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BC Eagles “play chicken” with BSU Cardinals, then soar, 53-29

 Chestnut Hill, MA – Despite two costly turnovers in the first half by the Ball State Cardinals’ punting unit, they challenged the BC Eagles (3-2) until late into the third quarter when BC exploded for 25 consecutive points to win, 53-29.  In the first-ever gridiron meeting between the two schools, BC RB Derrick Knight ran for 175 yards and QB Quinton Porter threw two of his three TD strikes to TE Sean Ryan to fend off a feisty MAC team.  CFF added Ball State as it 85^th team toward its Goal on an intensely hot, sunny afternoon in Boston, MA before a late-arriving, Parents’ Day crowd of 42,352.

      RB Knight set the ball up at the BSU five midway through Q1.  After several futile attempts by Knight on a gimpy leg, FB Greg Toal blasted in from 3 yards out for the TD to lead, 7-0.    The Cards (2-3) responded immediately with an 80-yard drive as QB Talmedge Hill snuck the ball in from 1 yard out to knot it at 7-7.  Two series later with :14 remaining, BSU punter Phil Ems muffed a routine snap from his own 18, and speedy BC WR Grant Adams recovered in the end zone for another BC TD.  The seven point BC lead was gift-wrapped by the BSU punter. 

      In Q2, the team from Muncie, IN narrowed the lead 14-10 on a 26-yard FG by PK Brian Jackson.  BC’s Derrick Knight countered this time with a 42-yard scoring burst.  His limp was non-existent and the Eagles opened the lead, 21-10.  Despite a missed INT opportunity by BC DE Myran Hunter during the next BSU offensive series, BC benefited on another botched Cardinal punt attempt and took possession at the State eleven.  From 3 yards out, RB Horace Dodd ran it in and the lead was 28-10.  Starting from their own 16, the Cards retaliated on a little misfortune by the BC defense.  On a fake option-pass play, QB Talmedge Hill’s pass over the middle was tipped up in the air by a BC defender and into the hands of WR Dante Ridgeway who sprinted into the end zone on a 44-yard scoring play.  A two-point conversion failed and the Cards trailed, 28-16.  Ball State’s defense held BC on a fourth and six at its own 35 to take over on downs.  Hill connected with WR Larry Bostic for 44 yards at the BC 31.  On fourth and one at the BC 22, CFF questioned BSU’s play calling as they went into a shotgun with a spread formation.  With no RB for a short run, the Eagles were looking pass, and subsequently, Hill’s attempt was knocked down by LB Jake Ottolini to thwart the Redbird scoring threat.  Guest Game Analyst Jack Hessler (Michigan State/Cal State Long Beach) also questioned the BSU offensive play calling with a number of QB rollouts to the left with a right-handed QB.  At least six such attempts went incomplete during the first half.  The Cards threatened one more time before the half after a mishandled punt by the Eagles!  Taking over on BC’s 33, the Cards attempted a 41-yard FG with :06 remaining, but BC blocked it leaving the score intact at halftime, 28-16.  Between quarters, former BC head coach Tom Coughlin was introduced to the appreciative crowd.  Formerly a coordinator for the Giants' Super Bowl team and Head Coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, GGA Hessler commented that Coughlin must have a lot of time on his hands now that he’s been let out of the pro circuit.  GGA Eric Koreivo, 8, who is averse to the taste of many foods, skipped lunch at halftime and started the day off with chocolate ice cream for desert.  Dad had to eat the cherry on top because Eric doesn’t like those either!  The shade under the stands was needed at halftime here in Boston just as it was the previous weekend in Raleigh, NC, but probably even more so!

