CHESTNUT HILL – A year after losing to UConn and hitting a low point for the program, BC had a chance at redemption when hosting the Huskies on an absolutely perfect day Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles dominated in every important category, but still only squeaked out a 21-14 win over a better-than-the-record-shows Huskies team.
Still, after starting 1-3, the Eagles will take a fourth straight win and run. Now at 5-3, BC is a win away from clinching bowl eligibility and most importantly, keeping itself alive for an outside shot at the ACC title game. UConn dropped to 1-7.
“We’ve won four in a row and it’s not easy to win a game,” said BC head coach Jeff Hafley. “I’m really proud of them. They kept in it and won the game at the end. If you look at the box score we had 30 first downs, they had 10. We had almost 450 yards (433), they had 200 (222). I thought we were sloppy today on offense…we have stuff to clean up, but I’m proud of them. We found a way to win, that’s four in a row. We’ve got a short week, we’ve got to turn it around.
“I thought UConn had a good plan, they fought hard. It’s a game we should win when we play. That’s exactly what I told the team. We’ve got to clean that game up fast, but the production is there, it’s just the little things…we kept UConn in the game. It’s as easy as that. It’s no disrespect. We kept UConn in the game and made it way closer than it should have been, but ultimately we won the game.”
Things started off normally for BC, with the defense getting a quick three-and-out and the offense swiftly moving over midfield in six plays. On the seventh play though, Castellanos fumbled the ball while winding up to throw and UConn’s Pryce Yates recovered at the Huskies’ 49.
After third down catches by Geordon and Brett Buckman extended the nine-play drive, big man Jelani Satfford punched it in from two-yards out to give UConn a 7-0 lead with 4:26 to go in the first.
The Eagles responded with an impressive 10-play, 75-yard drive over the next 4:17. Castellanos (16-24, 151, 1 TD, 1 INT, 14 carries, 72 yards) had a 4th-&-1 conversion at the UConn 30 that ultimately helped set up a five-yard touchdown run from Kye Robichaux (23/112/2 TD) in the final seconds of the quarter, tying things up at 7-7.
After forcing another punt, the BC offense took over at its own 34 early in the second quarter. The ground game – particularly Robichaux – continued to roll as the offensive line opened up some big holes. 6:02 and 12 plays later, Castellanos hit a wide open Alex Broome on a swing pass out of the back field on 3rd-&-goal from the six to put the Eagles up 14-7 with 6:26 left in the half.
Both teams traded turnovers on downs the next few minutes as Castellanos just missed a wide open Joe Griffin in the back of the end zone on a 4th-&-10 from the UConn 31, while the Huskies decided to go for it at their own 40, looking to throw it to the big man Stafford instead of letting him plunge forward for a yard with 1:07 left in the half. The Eagles moved down to the UConn 17, but Chris Shearin picked off Castellanos in the end zone in the closing seconds of the half on what was a bad ball by the young QB, throwing into double coverage, sending the teams to the locker rooms with BC up just 14-7, despite out-gaining UConn 225-79.
“You’re happy to win any game. A win is a win in college football,” said linebacker Vinny DePalma. “We know how hard that is. I know that’s not what everyone wants to hear all the time, but winning college football games are hard. Across the country, from the best teams to the worst teams in the country, they’ll tell you when you win a game you’re excited. Are we satisfied with how we played? No. We know we have to get better. We will improve.”
It was an odd start to the third quarter as Emmett Morehead started at QB with reports circulating that Castellanos was injured. He was seen warming up on the sideline with a black sleeve on his left leg. Morehead led an impressive drive that chewed up nearly eight minutes, but it eventually stalled and Liam Connor missed a 44-yard field goal.
The defense quickly forced a three-and-out and Castellanos was back out for BC’s second drive of the second half. All was right in BC land eight plays later as the Eagles methodically moved down field, leading to a 14-yard TD run for Robichaux through a gaping hole to make it 21-7 with under a minute left in the third. At the time, it also gave BC 366 yards of total offense to just 85 for UConn. One guy who was a major contributor to that offensive total for really the first time this season was former CM star Jaedn Skeete, who had four catches for 61 yards on the day.
The Huskies refused to go quietly though, moving 78-yards in just 1:48 and drawing back within one score thanks to a 30-yard TD run from Cam Edwards, making it 21-14 early in the fourth quarter. Prior to the touchdown run, UConn had just 56-yards total on the ground.
On BC’s ensuing possession, Castellanos was sacked for a 14-yard loss on second down, eventually forcing the Eagles to give it back to UConn with 10:26 to go. The Huskies drove down to the BC 36 – thanks in large part to an Eagles’ holding call on 3rd-&-10 – but facing 4th-&-6, Jim Mora decided to trot the field goal unit out for a 54-yard attempt that wasn’t even close. Three straight big runs from Alex Broome (15/84) quickly moved BC down to the UConn 38. Moments later facing 4th-&-5 at the UConn 32, Castellanos picked up the first down to all but ice the game with the clock ticking under three minutes.
“It looked like we won a game because they put in a lot of work to do that,” Hafley added when asked what the locker room was like postgame. “I don’t know if revenge is being talked of down there. I expected to win this game. They expected to win this game. When we play UConn, we expect to win and that was my message to the team.
“We’re a different team this year, they’re a different team this year, both teams showed up. Did we play great? No, but we found a way to win and they should celebrate they just won four games in a row.”