BC Bulletin

Four Players Who Need to Step Up for Boston College Football: The Rundown

The Eagles have lost back-to-back road games and are 1-2 overall, 0-2 as the visitor, and 0-1 in conference play. Who needs to step up for BC to get the program back on track?
Graham Dietz|
Sep 13, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Boston College Eagles running back Turbo Richard (2) fumbles at the goal line during the third quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Sep 13, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Boston College Eagles running back Turbo Richard (2) fumbles at the goal line during the third quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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Boston College Eagles

Coming off a 30-20 road loss at Stanford nine days ago, Boston College football wide receiver Reed Harris said something to the media in his post-game press conference that no player, coach, or fan likes to hear about their team.

“Everybody has to keep their mind in the right space,” Harris said. “And looking back on these 24 hours, I think it’s noticeable that some guys weren’t as locked in as they needed to be, and that probably translates to the game. That definitely translates.”

Harris wasn’t entirely wrong, but it is only up to the BC locker room—including Harris—and the Eagles’ leadership to change how the program approaches games on the road.

Harris did his part in the loss, which took BC to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, totaling a career-high 141 receiving yards on seven catches.

Nevertheless, the Eagles ultimately failed to score in the first, third, and fourth quarter, and blew a 17-6 lead with more than eight minutes left in the first half. 

The momentum turned in an instant once BC quarterback Dylan Lonergan fumbled at the Stanford 24-yard line with 2:41 remaining in the second quarter, which resulted in a three-play scoring drive for the Cardinal on the back of a 69-yard touchdown reception for Sam Roush.

Less than 30 seconds later, Lonergan was intercepted in BC’s redzone that developed into a 19-yard pick-6. BC could not recover from the end of the half, a miserable stretch by every measure possible, and dropped the contest to an average opponent which entered the matchup winless.

Here is a list of players the Eagles need to step up in their next matchup, a home game against California on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST, in order to put the program back on track in Bill O’Brien’s second year at the helm.

1. RB Turbo Richard

Richard isn’t solely at fault for the lack of production from BC’s backfield, but as the lead back, he has a great deal of responsibility in that area of the game.

For the second time in the Eagles’ first three games of 2025, Richard has fumbled at the 1-yard line, just inches away from reaching across the goal line and picking up points instead of turning the ball over.

The first costly mistake occurred on the Eagles’ second offensive drive in their Week Two matchup at Michigan State, when Richard caught a lateral pass in the flat from Lonergan and lost control of the ball while taking a hit between the 1- and 2-yard line. 

Richard’s head was past the goal line, but the ball had already been recovered by the Spartans, resulting in an 11-play touchdown drive for the hosts after the touchback.

In BC’s Stanford matchup, the fumble occurred with 2:32 to go in the third quarter and was arguably more costly. On 4th-and-goal from the Cardinal 1, instead of attempting a field goal which could have put the Eagles ahead in the game, 23-20, O’Brien elected to go for it with a running play.

Lonergan lined up in the shotgun with Richard two yards behind him with a seven-man front on the line of scrimmage—the offensive line along with two tight ends. Then Harris motioned to the right of the seven-man front, positioning himself behind right tackle Kevin Cline to add even more muscle to the trench battle. 

Lonergan received a clean snap, handed the ball off to Turbo, and the sophomore back leaped into the air straight up the gut, attempting to stretch the ball over the goal line with his arms. Instead of doing that, however, Richard flung the ball straight into the air a good five yards above his head, and Stanford safety Jay Green came down with the ball for a touchback.

Through three games, Richard has carried the ball 43 times for 158 rushing yards and two touchdowns, averaging 3.7 yards per rush. He has added 149 receiving yards on 12 receptions and two touchdowns, which are decent overall figures through three games. 

But those back-breaking turnovers have mightily hurt BC in closely-contested battles, and the Eagles will continue to lose if this type of play remains. It will not be tolerated by O’Brien and offensive coordinator Will Lawing, to say the least.

2. C Dwayne Allick

Allick, a six-year veteran on the offensive line, made three starts at guard in 2024—but played in all 13 games of the season—and transitioned to center for the 2025 season as a graduate student to take over the snapping responsibilities from former Eagle Drew Kendall, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

While the BC offensive line has performed solidly in pass protection, Allick included, he has not quite figured out how to snap the ball correctly, which has also resulted in turnovers for the Eagles.

