three interceptions. All three picks were thrown with Boston College in Virginia territory and two eventually led to Virginia touchdowns on long drives.
The game was truly a tale of two halves for the Eagles, especially on offense. If not for two late drives and scores in the fourth quarter, Boston College was fairly pedestrian in the second-half after scoring 17 first-half points.
An interception, two 3-and-outs, and a failed fourth-down conversion on the Virginia 32 was not the ideal second-half start for Boston College, who trailed 20-17 at the half.
It was a deflating effort by the Boston College defense, however, that ultimately led to the loss.
Struggles for Boston College Eagles defense
Entering the game, the Boston College defense knew they’d have their hands full with Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong.
Armstrong proved exactly why on Saturday.
The lefty was 19-27 for 287 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. He was also once again the Cavs leading rusher, totaling 130 yards, including a 60-yard scamper for a score in the third.
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Armstrong regularly found his receivers downfield and, outside back-to-back sacks by Luc Bequette and Jason Maitre in the first quarter, didn’t face much pressure all day.
The Eagles had things under more control in the first-half, relying on their bend-but-don’t-break mentality. They also got an interception from Jahmin Muse in the second quarter that led to an eventual field goal just before the half.
It was the big play that continued to haunt the Eagles as Boston College allowed 16 plays of ten or more yards as the Cavs finished with 549 total yards.
And while Grosel turned the ball over, it wasn’t exactly like he gave Virginia a short field. On the two scores Virginia got off Dennis Grosel interceptions, the Cavs drove the length of the field to do so.
A depleted secondary also didn’t help. Entering the game, the Boston College Eagles were already without Mike Palmer. Deon Jones left in the first-half with an injury and Kam Arnold was ejected for targeting early in the fourth.
Boston College Eagles passing game in rarified air
Dennis Grosel had plenty of experience entering this game, so it’s not like he was thrown to the fire.
He was asked to do a lot in this game and responded with a record-tying performance.
There was very little production in the running game, totaling –sack yardage included — minus seven yards on the day. David Bailey was also out for this game and it seemed the Eagles were intent on passing from the get go.
And it was working, from a 25-yard completion on third-and-26 to Hunter Long on the first drive to a 45-yard touchdown to Zay Flowers to open the Boston College Eagles scoring.
Both Long and Flowers were favorite targets all day. The nation’s top tight end had eight catches on the day, going for 109 yards and a score. And Flowers matched Long with eight receptions, with 180 yards and two touchdowns to his name.
Flowers might have had another score, but Grosel slightly underthrew the ball, which led to the second of his interceptions.
There was a lot of open field all day, as Travis Levy (7 rec, 70 yards), CJ Lewis (3-54), Jaelen Gill (2-52), and Jehlani Galloway (3-54) all averaged 10 or more yards per reception.
The loss is a disappointing one, especially if it turns out to be the last game of the season. There’s plenty left to work on — notably on defense — but I, for one, am excited to see this offense continue to grow and set more records.