         Q3 started off with a bang, literally! Knight was clocked by ubiquitous LB Lorenzo Scott.  Knight fumbled the ball away and was on the ground for several minutes before being helped off the field in a daze.  Taking over at BC’s eight, CFF had a great view from our seat 15 rows up from the ten where we saw Ridgeway slant across from a spread formation to score his second TD on the day on a pass from Hill.  It seemed like the Cardinals were ready to challenge the Eagles for the rest of the half trailing by only five now, 28-23.  In the words of Lee Corso,”Not so fast!”  Instead, the Purple Eagles started to dominate.  BC drove 81 yards scoring on a 1-yard play action pass from Porter to wide-open TE Sean Ryan. Porter and Ryan went for seconds on the two-point conversion, and BC led 36-23.  BC forced BSU to punt on its next series, and with many second team defenders on the field, Ball State yielded a 24-yard FG to BC PK Sando Sciortino at the end of Q3 to widen the lead, 39-23. 

          BC struck quickly in the beginning of the final period.  With no idea a pass was in his direction, WR Ryan Hahaj didn’t challenge BC CB Jazzmen Williams for a “wounded duck” from Hill, and Williams returned the ball 40 yards to the BSU nine yard line.  Porter found Ryan wide open again from two yards out on play action and the Eagles were now soaring, doubling the Cardinal output, 46-23, after Mike Fassel, son of NY Giants’ Jim, converted the PAT.  QB Paul Peterson, a JC transfer would lead the Eagles on their next series down the field and RB Horace Dodd would finish the drive with a 1-yard TD run.  Fassel converted again to make it 56-23.   The second teams played out the game for both sides and BSU Frosh QB hooked up with Frosh TE Mike Steinhaus to put the last points of the day on the board for the final score of 53-29.  Boston College heads to Temple in two weeks in a Big East game while Ball State travels to play MAC foe Kent State next weekend.  Aside from BC’s game versus Notre Dame on Oct. 25, both teams will be playing within their respective conferences for the balance of their seasons.  BC is 0-1 in conference play after last week’s loss to Miami.  Ball State is 1-0 with a win over Central Michigan.

Extra points:  Another Hasselback plays for BC.  This one is of the strong safety variety, not the QB type, yet.  Nathanael is a sophomore who returned punts on Saturday.

 With very limited space to park, last year we noted tailgating on BC’s baseball diamond next to Alumni Stadium.  CFF wondered what a bang-up job the grounds crew up there must do with tough winters and little time to prepare in the spring.  Last year’s tough winter must have woken somebody up because the clay infield was roped off this year.  Jack mentioned that a friend, who was a long time season ticket holder, was told his space was no longer available and because of that, cancelled his season tickets.  He might have lost his space because of the baseball field.

 BC has limited space for parking which doesn’t lend itself to a lot of tailgating, but people make do with what they have.  Understanding and promoting mass transit to get to the games, security didn’t have any issue with us carrying food and water into the game with us, which was good.  Many places don’t allow fans to bring stuff in so you have to buy theirs.   We beat the crowds in and everything was in plain sight when we walked through our gate, but we wonder if security checked people a little more scrutiny when the lines coming in were bigger and harder to survey for security reasons.

With time before and after the game this year, we had the opportunity to follow the Freedom Trail a little in Boston between rail stops.  During the cloudy, overcast morning we stopped in Quincy Market for sandwiches and “chowda” which hit the spot, of course. Walked past the site of the Boston Massacre, the original city hall, the graveyard of Ben Franklin’s family and patriot and brew master Samuel Adams to hop on the “T” at Boston Commons to go to BC.  Trekked the same on the way back on a beautiful afternoon for pizza and a few beers outdoors at Ned Devine’s.  Saw some converted military “ducks” being used for land/water tours around Boston Harbor, passed some upscale hotels, and saw some of the remaining work of the “big dig” left to be done.  It was a nice side trip to go along with our game to see Team # 85!  We missed out on this opportunity last year due to fallen wires over the railroad tracks which cancelled our train and a later time start against Stanford.  We hope to see more BC games at Chestnut Hill in the future which will also allow us to spend more time in Boston.