Bill O'Brien Speaks on BC Football's Unsteady Quarterback Room Ahead of Georgia Tech

BC football head coach Bill O'Brien did not name a starter for the Eagles' Week 12 matchup vs. No. 14 Georgia Tech.

Nov 1, 2025; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Boston College Eagles quarterback Dylan Lonergan warms up before the game against Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Edward Finan-Imagn Images | Edward Finan-Imagn Images

In Boston College football’s last two games, the Eagles have averaged more quarterbacks played than touchdowns scored.

BC head coach Bill O’Brien started redshirt-sophomore quarterback Dylan Lonergan against No. 12 Notre Dame two weeks ago, but he subbed in redshirt-senior Grayson James after just one drive in the second quarter. Lonergan threw an interception before he was benched, and he was not necessarily driving the offense down the field in a prolific manner.

The Eagles ultimately fell, 25-10, and the only touchdown for BC came in the second quarter when James connected with wide receiver Reed Harris for a 25-yard touchdown pass.

On Saturday, in BC’s 45-13 loss to SMU, the opposite occurred.

O’Brien elected to start James for the game, which resulted in the Eagles’ ninth consecutive loss to drop their record to 1-9 overall and 0-6 in the ACC. But after three offensive drives in which James fumbled twice, O’Brien swapped him out for Lonergan.

Lonergan ended up scoring BC’s only touchdown with a five-yard pass to Jordan McDonald in the fourth quarter, but the score was already out of reach at that point—the touchdown made it 38-13 in favor of the Mustangs.

Even freshman Shaker Reisig went in late in the game, completing 4-of-6 passes for 52 yards and an interception. 

Reisig has played in three games this season, which means that if he receives snaps in both of the Eagles’ next two matchups, a home tilt against No. 14 Georgia Tech and a road contest at Syracuse, he will not be able to redshirt and retain another year of eligibility.

This is all to say that since Lonergan’s benching after the first six weeks of the season, BC’s quarterback room has looked something like a revolving door, and the lack of consistency in that arena is possibly hurting the offense from a continuity standpoint.

“Yeah, some of it is they have to give us confidence,” O’Brien said of James and Lonergan. “You know, it's important for us to have confidence in them. So we give them, you know, they've each played a lot, and they've done some good things and some not so good things. And, you know, we think what's best for the team, you know, we try to make the best decision. It's not just something that I decide alone.”

O’Brien continued: “It's not, I'm not the final, I mean, I am the final decision maker. But, you know, [it’s like] ‘Hey, what do you think here? And what do you think?’ And I thought when Dylan went into the game last week, other than a few plays, obviously, I thought he played pretty well. So, yeah, that's just the way it's been going.”

During Tuesday’s press conference, O’Brien did not name a starter for BC’s Week 12 contest against the Yellow Jackets (8-1, 5-1), who currently sit atop the Atlantic Coast Conference with the best overall record—Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh, and SMU all have a conference record of 5-1—but he said that he has confidence in whoever he puts on the field.

“Anybody we put out there we have confidence in, you know?” O’Brien said. “I mean it’s just, then they got to go out there and play well, and the guys around them have to play well. The offensive line, the receivers, the tight ends, the running back. So it’s an 11-man effort. But yeah, no, I have confidence in anybody we put out there.”

While Lonergan could not find his groove against the Fighting Irish in Week 10, he showed improvement against the Mustangs, especially with his pocket awareness and timing.

Lonergan completed 25-of-37 passes for 232 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the defeat. He was sacked four times.

Lonergan’s pass to the sideline to Lewis Bond for a 19-yard completion in the final 10 seconds of the first half, which set up a Luca Lombardo 36-yard field goal to decrease BC’s deficit to 17-6 going into halftime, showed the potential the Alabama transfer has at his absolute best.

Lonergan threaded the needle by firing a timely, perfectly-placed ball to Bond, just over the hands of an SMU defender, and the senior wideout—who is three catches away from tying Zay Flowers’ program record in career receptions with 200—had just enough room to tap his two feet in bounds and step over the sideline to stop the clock with six seconds.

Just take a look this condensed version of BC and SMU's matchup and head to the 14:45 mark of the video to watch the throw.

There is no confirmation yet of which quarterback will start this upcoming Saturday in BC's final home game of 2025 until O'Brien announces it after Thursday's practice—or when the Eagles take the field on Saturday if he chooses to conceal his decision—but the decision each week appears to come down to which quarterback matches up better with the opponent's defense.