Everything Boston College Football Head Coach Bill O'Brien Said After Clemson Loss

The Eagles' second-year skipper, who went 7-5 in his first season with the program, is now 8-10 in his career at BC.

Oct 11, 2025; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Boston College Eagles head coach Bill O'Brien (l) and Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney shake hands after the Tigers defeated the Eagles at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — On Saturday night, the Boston College football team suffered its fifth straight loss, dropping a 41-10 decision to the visiting Clemson Tigers to fall to 1-5 on the season and 0-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

The Eagles surrendered 34 points in the first half alone and were down by 24 points going into the second quarter, 34-10. They did not score in the second half and ended up taking starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan for the majority of the final two quarters to let true freshman Shaker Reisig get some reps under center.

Clemson, meanwhile, accumulated 333 first-half yards and virtually did not make a single mistake on either side of the ball in the first and second quarter thanks to the stellar play of quarterback Cade Klubnik and wide receivers Antonio Williams and Bryant Wesco Jr.

Here is everything Boston College football head coach Bill O’Brien said after the loss:

Question: Seemed to be a turning point, especially towards the end of the half. 4th-and-6, I know you’re doing three possessions, but Clemson ended up getting the ball back and they put it up four possessions. Just thoughts on that decision?

O’Brien: “At the end of the half, yeah, I tried to burn as much time. I was going to use a timeout, tried to take some time off the clock, thinking that maybe they couldn't get back. Really, the turning point was the strip sack, because we were going to cut the lead there. I think [it would have been] 24-17 if we scored. Yeah, it was a big, big swing. Could have handled that better than I did at the end. Yeah, no doubt. But all I'm saying is I think the turning point was the strip sack, because I think we had a little bit of momentum. We were moving the football. Make it 24-17, who knows? I'm just saying, to me, that was the turning point.”

Question: Just talk about [Cade] Klubnik’s first half. Seemed to beat you both with the arms and the legs.

O’Brien: “Yeah, we couldn’t stop them. I don’t think we stopped them one time in the first half. [We] did a better job in the second half, obviously, but did not stop him one time in the first half. So give them a lot of credit. They've, you know, they've got a good football team and a lot of talent, and Clubnik did a good job, but I don't think they punted in the first half.”

Question: Anything you learned in the second half that you can carry forward for the rest of the season?

O’Brien: “Yeah, those guys fought. I mean, they were fighting. I got a lot of respect for the guys in that locker room. They fought. Nobody quit. Everybody played hard. We had chances to score on offense, you know, we just didn't get it done. But yeah, no, they fought. I think you can take a lot from that. These guys will fight. These guys are not, they're good BC guys, they're going to fight. They know that it's not good right now, but they're not going to quit.”

Question: A few more injuries on defense tonight. How deflating is that, and I guess the messaging—how much more can you say to the guys at that point?

O’Brien: “Yeah, no. I mean, it's a legit question, but I do think it gives other guys opportunities now. The guys that it gives opportunities to [is] our young guys, you know, they've never really played before, right? So they're freshmen. Not an excuse, not an excuse, not saying it would change the game. I'm just saying that you can look at it as the way you said it, or to me, you can look at it, you know, it gives these guys a lot of opportunities. Marcus Upton got in there. I thought he did some really nice things, you know, I think Ashton Cunningham fights, TJ Green, you know, Griffin Collins got in there at the end, because there were a ton of linebacker injuries, right? Zakari Thomas, right? I think you're, you know, a lot of these guys are getting a lot of playing time, and then that can be a good thing, you know. So that's just the way it is.”

Question: Take a break from ACC play, you got a regional game next weekend. How do you regroup and turn things around?

O’Brien: “Yeah, we go back to work tomorrow. No doubt about it. We got to regroup. We just talked about it in there. Again. It starts with me. I told the team this, ‘I'm the head coach, right?’ I can't figure out how to get this team how to play. I can't get the coaching staff to coach it right. It's on me. I've got to do a better job of coaching the team. I've got to do a better job of helping the coaches. Just, just, was a terrible night, but it's, you know, it's football and it's adversity. UConn is a very good team. Tough team, it will be a very tough game, but I know our guys will show up and be ready to go tomorrow.”