CHESTNUT HILL – Boston College got it all wrong in what should have been the Eagles get right game.
UConn quarterback Joe Fagnano ripped the BC secondary with 23 completions for 362 yards and four touchdowns to lift the Huskies to an 38-23 victory on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium. UConn (5-2) and Notre Dame are the only independent programs in FBS.
“He (Fagnano) did a great job, he was very calm and he knows where to go with the ball,” said BC coach Bill O’Brien. “We didn’t generate a lot of pass rush and he was standing back there and we just couldn’t get off the field.”
With this latest debacle, BC (1-6) extended its losing streak to six games. The Eagles resume ACC play (0-4) against Louisville next Saturday night (7:30) at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Louisville (5-1) recorded a 24-21 upset win at No. 2 Miami on Friday night.
“I can’t fix it, I don’t know what it is and I’m going to keep trying,” said O’Brien. “Anybody that knows me knows I’m a fighter not a quitter. I never quit anything in my life so I’m going to keep fighting. I’ve got to do a better job trying to figure it out, watch the tape and put guys in different spots.”
There were rumblings after practice on Thursday that O’Brien would make a quarterback change after Dylan Lonergan struggled to move the offense against Pittsburgh and Clemson. Those rumblings were confirmed when James assumed the starter’s position in the end zone during pregame warm ups.
James is no stranger to mid-season promotions. James took control of the BC offense last season when Tommy Castellanos had a falling out with Brien and quit the team after eight games.
James appeared in six games with five starts that included ACC wins over Syracuse, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh. But James could not put BC over the top against UConn, completing 16 passes for 204 yards, two touchdowns while being sacked seven times.
“I just thought after the (Clemson) game last week that the best thing for the team at this point was to go with Grayson to give us a little spark,” said O’Brien. “He did a lot of good things today and played hard.
“It wasn’t really a reflection on Dylan. He did a lot of great things but I thought the team needed a spark and I thought Grayson gave us a spark today. We’ll evaluate things.”
UConn opened the second half with a 6-play, 75-yard, scoring drive to go up 24-20. Fagnano capped the trip with a 43-yard pass to wide receiver John Neider with 11:51 to play.
The Huskies defense pinned the Eagles inside their own five with a sack and took over on the BC 45. Four plays later, Fagnano completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Juice Vereen to make it 31-20 with 49 seconds to play in the third.
BC cut the lead to 31-23 with a 25-yard field goal by Luca Lombardo, his third of the game and 10th of the season, with 10:40 to play. Fagnano iced the game with a 38-yard pass to Kyler Bell with 5:04 remaining.
“We just came out in the second half and we just didn’t do anything on offense,” said O’Brien. “We gave up a touchdown on the first drive on the deep post.
BC went up 3-0 on its opening drive on a 47-yard field goal by Lombardo. James’ contribution to the drive was a 16-yard hookup with wide receiver Dawson Pough on a fourth and four from the UConn 46. The Huskies scored on their first possession when Vereen caught a 50-yard pass from Fagnano to make it 7-3 with 6:06 on the clock.
BC cut the lead to 7-6 lead on a 13-play, 67-yards, smash mouth drive that sputtered out inside the UConn 5-yard line. A pass interference penalty against UConn in the end zone gave BC a first and goal from the two but the Eagles failed to cross the goal line. Lombardo kicked a 22-yard field goal with 35 seconds to play in the quarter.
“There were times when we did not convert,” said O’Brien. “I thought the play calling was good, we did a lot of good things and the guys executed but the low red area was tough today.”
Fagnano picked apart the BC secondary on a 9-play, 80-yard, drive to make it 14-6 with 11:41 to play in the half. Fagnano capped the trip with a 2-yard keeper for his second rushing touchdown of the season.
BC found the end zone on a 9-yard pass from James to freshman tight end Kaelen Chudzinski to make it 14-13 with 7:31 to go in the second. UConn went up 17-13 on a 40-yard field goal by Chris Freeman with 5:52 to play in the half.
James executed an efficient two-minute drive to put BC up 20-17 with 21 seconds to play in the half. James made his best play of the half, a 39-yard strike to Reed Harris on a skinny post for his third touchdown reception of the season.
“We always like playing faster and I knew that would be a benefit for me,” said James. “We got good momentum going into the half but we just did put points up in the second half.”
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