Boston, MA—The Boston College Eagles lost, 31-3, on Saturday night at Alumni Stadium against #5 Clemson in the annual Red Bandanna Game, presented by Empower.
The loss drops the Eagles to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the ACC. Clemson improves to 6-0 and 4-0 in ACC play.
BC fell to 4-5 in the annual tribute game. The Eagles have not beaten a ranked team at all since beating No. 9 Southern California in the first Red Bandanna Game in 2014.
DJ Uiagelei broke loose up the middle for 40 yards before the turf monster tripped him on the grass — 13 yards short of the end zone.
“I thought for a second I’d be gone,” Uiagalelei said after leading the Tigers over Boston College on Saturday night. “And then reality hit.”
Phil Jurkovec finished the game completing 19-of-40 passes for 188 yards. He completed passes to seven different receivers, led by speedster Zay Flowers with eight catches for 75 yards. Pat Garwo had three catches on the night.
Connor Lytton began the second quarter with a 30-yard field, tying it at 3-3. Tigers’ Will Shipley scored the game’s first touchdown, finding paydirt from one yard out with 45 seconds remaining in the first half, making it 10-3 at the break.
Clemson got the offense moving at the 11:28 mark of the opening quarter with a 35-yard field goal. BC had a chance to tie the game with a little over six minutes later, but Lytton the 35-yarder sailed wide left.
Beaux Collins caught four passes for 58 yards, including a 10-yard score. He also caught a 20-yard pass to setup Uiagalelei’s 38-yard touchdown dime to Joseph Ngata to end a five-play, 73-yard drive that made it 17-3 with 11:50 in the third quarter tacked on two more TD’s in the fourth quarter.
Kam Arnold led the Eagles with eight tackles (six solo), including a sack. Jason Maitre made five tackles – four solo and two for a loss, including a sack.
“This game is bigger than anything, more than anybody knows,” cornerback Maitre said.
Uiagalelei threw for 220 yards and three touchdowns, running for 69 more to help Clemson (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) break the game open in the second half.
Clemson scored touchdowns on back-to-back possessions and turned it up in the second-half turned a 3-3 game into a runaway. Meanwhile, the Eagles (2-4, 1-3) went three-and-out and punted four times in five series, with only halftime interrupting the streak.
“The defense controlled the night,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “They just controlled the night. They kept them out of the end zone.”
THE TAKEAWAY
BC played well enough to stay with the Tigers for almost a half. The Eagles led in virtually every category at the half – except converting red zone chances. But Clemson showed in the second half why it is one of the top team”
RED BANDANNA
The Eagles wore their special uniforms with red bandanna trim in the memory of Welles Crowther, a former BC lacrosse player who died helping to rescue people from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Crowther was identified by those he saved by the red bandanna he always had with him.
UP NEXT
Clemson: Visits Florida State on Saturday.
Boston College: Has a week off before playing at Wake Forest on Oct. 22.
