Boston College Football Earns First Victory With 28-21 Defeat of Rutgers in Red Bandanna Game
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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Despite a rollercoaster second half that saw Boston College go three and out on its first drive and turn the ball over three times, the Eagles came out victorious over Rutgers (0-2), 28-21, in the 13th edition of the program's annual Red Bandanna Game.
In his first win as BC’s starting quarterback, Mason McKenzie, who threw two interceptions in the second half, total 346 yards from scrimmage and a pair of touchdowns with a team-high 94 yards on the ground.
The Eagles (1-1) narrowly led in total yards at the end of the game, 402-384, and were scrambling to hold onto their lead.
But two clutch interceptions in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter for linebacker Anthony Palano sealed the triumph.
On Rutgers’ first offensive drive, BC forced a turnover on downs at the Scarlet Knights’ 34-yard line, stuffing quarterback AJ Surace on a QB sneak, which led to the Eagles’ first scoring drive of the night.
After converting on 4th-and-3 via McKenzie’s eight-yard dish to Javarius Green, Evan Dickens rumbled into the endzone for a 19-yard rushing score, and Luca Lombardo nailed the extra point to cement a 7-0 lead for BC with 10:42 left in the quarter.
It was rather fitting that the first touchdown of the game was a 19-yarder, as 19 was the number that Welles Crowther, the 9/11 hero who BC dedicates this game to, wore when he played lacrosse for the school.
On the very next drive, Rutgers started pushing down the field, but Surace was picked off by Charlie Comella on an overthrown ball, resulting in the first takeaway of the game.
It only took the Eagles four plays to score a second touchdown, as McKenzie completed a 53-yard bomb to Landon Wright before rushing for a 10-yard touchdown, which increased the Eagles’ lead to 14-0.
Less than two minutes into the second quarter, BC extended its lead to 17-0 on Lombardo’s first field goal of the year from 30 yards, and he later made a second one right before the end of the half from 46.
But before that, the Scarlet Knights staged a scoring drive of their own after a scary injury for Eagles linebacker Bodie Kahoun, who was carted off the field on a stretcher after colliding with Antwan Raymond on a six-yard run.
BC posted on social media during halftime that Kahoun, who gave a thumbs up to the crowd as he was lifted into an ambulance that escorted him off the turf, had movement in all his extremities and was being further evaluated at a hospital.
The incident occurred in the early stages of the Rutgers scoring drive, which lasted 16 plays and consisted of a conversion on 4th-and-4 from BC’s 27-yard line, setting up the visitors in the redzone.
Five plays after the conversion, Raymond caught a four-yard pass from Surace to cut the deficit to 17-7 following a successful extra-point attempt.
The second half is where things began to get a bit shaky for the Eagles, especially offensively.
BC went three and out after receiving the opening kickoff of the half, and after Surace’s second interception of the game, which Carter Davis picked off at the Eagles’ 15-yard line and returned to the 19, Dickens fumbled the ball to give possession right back to the Scarlet Knights on their 48.
Surace then led a swift seven-play scoring drive, capped off with a four-yard touchdown pass to KJ Duff, to make the score 20-14 with 2:37 left in the quarter.
The real moment of concern for BC fans came just moments later, as McKenzie was intercepted by Moses Walker on the first play of the very next drive to hand Rutgers possession on the Eagles’ 18-yard line.
But BC’s defense forced the Scarlet Knights into a short fourth-down situation, and Surace was trampled for a loss of two yards.
The two sides traded shots in the fourth quarter, the first of which saw Mckenzie complete a 78-yard touchdown reception to Dawson Pough, followed by a two-point conversion to Jonathan Montague Jr. to make it 28-14. That was immediately followed by a 60-yard touchdown for Duff, who burnt Marcus Upton on a deep post.
Palano then put the game away with his second interception of the night after McKenzie was intercepted on the previous drive by Moses Walker for the second time in the quarter, officially putting the Eagles in the 2026 win column.
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Graham Dietz is a 2025 graduate of Boston College and subsequently joined Boston College On SI. He previously served as an editor for The Heights, the independent student newspaper, from fall 2021, including as Sports Editor from 2022-23. Graham works for The Boston Globe as a sports correspondent, covering high school football, girls' basketball, and baseball. He was also a beat writer for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2023.
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