Allick was benched for redshirt sophomore Michael Crounse by O’Brien in the second half of BC’s loss to the Cardinal after a poor snap led to the Lonergan fumble and ensuing Stanford touchdown drive to make it 17-13 in the second quarter. 

That has not been the only occasion in which Allick failed to snap the ball cleanly, as there were multiple instances in both the Fordham and MSU game when he did not properly put the ball into Lonergan’s hands after the hike. But the mistake in Stanford’s game hurt more than the others with a direct impact on the scoreboard, and O’Brien felt that it was best to replace him for the second half.

It would not be a surprise to see Allick return back to action following the Eagles’ Week Four bye, in which the 6-foot-2, 309-pound probably prioritized correcting this issue which has occasionally setback the offense. But BC can only wait and hope that Allick’s snapping misfortunes is just a short-term problem. Only time—and more game exposure—will tell.

3. LB Daveon Crouch

Ever since his otherworldly performance against the Rams in BC’s dominant, Week One win—Crouch racked up five solo tackles (six total), a sack, and a pick-6—the senior captain’s game has eerily declined.

Crouch has only registered one solo tackle in BC’s second and third game of the season combined—four total, three of which were assisted—and simply does not look like the same player that popped off in the Eagles’ season opener.

Senior linebacker Owen McGowan has stepped up, meanwhile, notching 16 tackles in the past two games combined, including eight solos, a fumble recovery and a sack to make up for the lackluster play of Crouch.

But defensive coordinator Tim Lewis practically relies on Crouch to the same extent that O’Brien and Lawing rely on Lonergan in the offensive realm—Crouch is like the quarterback of the defense. 

Lewis desperately needs him to find that edge once again and bring the same type of physicality and poise that he brought to the field on Aug. 30 against Fordham in order for BC to respond to back-to-back, middle-of-the-road defensive performances in which the Eagles surrendered a combined 779 offensive yards to their respective opponents—389.5 per game.

4. P Shamus Florio

If there is any facet of the game that BC needed to improve in year two of the O’Brien era, it is in the punting and kicking realm. Only one of those groups has figured it out in 2025 so far, however, and it is not the punting unit.

Last year, the Eagles’ two primary punters, Ivan Zinchenko and Liam Connor, averaged a combined 36.5 yards per punt, which just is not going to cut it at the Power-Four, NCAA Division I football level.

Yale transfer punter Shamus Florio came in to help remedy some of these kicking troubles, but following the Fordham game, in which the redshirt senior averaged 47.0 yards per punt and booted a 63-yarder, his punting average has steadily decreased.

Florio averaged 42.8 yards per punt on four punts against the Spartans and just 37.4 against the Cardinal on five attempts in Week Three, which is not a good sign.

Thankfully, the Eagles’ special teams unit possesses backups in that position group with freshman Andy Quinn, who may get more attention if Florio keeps this up.

Here is The Rundown for Monday, September 22.

Monday's Schedule:

Women's Tennis: All American Championships, Sept. 20-28, in Cary, N.C.

Women's Golf: Red Bandanna Invitational, Sept. 22-23, at Blue Hills Country Club in Canton, Mass. | Preview

Sunday's Results:

Field Hockey: Boston College 1, Wake Forest 2 | Recap | Box

Women's Soccer: Boston College 0, No. 16 Wake Forest 0 | Recap | Box

Countdown to Boston College men's hockey season opener:

11 days.

Did You Notice?

  • The Boston College volleyball team rolled to its 11th win of the season on Friday over Stonehill College, 3-1, to make program history by starting the season 11-0 for the first time.
  • Former Boston College men's hockey forward Gabe Perreault scored the New York Rangers' first goal of the preseason before the upcoming 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season.
  • The Boston College men's and women's hockey program unveiled a new set of home and away jerseys for the 2025-26 season, the teams announced on Friday.

On this date in Boston College Eagles History:

September 22, 1984: Doug Flutie threw six touchdown passes against North Carolina. The Eagles won 52-20.

Boston College Eagles Quote of the Day:

"I'd say what Doug [Flutie] is really good at is magic."

- Barry Gallup

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Graham Dietz
GRAHAM DIETZ

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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