Boston College Eagles soar over UMass “Minutemen”, 55-21

Chestnut Hill, MA – Boston College opened its 120^th gridiron season honoring America and its Veterans throughout and proceeded to maul the Massachusetts “Minutemen”, 55-21.  The score does not indicate what truly happened.  The Eagles soared to a 48-7 lead as the first half ended.  The Minutemen under substitute QBs filling in for overwhelmed Andrew Ford late in the game led UMass to two insignificant touchdowns.

Boston College came out flying as QB Anthony Brown, returning from his late season leg injury in 2017, passed for 279 yards and four TDS finishing 15 of 21 through the air.  His first TD pass connected with RB AJ Dillon for 15 yards.  The ACC Rookie of the Year last season tallied 98 yards on 20 carries during the first half before sitting out the second.

Fool us once

UMass fooled me and my Guest Analysts Mike Ford (Providence College) and his son Connor (Marist) into thinking they were going to make a game of it.  UMass QB Ford (no relation) led the retaliation with a 72-yard scoring drive capped by Marquis Young’s three-yard into the end zone to knot the score.

However, Young would lead his team into the end zone seven times among their nine drives in the first half. The next resulted in a 34-yard pass to Kobay White. RB Davon Jones entered the end zone from one and from two yards on their next two possessions.  Young threw a 33-yarder to TE Ray Marten to make it 34-0 following a missed extra point.  He went back to White (four catches, 102 yards, two TDs) from 27 yards out. Finally, DB Denis Lukas capped the first half scoring with a 59-yard interception return picking up blockers running from the left sideline all the way across the field toward the BC locker room as time expired in the first half.  Extra point was good. Game over, 48-7 – not!

Break out the practice uniforms

Neither team scored during the third quarter in what seemed more like a scrimmage in uniforms.  The clock continuously wound down.  In the final period, RB David Bailey ran in from the eight to up the Boston College lead, 55-7.  UMass made the score more respectable than what it was as back-up QB Ross Comis threw 16 yards to Jordan Fredericks for a score.  Next QB Michael Curtis scored from the two for UMass with 1:27 remaining while the Ford boys and I had already determined we wanted more beer on this hot summer day.  We headed out of Alumni Stadium back to Bob LeBlanc’s tailgate right outside Alumni Stadium’s main gate.  We waited with our cooler in his truck while he and his other BC die-hards watched until the annihilation was officially over.

Next week, too

Boston College will be untested again at home next week by another Massachusetts school, its former longtime Catholic college rival, Holy Cross.  The two last met in their ancient rivalry back in 1986. After winning that one, 56-26 , and after nine straight dominant wins by BC, the two schools parted football ways. Boston College went big time while Holy Cross stayed small.  The Eagles will first get tested on Thursday, October 13, in the ACC at Wake Forest.  UMass heads down to Statesboro next week to meet Georgia Southern (1-0). Collegefootballfan.com head down to Annapolis for a key AAC match between Memphis (1-0) and Navy (0-1). First of five regular season games we’ll see the Mids play in this year.  Good offense as usual for USNA  and struggling defense.  We expect a high-scoring game in this one.

Extra Points:

“Minutemen”?  The name always stood for “Patriotism”. Yet on a day when Boston College continually honored America’s Veterans throughout, the “Minutemen” did not even stand outside along the sideline when the national anthem played.  Glad they got trounced by Boston College who all stood along their sideline for that reason alone.   UMass should change their name to something else if they are not going to emulate what their proud mascot should stand for – Paul Revere, “One if by land, two if by sea”, Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, etc.

Bob “Pops” LeBlanc, a Boston College alum, hosted our tailgate party as mentioned.  He got us great seats 18 rows up behind the BC bench.  Can’t thank him enough.  He and his friends Rick, Nick (Wentworth), John and their wives among others have their BC tailgating down to a detailed great time!   We plan to be back up in Chestnut Hill again when Boston College hosts the Miami Hurricane on Friday October 26.  We plan to catch up with them again.

Through a connection met on an Alaskan Cruise back in May, I got put in touch with a former grammar school and high school classmate originally from Boonton, NJ.  Lynn (formerly Ventrice) Kish lives up in New Hampshire now.  She and her husband Kevin,  a UMass grad, came by and tailgated with us.  It was great to see Lynn and to meet Kevin who is a great sports fan and avid golfer.  Lynn hopes to get revenge now for Kevin’s alma mater later this season when her alma mater, Virginia Tech, hosts the Eagles down in Blacksburg!

Time to step down?

I asked Kevin if there was any inkling that UMass would step back into the FCS.  Like myself, he thinks it would be good fit and revitalize the interest in the program playing in the Colonial Athletic again with likes of New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, James Madison, etc.  However, he thinks they have too much invested already in going into the FBS.  I think it will be reconsidered.  UMass can’t find a conference, scheduling is difficult, they haven’t invested an inordinate amount in their home stadium, they aren’t drawing big crowds, they have no major TV contract, and a few more pastings like this will set them back. They could lose a lot of money, and let’s not kid ourselves. That is what a move like this is all about.  Their HC Mark Whipple led them to then 1-AA championship back in 1998.   I think they will follow the lead of Idaho and march back into a level of football that makes more sense (cents?) for this program.  They’re biting off more than they can chew in the FBS.