Boston College vs. Missouri: Live Updates
Today, the Boston College Eagles will face off with the Missouri Tigers for the first time in the two school's history. This week's matchup faces off with two teams that are evenly matched, and both need a big win. For the Eagles, the three easy wins are out of the way, now they face off with an SEC squad that has been prolific through the air. Dennis Grosel is going to have a solid game, and look for the BC to try and get the rushing game going against a Mizzou rushing defense that has allowed over 250 yards a game.
This is where you will get all the latest updates and analyses of the game. Throughout the game, I will update this article to include any notes, injury updates, and analysis of the game as it happens. I will also be in the comment section to talk about the game.
During the game, make sure to head over to Maroon and Gold Forum to talk about the action on the field, and hear thoughts from our editor AJ Black. If you haven't signed up yet for the Maroon and Gold Forum, it is a free message board.
Captains: Zay Flowers, Joey Luchetti, and Josh DeBerry
Two Major Players Return
Looks like BC will get two of their best players back from injury this week. Marcus Valdez missed the first three games with a hand/wrist injury. The BC defensive line played very well in his absence. But his return will give the D-line some much-needed juice against an SEC opponent.
Jaelen Gill also missed the first three games, but with a leg/knee injury. BC already had a very deep, talented receiving corps. Gill provides another speedy explosive option across from Zay Flowers. He should be able to help out on jet sweeps and even in the return game.
Kickoff
Boston College won the toss and deferred. The Tigers get the ball first.
Mizzou moved the ball down the field pretty well, with Connor Bazelak completing his first six pass attempts. The drive stalled in plus territory, but after a running into the punter penalty, Missouri took their punt team off the field and wanted to go for it before taking a timeout.
After the timeout, Missouri's big WR Keke Chism made a nice grab off a deflected pass to convert on fourth down. The Tigers kept their momentum rolling, with running back Tyler Badie ripping off a 20 yard gain to get deep into the red zone. On the next play, Connor Bazelak rolled out and fired a touchdown pass to put Missouri up 7-0.
On the first play of the next drive, Dennis Grosel threw a deep ball to Jaden Williams. But the true freshman was triple-covered the ball was intercepted by safety Shawn Robinson.
The BC defense forced a three and out from the Tigers, thanks to good coverage from the secondary. But the Missouri special teams unit downed the punt inside the one.
BC tried two run plays to give them some breathing room but they only gained four yards. However, Dennis Grosel found Zay Flowers on a corner route and Flowers picked up 28. On the very next play, Patrick Garwo III to a handoff and broke through the defense for a 67-yard touchdown run. With a successful extra point, the Eagles tied it up with Missouri, drawing even at 7.
Missouri's passing offense continued to roll on the next drive. Bazelak hit a wide-open receiver on a flea-flicker play that brought the Tigers inside the ten. On the next play, Tyler Badie punched it in for Mizzou from a few yards out, making it 14-7.
Patrick Garwo picked up right where he left off the last drive. He picked up two nice gains to get the Eagles into Missouri territory. Then another nice run by Alec Sinkfield got BC into the red zone. The BC drive nearly stalled inside the 15 but Dennis Grosel picked up the first down on a quick QB sneak on 4th & 1.
Second Quarter
On the first play of the second quarter, Dennis Grosel faked the run and threw a perfect strike to true freshman Jaden Williams in the back of the end zone. The Eagles drew even at 14 with a successful extra point that doinked off the upright.
The Tigers got a quick first down. But after a big holding penalty on 2nd down, Missouri faced a 2nd and 19 and only picked up a few yards on their next two plays. The Tigers punted and their special teams unit walloped Travis Levy inside the 20.
The Eagles went three and out after two incompletions from Dennis Grosel. He missed Jaelen Gill and Trae Barry on consecutive throws that were behind the receivers.
