Behind Strong First Half, BC Enters Win Column Against Maine

At first, Zay Flowers was putting Boston College on his back Saturday night against Maine. Quite literally.

After two BC drives that netted a total of 12 yards and a Black Bears field goal that gave the Eagles' FCS New England foe an early lead, Flowers caught a deep ball from quarterback Phil Jurkovec and practically piggybacked Maine defensive back Benito Speight 10 yards into the end zone.

Flowers didn't have to carry the offense, though. He was just the spark plug for a BC team that entered Week 3 winless and either at the bottom or near the bottom of the ACC in every major offensive statistic.

BC used three consecutive touchdown drives to distance itself from Maine in the first half and added another to stake itself to an 18-point lead before intermission. That cushion proved to be enough. When all was said and done—despite a lackluster final 30 minutes—four Eagles found the end zone, seven caught a pass and an array of underclassmen discovered roles in a 38-17 victory.

"Were there things that we probably could have done better? Definitely," third-year head coach Jeff Hafley said postgame. "Were there some really good things we did? Yeah, we improved in a lot of areas. And, in some areas, I think we took a little bit of step back."

The Eagles (1-2, 0-1 ACC) started with a different offensive line combination for the third game in a row—by necessity. This week, BC learned that right tackle Kevin Cline is out for the year with an ACL tear. Left tackle Ozzy Trapilo missed his second straight game with a knee injury. So Jack Conley—who started the season at right guard and played left tackle in Week 2 at Virginia Tech—moved to right tackle, former preferred walk-on Nick Thomas came in to protect the blind side and Dwayne Allick stayed at right guard.

The inexperience of BC's O-Line was on full display last week at Lane Stadium, and it was exploited on the Eagles' first play from scrimmage against Maine (0-3). Jurkovec was sacked for a loss of seven yards. It was the first of three sacks from a Black Bears squad that totaled 12 quarterback takedowns all last season but now has nine in 2022.

Jurkovec was sacked again on the Eagles' second drive, and a shanked, 17-yard Danny Longman punt gave Maine incredible field position. The Black Bears started on BC's 38-yard line and cashed in on a 45-yard Cole Baker field goal to go up, 3-0.

Special teams were a problem for BC Saturday night. Although a 37-yard Jaelen Gill kickoff return was the catalyst for the Eagles' first touchdown drive—which culminated in Flowers' 51-yard score—Maine answered right back with a 73-yard return of its own.

Wide receiver Trevin Ewing slingshotted the Black Bears to the BC 22-yard line. Two plays later, veteran quarterback Joe Fagnano zipped a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Shawn Bowman. Fagnano was impressive. In his fourth season as the Black Bears' QB1, he did a nice job of moving through his progressions and buying himself time outside the pocket, even when it meant delivering throws while taking punishing hits.

Fagnano finished with 289 yards through the air against a BC secondary that was tops in the ACC in passing yards allowed through the first two weeks of the season.

The Eagles countered with another quick score. This time, Jaden Williams was the recipient of a Jurkovec home run ball. The speedy sophomore blew the top off Maine's back end, and Jurkovec found him for a 53-yard hookup.

"When I go out there, I don't think anybody can run with me," Williams said. "And I think it showed today."

That splash play placed BC on the doorstep, and a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end George Takacs capped the scoring drive. As was the case in the opener against Rutgers, Takacs had himself a day against Maine. He grabbed seven passes for 66 yards.

Courtesy of a nine-yard jet sweep, Williams got in the end zone on the Eagles' next series, which featured a lot of true freshman running back Alex Broome and Flowers. Broome wound up second on the team in rushing with 32 yards on eight totes.

The Eagles nearly got their kill shot late in the second quarter when cornerback Elijah Jones jumped the flat deep in Maine territory. Except, Jones—who registered his first career interception in Week 1—dropped the pick-six.

A few minutes later, however, BC made up for it on offense with another touchdown drive. First-year offensive coordinator John McNulty did a better job Saturday getting more guys touches, particularly the Eagles' younger playmakers. That series saw wide receivers Joe Griffin and Lewis Bond—who combined for three catches and 33 receiving yards—hear their numbers called. As was the case for true freshman running back Cam Barfield.

But lead back Pat Garwo III, an experienced redshirt junior, wrapped things up with a one-yard score to put BC ahead, 28-10, before intermission.

The Eagles picked up right where they left off to start the second half. A Jurkovec-to-Takacs connection would have put them near the goal line, but a Williams holding penalty pushed BC back to the Maine 30-yard line. So, instead of six, the Eagles had to settle for three, as Connor Lytton drilled a 46-yard field goal.

That was the highlight for Lytton. There were more lowlights for the sophomore, who came into the year on the Lou Groza watch list but now is just 2-of-5 on the season. He missed a 39-yarder and a 28-yarder, both of which helped Maine stay in the game.

"I went up to him right after he missed," Hafley said. "I told him I believe in him. But we gotta make the easy ones. We have to. I know he's probably hurting right now, but I'm still very confident in him, and I still believe in him."

Before that first Lytton miss, the Black Bears drew within 14 points, in large part thanks to a 49-yard catch and run by wide receiver Zavier Scott. Fellow Maine wideout Montigo Moss put the finishing touches on what was an eight play, 75-yard touchdown drive.

The score remained 31-17 from the middle of the third quarter until about the two-minute mark of the final frame. BC allowed Maine to move the ball, but the Eagles' defense stepped up when it needed to: First, it got a stop on 4th-and-2 at BC's 10-yard line when linebacker Vinny DePalma forced an Elijah Barnwell fumble, and then linebacker Kam Arnold picked off Fagnano before returning the takeaway 49 yards to the Maine 20.

BC's final drive was all on the ground, and Garwo plowed through for his second touchdown—a 30-yard sprint to the end zone after breaking two tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

It wasn't seamless, however, the Eagles pocketed a 21-point victory Saturday.

"We got our first win, and guys gotta feel that win," Jurkovec said. "It was sloppy at times. We let them hang around when we had the chance to end the game in the second half. But ... there's a lot of positives that we can build off of from this game."

Run blocking was still an issue. Special teams regressed. Plus, BC's defense gave up 378 yards of offense to a Maine team that was shut out by FBS bottom dweller New Mexico in Week 1.

Nevertheless, the Eagles' four-game losing streak that dated back to the end of last season is finally over.

BC is in the win column. Staying there will be the challenge.