New London's Dillon runs wild as Boston College upsets Louisville 45-42
Just as Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson had Louisville poised for an amazing comeback, Boston College got the turnover it needed and gave the ball to A.J. Dillon.
The New London freshman's workhorse rushing set things up for kicker Colton Lichtenberg to cap the Eagles' own remarkable rally.
Lichtenberg kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired, pushing Boston College past Louisville 45-42 in a shootout Saturday after the Cardinals tied the game late behind three fourth-quarter scores by Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.
"I was telling people that were asking me, I said, 'I know, I got this. This is it. It's going in,'" said Lichtenberg, who had missed a 40-yard attempt in the third quarter.
Jackson's 41-yard TD run with 5:03 remaining tied the wild game at 42, which seemed improbable considering Louisville seemed down and out after twice trailing by 14 points in the fourth. The junior even had the Cardinals going toward a possible go-ahead score late when he hit Jaylen Smith with a 20-yard pass to midfield, but Darius Wade stripped Smith of the ball and Kamrin Moore returned it 11 yards to Louisville's 39 before fumbling.
Fortunately for BC, Isaac Yiadom recovered that fumble and set the stage for more heroics by Dillon, who rushed for two of his career-best four TDs in the fourth quarter. Dillon ran seven times for 29 yards down to the Cardinals 10.
Lichtenberg followed with the game-winning kick that gave BC (3-4, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) its first league victory since November.
Dillon finished with career-best 272 yards on 39 carries, rushing for TDs from 1, 3, 11 and 75 yards. His yardage total was the third-best single game total for BC, which also got a 6-yard TD run by Jon Hilliman as the Eagles erased a 21-7 deficit with 28 unanswered points after halftime.
"Talking about the offensive line, they did a great job today," said Dillon, whose total was the most by BC back since 2013 Doak Walker Award winner Andre Williams.
"Those are like my brothers up there. Sometimes I run over to them and say, 'I'm a lineman too.' They really put it all on the line for me, Jon and Travis (Levy) today. I can't them enough."
BC coach Steve Addazio said of Dillon, "He was a beast out there."
Jackson, who had 512 combined yards, accounted for five TDs.