BC POURS IT ON VS. BULLS
Dominate Bulls on both sides of ball
Boston College coach Steve Addazio’s plan for the 2016 season combined a balanced offense with an aggressive defense.
The Eagles provided an equal measure of both in yesterday’s 35-3 victory over Buffalo before 24,203 fans under wet and windy conditions at Alumni Stadium.
BC rolled up 400 yards of total offense, with 258 in the air and 142 on the ground. BC’s evenhanded approach yielded 21 first downs on 84 plays, and a whopping 43:07 of possession.
The BC defense held Buffalo to 67 total yards, the third fewest in team history, and limited the Bulls to five first downs. Defensive end Ray Smith and strong safety John Johnson had five tackles each to lead the way.
“It was great to get a win and I thought it was a dominating performance,” said Addazio. “It is great to get a win when you go out and do what you need to do and get ready to get back into conference play.”
BC improved to 3-2, and 3-0 against nonleague opponents. The Eagles resume ACC play on Friday night against defending conference champion Clemson, looking to snap a 10-game ACC losing streak.
BC quarterback Patrick Towles enjoyed his best effort of the season, going 14of-25 passing for 234 yards and two touchdowns. The tailback tandem of Jon Hilliman and Davon Jones combined for 107 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries.
The Eagles put the game away with a well-executed eight-play, 78-yard scoring drive early in the fourth quarter. The big play of the march was a 43-yard connection from Towles to Jeff Smith that set up a firstand-goal from the Buffalo 4-yard line. Hilliman gained 35 yards on nine carries, the last a 1-yard sweep that put BC up 28-3 with 9:40 remaining in the game.
“Winning is fun and I do like throwing the ball,” said Towles. “I think we have come a long way, and I think it was important for us to come out and play great today and our defense dominated like they usually do.”
BC did suffer a big loss in the first quarter. Towles underthrew Chris Garrison, forcing the redshirt freshman back into coverage. He made the catch on the Buffalo 11, but suffered a fractured tibia in his left leg.
“Obviously it’s not what we want but he made a really good play, and we talked all week how I wasn’t going to overthrow him,” said Towles. “Now I kind of wish I overthrew him a little bit.”
Davon Jones capped the eight-play, 71-yard drive with a 1-yard sweep to make it 7-0 with 35 seconds left in the first quarter.
After a Buffalo three-andout, BC had a 54-yard, 11-play drive that ended on a 7-yard pass from Towles to wide receiver Charlie Callinan in the back of the end zone.
Buffalo got on the board with Adam Mitcheson’s 28yard field goal to make it 14-3 with 6:28 left in the half. BC went up 21-3 when Towles capped an 11-play, 84-yard drive with an 11-yard bullet to Michael Walker with 21 seconds to play in the half.