Missouri got the ball back and went right down the field. The BC defense looked to be playing deep to prevent big plays, allowing Bazelak to find receivers underneath. The defensive line also struggled to generate pressure, giving him plenty of time in the pocket. On one such play, Bazelak found a receiver underneath and linebacker Isaiah Graham Mobley delivered a late hit when the receiver went down. Luckily, the hit did not make contact with either player's head and IGM was allowed to stay in the game.
With Missouri facing 1st & Goal inside the 10 after the late hit penalty, redeemed himself and made two big tackles to back the Tigers up and force 3rd & Goal. BC blitzed Bazelak on 3rd down and got home, forcing him to throw incomplete behind the receiver. Mizzou kicked a field goal to retake the lead 17-14.
BC got the ball back with a few minutes remaining and matriculated the ball down the field, with some really nice passes from Grosel. He stepped up in the pocket and found CJ Lewis across the middle, who took it for a gain of 36. But after a near-interception and a major sack, the Eagles faced 4th and long, outside of field goal range.
In the surprise of the day, true freshman Connor Lytton took the field for his first collegiate field goal attempt. In an even more shocking fashion, Lytton nailed the kick through the uprights for a massive, game-tying 49-yard field goal. With five seconds remaining, BC kicked it deep and the Tigers ran out the clock on their return.
The Eagles will get the ball first out of halftime, with the game tied at 17.
Third Quarter
The Eagles moved the ball down the field very well, with a nice mix of hard running from Pat Garwo and good decision-making by Dennis Grosel. After a big throw to CJ Lewis to get them inside the 10, Pat Garwo got into the end zone again to give the Eagles their first lead of the game.
On the ensuing Missouri drive, the pass defense made a huge play. Off play-action, Connor Bazelak tested the BC secondary up the sideline. But he didn't see Josh DeBerry, sinking back underneath the throw. DeBerry made a huge leaping interception to get the ball back to the Eagles.
The Boston College offense continued to chew up the clock. They ran the ball hard behind Pat Garwo and a surging offensive line. Dennis Grosel made some clutch plays through the air and on the ground. They could not get in the end zone but capped off the drive with a field goal. The Eagles held the ball for 13:42 of the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter
But on the ensuing drive, with some big passes by Bazelak, Missouri went right down the field and punched a run into the end zone to make it a three-point game. BC couldn't get anything going on the next drive, punting after only three plays and running less than a minute off the clock.
Missouri got the ball with excellent field position. They converted their first third down when BC brought pressure and Bazelak completed a slant before the blitz could get there. The Tigers continued to move the ball into the BC red zone. On 3rd &2 inside the 10, Tyler Badie cut through the BC defense into the end zone to give Missouri a 31-27 lead.
With 6:18 remaining, Boston College got the ball back down by four. Still leaning on their run game, the Eagles moved the ball down the field, chewing clock. Zay Flowers converted a huge third down on a slant from Grosel. A few plays later, Travis Levy bounced a run outside to get BC inside the 10. But he was called for an offensive facemask penalty.
Facing 1st & 12 from the 25 after the penalty, the Eagles clawed their way to another first down. With 40 seconds left and a fresh set of downs at the 12, Jeff Hafley called his first timeout. After a run and timeouts from BC and Missouri, Dennis Grosel misfired to make it 3rd & 3. Jeff Hafley went back to his veteran offensive line and called a run play for his veteran captain Travis Levy, who trucked two defenders to score a touchdown with 25 seconds left.
Missouri got the ball back and made some nice plays to get the ball across the 50. they trotted out their kicker with three seconds remaining to attempt a 56-yard field goal. The Tigers' kicker booted the ball through the uprights to tie the game at 34 and send it to overtime.
BC got the ball to start overtime. After a nice catch and run to convert a third down, Dennis Grosel lofted a beautiful throw to Zay Flowers in the back of the end zone to take a seven-point lead. On the very next play, Connor Bazelak tried to go up top immediately. But Brandon Sebastian made the play of his career, skying up to pick off Bazelak and end the game.
BC moved to 4-0 for the first time since 2007 and earns their first win over an SEC opponent in this century.
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