Boston College Football Survives Maine With 22-16 Victory to Extend Win Streak

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — While it led for the entire game and eventually eked out its second victory of the year, Boston College football gave its fans something to worry about until the final whistle of Saturday’s contest against Maine, an FCS opponent who was a 38.5-point underdog entering the matchup.

The Eagles entered halftime ahead of the Black Bears (1-3, 1-0 CAA) 19-10 after a second quarter in which they were outscored 10-3, including giving up a touchdown with nine seconds remaining.

But the momentum stayed in the direction of the visitors for the remainder of the contest, which ultimately ended in favor of BC (2-1) 22-16.

The Eagles made five trips into the red zone and did not convert a single one of them into touchdowns, went 4-for-12 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down, and quarterback Mason McKenzie was picked off twice.

With that being said, its 16 points in the first quarter via Evan Dickens’ 39-yard rushing touchdown, a safety thanks to KJ Sampson’s quarterback pressure, which forced a hold, and Jonathan Montague Jr.’s 31-yard touchdown reception was enough to keep BC afloat en route to the triumph.

McKenzie ➡️ Montague for 31 yards pic.twitter.com/lp4IChSKWz
— Boston College Football (@BCFootball) September 19, 2026

“I have to do a better job, [and] it starts with me,” BC head coach Bill O’Brien said in his postgame press conference. “There’s some things we just have to do a better job with, especially offensively, but a lot of missed opportunities. We had the ball inside the 10-yard line, I don’t know, maybe four or five times, didn’t do a good job of executing down there. [I] probably need to design some better plays.”

“But in the end, you know what it is? It’s a win. It’s a win. And I’ve been doing this a long time, and you can never take winning for granted. Ever. And so there’s always things to build on, but I was proud of those guys, I thought the defense played their heart out, and we won the game.”

O’Brien:

“A lot of missed opportunities. … I probably need to design some better plays. But in the end, you know what it is? It’s a win. It’s a win. And I’ve been doing this a long time, and you can never take winning for granted. Ever.” pic.twitter.com/3AMFV58ukP
— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) September 19, 2026

After cruising relatively smoothly to its 16-0 lead in the first quarter, the Eagles started to let the Black Bears into the game following McKenzie’s first interception, which Jamaree Gibson picked off at the Maine 28 and returned for 42 yards to the BC 30 with 8:36 left in the second.

The Black Bears got a field goal out of the turnover, which was cancelled out on the following drive by Luca Lombardo’s 26-yarder to make it 19-3. But they kept their foot on the gas pedal on the ensuing possession, which resulted in a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive that ended with Eddie Buehler’s five-yard passing touchdown to Nick Laughlin with nine seconds left in the half.

“We definitely have to put teams away,” safety KP Price, who had two interceptions and a tackle for loss in the win, said. “We can be up, but at the same time, you have to know how to finish and not get too ahead of ourselves."

On the first drive of the second half, McKenzie was intercepted for a second time — this one at the Eagles’ five-yard line — to hand the ball right back to Maine, but Buehler suffered the same type of fate just three plays later when Price snagged his second pick.

KP with his second INT of the day pic.twitter.com/9X2xrjcE3y
— Boston College Football (@BCFootball) September 19, 2026

BC could not find the endzone, but it was still able to increase its lead by three points on another 26-yard field goal for Lombardo to make it 22-10.

“I have to watch the film, but not good,” O’Brien said of BC’s red-zone troubles. “Again, it starts with me, I’ve got to do a better job with the plays down there. I thought we had some plays we missed. I thought we had [Jaedn] Skeete on one, missed it. Didn’t run the ball well down there … we were not able to do that. Some of the passes that were called, it didn’t seem like anybody was open, so give Maine credit. … We have to score touchdowns down there.”

Only the Black Bears were capable of finding the endzone in the final quarter, when Buehler passed for his second touchdown pass on a seven-yard completion to Laughlin with 4:38 left in regulation.

The extra-point attempt by Samuel Tremblay was blocked at the line of scrimmage by Micah Amedee, keeping the score at 22-16, and BC was able to clinch the victory with a final drive that kept its offense on the field for the rest of the game.

“I’ve coached for a lot of great coaches,” O’Brien said. “A lot of great coaches. They said no matter what, when you win, cherish the victory. … you’re gonna write what you write, our fans are gonna think [what they think], and I totally understand that. … But we won.”

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