Boston College loses to Stanford in ACC opener: ‘As coaches, we were terrible tonight’

Stanford converted three Boston College turnovers into 21 points and rolled to a 30-20 upset victory in the ACC late show at Stanford Stadium.

With Saturday night’s loss, the Eagles fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 going into their bye week. BC resumes ACC play against California on Sept. 27 at Alumni Stadium.

“I told the team we are all in it together, there was not any finger pointing but as coaches, we were terrible tonight,” BC coach Bill O’Brien said. “We have to coach better and it starts with us, it starts with me.

“We have to figure a lot of things out. There was some really bad football and that’s coaching. I believe in the coaching staff but we did not do a good job tonight and we have to do a lot better job coaching.”

BC quarterback Dylan Lonergan excelled in the first half only to fall flat in the second. Lonergan finished the first half completing 19 of 27 passes for 268 yards with a TD and a pick. But in the second he was 11-of-17 for 65 yards and no touchdowns.

Stanford did its best work on the ground as tailback Micah Ford rushed for 157 of the Cardinal’s 213 rushing yards.

“There were some coverage changes,” said BC wide receiver Reed Harris, who recorded a career-high 141 yards on seven receptions. “They were playing a lot of man on third down and that was something we weren’t necessarily expecting, and we have to look at that on tape and move forward.”

BC suffered a setback on its opening drive of the second half when veteran left tackle Jude Bowry was assisted off the field with an apparent right leg injury and did not return.

BC’s third turnover of the game was a devastating fumble on a fourth and goal on the Stanford 1-yard line with 2:32 to play in the third. Tailback Turbo Richard had the ball knocked from his hands as he attempted to leap over the scrum and it was recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

On the first play following the turnover, tailback Micah Ford rushed the ball up the middle 75 yards to the BC 5. Ford scored on the next play to give Stanford a 27-20 lead with 1:35 to play in the third. Stanford took a 30-20 lead on placekicker Emmit Kenney’s third of the game, a 26-yarder with 11:26 to play in the game.

“That was terrible, we didn’t fit the run right,” said O’Brien. “It was kind of a problem during the week and I thought we took care of it on that type of run and it showed up again.

“It is hard to explain, but we have to coach it better on what we can do.”

Stanford opened with a methodical, 12-play, drive that came to a slow end five yards short of the end zone. Kenney put the Cardinal up 3-0 with a 23-yard field goal with 7:15 to play.

Stanford opened its second drive with a 40-yard bomb from Ben Gulbranson to wide receiver Bryce Farrell to the BC 19. The Eagles defense staged another red zone rebuff and Stanford settled for a 35-yard field goal by Kenny and a 6-0 lead with 1:04 to play.

“Those were two good stops,” BC middle linebacker Owen McGowan said. “I think we had a bend but don’t break mentality and they were great stops early in the game.”

BC cut the lead to 6-3 on a season-long 51-yard field by Luca Lombardo with 13:38 to play in the half. BC took a 10-6 lead at 10:43 of the second on a quick swing pass from Lonergan to tailback Turbo Richard on the right flank. Richard raced 49-yards for his second touchdown reception of the season.

BC made it 17-6 on its next possession with 8:04 to play. Jordan McDonald’s 2-yard scoring plunge was set up on a 46-yard pass from Lonergan to Reed Harris.

Two costly Lonergan turnovers late in the 11th hour of the second quarter allowed the Cardinal to take a 20-17 lead. Lonergan fumbled the shotgun snap on the Stanford 24 with 2:41 to play. Gulbranson made it 17-13 on a 69-yard catch and run touchdown by tight end Sam Roush with 1:47 to play.

Stanford regained the lead on a 19-yard interception return by cornerback Collin Wright with 1:29 on the board. BC tied the game 20-20 on a 31-yard field goal by Lombardo on the last play of the half.