BC feast in Brown bag QB back with a bang
Boston College quarterback Anthony Brown played true to his abilities and beyond expectations in the Eagles’ 55-21 victory over UMass yesterday at Alumni Stadium.
The redshirt sophomore encountered a hostile defense for the first time since suffering a season-ending knee injury last November.
With the aid of a formidable offensive line, Brown shredded the UMass secondary in the first half. He completed 15-of-21 passes for career bests in yards (279) and touchdowns (four).
“I wanted to see our quarterback come out and regain his confidence,” said BC coach Steve Addazio. “No one had tackled him or hit him or touched him and he came out and was not fazed in anyway by that.
“He showed signs of a guy that was on top of his game. We were really careful with him in training camp, nobody touched him and there were no signs of an issue. That’s over now in terms of hesitation and not being confident.”
BC (1-0) scored on drives of 80, 73 and 80 yards with three of its first four possessions. Brown exploited the threat of tailback AJ Dillon between the tackles and attacked one-on-one coverage on the BC receivers and tight ends by UMass (1-1).
“That was my biggest fear,” said UMass coach Mark Whipple. “I knew they were going to run the ball pretty well. We didn’t really give up a big run, but giving up a big pass was what really kind of broke us down I thought.”
Dillon still managed to rush for 98 yards on 20 carries, all in the first half. He scored BC’s opening touchdown on a 15-yard pass from Brown, it was Dillon’s first career reception.
BC went on to accumulate 455 yards of total offense with 24 first downs on 55 plays. BC added 53 yards on six combined jet sweeps from receivers Jeff Smith and Michael Walker.
“It was very encouraging and my teammates played wonderful,” said Brown. “They supported me all the way through the journey so all the credit goes to my teammates.
“If anybody stacks the box on anybody, the quarterback has to step up. I was really excited, I was like an 8-year-old playing football again. There weren’t any jitters at all, we prepared for this day.”
BC’s defense was effective at all three levels against a Minutemen offense that was coming off a 572-yard showing against Duquesne. BC held UMass to 315 yards of total offense and limited starting QB Andrew Ford to 10-of-18 for 78 yards with interceptions by safety Lukas Denis and tackle Ray Smith.
“Hey, you have those days,” Whipple said. “We battled, but we weren’t good enough today. They were better.”
The BC defense, led by linebacker Connor Strachan, had 55 tackles, eight tackles for a loss and six sacks.
“I thought the pass rush at times was just outstanding,” said Addazio. “I was watching Zach Allen turn speed into power and turn the corner and get under people.”