After showing so much promise in a two-point loss to No. 3 Florida State, Boston College got rolled 56-28 by Louisville in an ACC match on Saturday at L&N Financial Credit Union Stadium.
The Cardinals scored a touchdown on their opening seven possessions to improve to 4-0 and 2-0 in the ACC. Louisville compiled 374 yards of total offense in the first half and had seven explosive plays of 27 yards or more. BC fell to 1-3 and 0-2 and will host Virginia next Saturday at Alumni Stadium.
“The lack of execution and loss of one-on-ones and we were uncharacteristic on defense, I’ve never seen us play like that since we’ve been here,” said BC coach Jeff Hafley.
“I did not see that coming, we had a great week, upbeat, and I thought we had a very good plan and we just came out flat and didn’t execute. This won’t happen next week, I am very confident in that.”
Louisville senior transfer quarterback Jack Plummer shredded the BC secondary by completing 18-of-28 passes for 388 yards and five touchdowns. UL tailback Jahar Jorden rushed for 134 yards with two touchdowns and finished with 249 all-purpose yards and three scores. BC dual threat quarterback Thomas Castellanos completed 17-of-33 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns.
“I thought he (Castellanos) did some good things but there are things we have to clean up,” said Hafley. “He gave us a chance to score points.”
BC crossed midfield on its opening drive only to turn the ball over on downs at the Louisville 41. Hafley’s gamble on fourth and two paid off for the Cardinals when Jordan scored on a 33-yard run to make it 7-0 with 9:47 to play.
The Cardinals put BC in a 14-0 hole with an 11-play, 62-yard scoring drive with 3:21 to play in the first. Big play was a 32-yard pass from Plummer to Kevin Coleman on third down to the BC 16. Plummer capped the trip with a 1-yard toss to tight end Nate Kurisky.
Louisville entered blowout territory on their third possession following another BC three-and-out. On the first play of the second quarter, Plummer completed a 45-yard touchdown pass on a go route by Ahmari Huggins-Bruce to make it 21-0.
The game transitioned from tragedy to comedy on Louisville’s fourth possession when Plummer scored on a 9-yard run to make it 28-0 at 8:43 of the second.
BC showed its first sign of life when Castellanos turned a designed draw into a 39-yard touchdown run with 5:39 to play in the half. The euphoria was short-lived when Jordan pounded in from the 2-yard line to make it 35-7.
BC scored on an eight-play, 75-yard drive to cut the lead to 35-14 with 33 seconds to play. On fourth and nine, Castellanos scrambled away from pressure and threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Ryan O’Keefe. Plummer faked taking a knee and closed the half with a 42-yard touchdown pass Jamari Thrash to make it 42-14 with eight seconds on the board.
“The kneel play we had guys there and our guys stood straight up and we needed to make a tackle, get off blocks and finish,” said Hafley. “We’re in a coverage where we should have had a safety deep and that safety wasn’t where he was supposed to be.”
Louisville scored on the opening play of the third, a 75-yard screen pass from Plummer to Jordan to make 49-14 just 14 seconds into the half. BC made it 49-21 on a 21-yard strike from Castellanos to Lewis Bond at 12:53. Louisville made its first punt at 10:52 of the third and it was downed on the BC three.
