Visiting Boston College rushed for 308 yards total and scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to defeat Georgia Tech 38-23 on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Quarterback Thomas Castellanos, a former Ware County High star, returned to his home state and put on a show. The sophomore passed for 255 yards, rushed for 128 more and scored on touchdown runs of 12 and 43 yards, and Boston College finished with 563 yards of offense.
“We definitely respected him and respected his game,” Tech defensive back K.J. Wallace said of Castellanos. “We prepared for that all week as far as how we went about our defensive calls. Honestly, I think for the majority of the game we did a fairly good job of containing him. But he’s a good player, obviously, and we showed him respect as far as our game plan. The results were the results.”
Tech (3-4, 2-2 ACC) had a 23-17 lead going into the fourth quarter, but punted and threw two interceptions on three fourth-quarter possessions. Quarterback Haynes King threw for 204 yards and rushed for 150, but was picked off three times.
The Yellow Jackets next host No. 10 North Carolina (6-0, 3-0) on Saturday at a time to be determined.
“That was the disappointing part, was the fourth quarter,” Tech coach Brent Key said. “We got a lot of work to do. We got a long way to go with building this team the way it can be built, the way that I know it can be built and the way that it is supposed to be built. Gave up (308) yards rushing and think (153) of them were in the fourth quarter alone. It comes back to a lot of reasons, and we’ll address those fully (Sunday) throughout the entire day.”
Boston College began Saturday’s fourth quarter down by six, but 36 seconds in scored on a 2-yard plunge by Kye Robichaux, making the score 24-23. Castellanos then gave the Eagles a 31-23 cushion at the 8:44 mark with a 43-yard touchdown run that came on a fourth-and-1 call.
Robichaux added a 3-yard touchdown later in the quarter, making the score 38-23. King’s third intercepted pass came minutes later and sealed the outcome.
The Eagles (4-3, 2-2 ACC) averaged 8.1 yards per play and went 4-for-4 in the red zone. Before Saturday, BC had recorded one interception in six games and only two in its past 11.
“They played good. They had some good calls,” King said. “Coming off a bye week, we knew they were gonna have a couple calls that hadn’t necessarily shown or even shown a lot coming in. But it didn’t confuse any of us. We just got to do a better job. Like I said, I can’t turn the ball over. Got to do a better job giving the receivers chances.”
Boston College dented the scoreboard first thanks to a 24-yard field goal off the right foot of Liam Connor. That capped an 82-yard drive and gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead a little more than six minutes into the opening quarter.
Tech responded with a drive that featured nine runs in 10 plays. Jamal Haynes’ 16-yard scoot around right end put the Jackets on the board and gave them a 7-3 lead at the 3:49 mark.
But BC snatched the lead right back thanks to Amari Jackson. The Eagles’ cornerback jumped a hitch route on the sideline intended for Tech receiver Dominick Blaylock, secured the ball out of the air with his right hand and trapped it on the back of his right leg and then sprinted 24 yards the other way for a touchdown.
Aidan Birr’s 46-yard field goal with 6:02 to go in the half tied the score at 10-10. Boston College turned around and nearly used all that time with a 5:10 drive that ended with a Castellanos 12-yard touchdown run that gave the Eagles a 17-10 lead.
Boston College took that lead to the locker room. The visitors had 218 yards of total offense in the half and averaged 6.6 yards per play while holding Tech to 70 yards passing.
The Jackets caught a break to open the second half when Ahmari Harvey corralled a jump ball in his own end zone for an interception. Two plays later, from his own 29, King took a quarterback draw through the left side behind his running back, found a hole and turned on the jets toward the right side of the field.
King broke one final tackle at midfield and was off to the races for what amounted to a 71-yard score, tying the score at 17-17.
King then did things with his arm by going 4-for-5 on an 89-yard drive that ended with a 19-yard slant to Avery Boyd for a touchdown. Tech took a 23-17 lead (after a missed extra-point attempt) going into the final 15 minutes.
Turns out, Boyd’s score would be the last points Tech could come by.
The Jackets now have lost four consecutive ACC home games.
“When I said everyone has things they have to get better at, that starts with me, that starts with the coaching on the field, that starts with substitutions and getting the right people on, but it also starts with players going on the field and doing their job,” Key said. “When I say collectively all of us, it’s collectively all of us that have to look in the mirror and get these things fixed.”
