Mason McKenzie Will 'Put His Body on the Line,' But Boston College Must Protect Its QB

The Eagles' QB was banged up pretty good during Saturday's loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Sep 5, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Boston College Eagles quarterback Mason McKenzie reacts on the ground after being hit by Cincinnati Bearcats linebacker Damaine Wilson (9) while throwing a pass in the second half at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It is abundantly clear that the Boston College football program is not quite where it wants to be after suffering a 34-15 road loss to Cincinnati in its 2026 season opener, in which self-inflicted wounds such as penalties, missed tackles, poor special-teams execution, and offensive-line struggles were significant factors.

“We got to eliminate bad football,” BC head coach Bill O'Brien said after Tuesday’s practice. “Too much bad football. Too many false starts, a delay of game, turnovers, missed tackles, a missed field goal. Just too many errors.”

But among all these pieces of the puzzle, protecting quarterback Mason Mckenzie is going to be crucial moving forward, because if he gets tossed around the way he did on Saturday for multiple games in a row, he may be looking at an injury-ridden future.

Make the call: was this targeting on Cincinnati? pic.twitter.com/axtHQ7bMY7

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 5, 2026

“Obviously, there’s a lot of hits,” McKenzie said. “It’s a physical game. There’s times I could probably protect myself a little bit better, and there’s just times I want to get that extra yard or two. I just gotta find the happy medium there.”

One of the glaring weaknesses on the offensive side leading up to the season was BC’s pass protection, and Saturday’s performance was fairly indicative of that, as the Eagles relinquished four sacks and eight tackles for loss.

While part of McKenzie’s job is to run with the ball, which means that taking hits in the open field are more in his control — he can choose to either slide or run out of bounds in order to avoid unnecessary collisions — the sacks, quarterback hits, and pressures are much more of a line issue, one that needs serious improvement, according to O’Brien.

“I mean, he’s a very tough guy, I think we can all see [and] appreciate that,” O’Brien said. “[But] we got to do a better job of taking care of him. I think with Mason, just like any quarterback, it all comes down to how the guys around him play."

O’Brien on Mason McKenzie, the way he adjusted to the speed of the game in his first FBS start, his toughness: pic.twitter.com/VHQ9FR0Vah

— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) September 8, 2026

McKenzie is steadfast on learning how to protect himself more as a runner, too, especially because he does it so often.

On Saturday alone, he carried the ball more than running backs Evan Dickens and Bo MacCormack III combined, partly as a result of scrambling due to a collapsed pocket or just seeing empty space ahead of him where he could make a defender miss.

But even this is something he needs to get under control, because it doesn’t last long before scrambling starts becoming reckless and not conducive to winning football games, either.

“Yeah, I mean, I took a few too many hits on Saturday,” McKenzie said. “But if I got to take hits to win a football game, I’ll take hits to win a football game. That’s how it is. Obviously, we didn’t win, but I’ll put my body on the line to go win for the boys.”

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