Five Numbers that Tell the Story of Boston College’s Battering of Georgia Tech
Entering Saturday's road meeting with Georgia Tech, questions surrounded Boston College football’s offense as prized transfer running back Evan Dickens was lost for the season and the unit was yet to have a truly dominant performance through the first half of the season.
Those questions were quieted and put on the shelf for the time being as the Eagles leaned on the run and dominated the second half to continue marching towards bowl eligibility with a 49-27 win over the Yellow Jackets.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of the game.
339: BC's Total Rushing Yards
Boston College ran for 399 yards, its most since running for 496 yards against Syracuse on November 2, 2019. That game saw the Eagles lean on standout running back AJ Dillon 35 times, as he ran for 242 yards and three touchdowns.
BC turned to local product Bo MacCormack III, giving him the ball 20 times on the ground and twice more through the air. On his career day, MacCormack accounted for 155 yards and three scores to lead the Eagles to the road victory.
170: Mason McKenzie’s Rushing Yards
Mason McKenzie ran for a team-high 170 yards on Saturday, as the quarterback carried the ball 16 times and averaged over ten yards per carry. McKenzie has been a consistent threat to pick up yards on the ground and has run for 614 yards through seven games now, which leads all quarterbacks in the ACC. When removing sacks, the yardage climbs to over 100 per game at 752 yards.
His performance against Georgia Tech moved McKenzie into third place on Boston College’s single-season leaderboard for quarterback rushing yards.
Trailing Tyler Murphy (1,184 yards in 2013) and Thomas Castellanos (1,113 yards in 2024), McKenzie is on pace to finish just behind the two, but if the Eagles qualify for a bowl game and earns a 13th opportunity to play, his projected total rises to 1,140, which puts the single-season record within reach.
49: Points
The Eagles offense came to life Saturday, posting 49 points to beat their season high by over 20 points.
It was a slow start for BC, which got shutout in the first quarter before finding the end zone multiple times in each of the remaining three quarters.
The 49 points came on five rushing touchdowns, one passing score, a Charlie Commella pick six, a field goal, and four extra points. The output was the most since last season’s home opener against Fordham, and the most against an FBS opponent since that 2019 game against Syracuse — the same one that saw BC run for nearly 500 yards.
9 and 0: First Half and Second Half Penalties Committed
Boston College trailed at the half, largely because of self-inflicted mistakes.
Included in that were nine penalties that gifted Georgia Tech 91 yards and five first downs through the first 30 minutes.
The second half was a complete turnaround, as the Eagles played a clean half and did not get flagged during the final half hour.
BC will need to look more like the disciplined squad they were in the second half throughout its next five games, as penalties have been a major factor in some of the defeats this season, dating all the way back to the season opener against Cincinnati.
2: Wins from Bowl Eligibility
Boston College needs to win two of its remaining five games to become bowl eligible, although one more win could see the Eagles qualify if there are not enough six wins teams to fill all the slots.
The Eagles' remaining slate consist of a roadtrip to Duke on Halloween, a home matchup against Florida State, the Holy War against Notre Dame in South Bend, the final home game of the season against Syracuse, and a trip to current No. 1 Miami.
The most likely path for the Eagles will be to win the remaining two home games, as they should be a moderate favorite against Syracuse, who are yet to win an ACC game in regulation, and are evenly-matched against a Florida State team that has not won away from Tallahassee, and has conceded over 30 points in each of the last two weeks.
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Chris Vogel has spent the last five years in sports media; including as a play-by-play broadcaster for ACC Network Extra and Hockey East on ESPN. He’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and in his final year as a graduate student at Boston College, where he serves as the radio voice of Boston College Women’s Hockey on WZBC 90.3; the flagship radio network of Boston College Women’s Athletics. He’s the host of the “All Things Hockey” podcast, and cover women’s college hockey for College Hockey On SI.
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