Boston College Football Bested by California, 28-24, Lose Third Straight Game

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College football head coach Bill O’Brien has repeated more than once that he needs to teach his team how not to lose before they can learn how to win.

On Saturday, the Eagles proved why they have still not fully realized this concept, beating themselves up with 15 penalties for 109 yards in a 28-24 loss to California (4-1, 1-0 ACC) at Alumni Stadium.

“I haven’t been able to get it done in this program to this point of, you know, these guys learning how not to lose before they can win,” O’Brien said. “So we just got to keep fighting. We got to figure it out.”

Despite the penalties, BC (1-3, 0-2 ACC) fought until the very end of the game.

With 1:30 left in the fourth quarter after surrendering a 51-yard touchdown through the air—Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele’s second of the game—quarterback Dylan Lonergan completed passes of 16, three, nine, 14, and 26 yards to reach Cal’s 5-yard line with 0:22 to spare.

After an incomplete pass intended for Reed Harris, which the redshirt-sophomore wideout dropped after initially securing the ball inbounds, Lonergan threw his second interception of the game at the goal line, picked off by Luke Ferrelli.

LUKE FERRELLI WITH THE INT!@CalFootball D comes up big with the redzone stand 😤

📺 @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/lahU80ue9t
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 27, 2025

The Golden Bears kneeled out the ball after Sedarius McConnell jumped offsides on the 1-yard line with nine seconds left in regulation, which moved the ball to the 6-yard line.

Even though sophomore running back Turbo Richard—who rumbled for 171 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 15 carries—was amid a career-best performance, O’Brien said that the decision to pass on 2nd-goal from the 5-yard line gave the Eagles the best chance of scoring with a timeout left.

"We thought that the passing game gave us the best option down there,” O’Brien said. “I don't, I don't debate the call. If the ball was thrown in bounds, we could have used the timeout there.”

BC struck first via Lonergan’s first rushing touchdown of his collegiate career from seven yards, capping off a 12-play 84-yard drive to go up 7-0 at the 8:56 mark of the first quarter. Three plays into Cal’s first offensive possession, Sagapolutele was intercepted by Omar Thornton—the first of his career—and Richard scampered for a 27-yard rushing score to increase the Eagles’ lead to 14.

BC entered Saturday’s matchup without its starting left tackle, Jude Bowry, and showcased an entirely new offensive-line combination, consisting of Logan Taylor at left tackle, Eryx Daugherty at left guard, Michael Crounse at center, Robert Smith IV at right guard, and Kevin Cline at right tackle.

“I don’t know what we ran for, but I thought it was pretty good,” O’Brien said. “I thought [the offensive line] played pretty well together. [Richard] did a great job. He really did. He took care of the football and he saw it. He was hot tonight, no doubt about it.”

The Golden Bears clawed back to tie the game at 14 apiece with LJ Johnson Jr.’s one-yard rushing score and Sagapolutele’s five-yard passing touchdown to Jacob De Jesus. But the Eagles entered halftime with a three-point lead thanks to Luca Lombardo’s 52-yard field goal, a career long.

So far this season, Lombardo has gone 6-for-6 on field goals, including registering three from 45 or more yards (52, 51, and 48). He is also perfect on point after attempts (PAT).

“He’s definitely a weapon for us,” O’Brien said. “He’s had a hell of a year.”

Cal scored a touchdown on 1st-and-goal with 13:47 remaining in the final quarter following Hezekiah Masses’ interception on 2nd-and-7 at BC’s 6-yard line, with Kendrick Raphael bouncing into the endzone from the 2-yard line to give Cal its first lead of the game, 21-17.

Immediately after, however, Richard broke loose for a 71-yard house call—the longest run of his career—to thrust BC into the lead once again, 24-21.

71 YARD ANSWER FROM @BCFootball TO RE-TAKE THE LEAD 🤯

📺 @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/SNA8tQr819
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 27, 2025

"To be honest, I just [saw] green grass,” Richard said. “Seeing green grass and spacing, just attacking, you know, just use my speed for the rest of the way."

The remainder of the game kept Eagles’ fans on the edge of their seats, with back-and-forth play—including a crucial fourth-down conversion for Cal on 4th-and-11 from its 34-yard line due to a pass interference call on Isaiah Farris—until Sagpolutele unleashed a 51-yard bomb to tight end Mason Mini on a rope to retake the lead by four points.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!@CalFootball takes the lead 🚨

📺 @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/Ohrrivq2T6
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 27, 2025

"I think we played, at times, we played well defensively," O'Brien said. "You know, we cut the guy loose—we were in zone coverage on the last touchdown there. We had a couple of missed tackles throughout the game, but I thought we played hard."

The Eagles regained possession with 1:30 left to play, and even converted on a 4th-and-8 coming from a 14-yard hookup between Lonergan and Bond, who led the team in receiving yards with 77 on seven receptions.

But Lonergan’s second interception officially sank the ship in brutal fashion, and BC fell, 28-24—its third loss in a row.

“It wasn't coaching,” Linebacker Bryce Steele said. “We just didn't execute.”

Steele said that there is still time to change the narrative for the 2025 season.

“We just got to learn how to win as a team and play as a team,” Steele said. “Just got to fix mistakes. It's a lot of football left. Our record doesn't define us as a program or as a team. Got a lot of football left, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."