COUGAR TOWN -- Defense was the key for No. 22 Boston College (1-0) as they handed BYU (0-1) a 20-3 loss on Saturday. The loss was the Cougars' first home, season-opening loss since 1997 when they fell 42-20 to Washington.
"We're very happy to escape here with a victory," Boston College head coach Tom O'Brien said. "This is a very difficult place to come and play."
Boston College struck first with 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter, on a 10-play, 80-yard drive ending with a 14-yard touchdown pass over the middle from Quinton Porter to tight end Chris Miller.
The Eagles added three more points after Karim El Nokali blocked BYU's 47-yard field goal attempt. Three plays later, the 35-yard drive ended with a 39-yard field goal by Ryan Ohliger with three seconds remaining in the first half.
Special teams came through for the Cougars in the third quarter when Bryan Kehl blocked a punt, which set up a 35-yard field goal by Jared McLaughlin with 10:16 remaining in the quarter.
Boston College answered on the first play of the fourth quarter when Porter and Miller connected for their second touchdown of the afternoon. This time it was a four-yard pass that capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive.
The Eagles put the game away with a fourth-quarter field goal by Ohliger, capping a 10-play, 72-yard drive with 4:25 in the quarter.
Porter finished the game 27-for-35 for 232 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, Boston College rushed for 155 yards. L.V. Whitworth gained 87 yards on 15 carries, while Will Blackmon led the Eagle receivers with eight catches for 100 yards.
Despite impressive numbers by John Beck, the Cougars weren't able to get the offense rolling.
"We have plenty to improve on," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We didn't do our part as it relates to execution and that ultimately was it today."
Beck completed 41 of 60 passes for 330 yards. The 41 completions was a career high for Beck and he is now tied with Gary Sheide and Sean Covey for the 10th most career 300-yard games with five.
Nine receivers recorded receptions for the Cougars. Fahu Tahi led the way with 46 yards on eight catches, and Curtis Brown was the leading rusher with eight carries for 37 yards.
Box Score (Final)
#22 Boston College vs Brigham Young (Sep. 3, 2005 at Cougar Town, UT)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Boston College...... 7 3 0 10 - 20 Record: (1-0)
Brigham Young....... 0 0 3 0 - 3 Record: (0-1)
Scoring Summary:
1st 00:30 BC - Miller, C 14 yd pass from Porter, Q (Ohliger, R kick),
10-80 3:24, BC 7 - BYU 0
2nd 00:03 BC - Ohliger, R 39 yd field goal, 3-35 0:19, BC 10 - BYU 0
3rd 10:16 BYU - MCLAUGHLIN, Jar 35 yd field goal, 4-8 2:00, BC 10 - BYU 3
4th 14:53 BC - Miller, C 4 yd pass from Porter, Q (Ohliger, R kick),
12-80 4:26, BC 17 - BYU 3
04:25 BC - Ohliger, R 26 yd field goal, 10-72 4:24, BC 20 - BYU 3
BC BYU
FIRST DOWNS................... 22 22
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 31-133 16-8
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 232 330
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 35-27-0 60-41-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 66-365 76-338
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 1-24 3-28
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 1-16 3-32
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 5-35.2 6-41.5
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards............... 6-57 10-85
Possession Time............... 29:01 30:59
Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 12 4 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 0 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-3 1-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 2-18 2-15
RUSHING: Boston College-Whitworth, L 15-87; Callender, A 9-47; Porter, Q
5-6; TEAM 2-minus 7. Brigham Young-BROWN, Curtis 8-33; TAHI, Naufahu 1-4;
TEAM 1-minus 10; BECK, John 6-minus 19.
PASSING: Boston College-Porter, Q 27-35-0-232. Brigham Young-BECK, John
41-60-0-330.
RECEIVING: Boston College-Blackmon, W 8-100; Lilly, J 4-57; Miller, C 3-28;
Challenger, K 3-14; Lester, L 2-13; Palmer, M 2-6; Whitworth, L 2-3;
Callender, A 1-9; Gonzalez, T 1-6; Purvis, R 1-minus 4. Brigham
Young-MEIKLE, Nathan 9-45; TAHI, Naufahu 8-46; BROWN, Curtis 6-43; HARLINE,
Jonny 4-44; COATS, Dan 4-32; COLLIE, Zac 3-44; REED, Michael 3-35; ALLEN,
Matt 2-22; WATKINS, Todd 2-19.
INTERCEPTIONS: Boston College-None. Brigham Young-None.
FUMBLES: Boston College-Callender, A 1-1. Brigham Young-TEAM 1-0.
Stadium: Lavell Edwards Attendance: 58108
Kickoff time: 1:40 pm End of Game: 5:07 pm Total elapsed time: 3:27
Officials: Referee: Tom Zimorski; Umpire: Bert Pearce; Linesman: Tyrone Davis;
Line judge: Allen Andrick; Back judge: Hal Preas; Field judge: Dave Meslow;
Side judge: Watts Key;
Temperature: 77 F Wind: S 10 Weather: Partly cloudy
SACKS (UA-A): Boston College-Glasper, R 1-0; Ottolini, J 1-0. Brigham
Young-BILLS, K.C. 1-0; WHITE, Spencer 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Boston College-Henderson, R 5-3; Williams, J 5-2; Tribble, D
4-3; Pruitt, T 6-0; Silva, J 4-1; Kiwanuka, M 3-2; Dunbar, J 4-0; Toal, B
4-0; Glasper, R 2-2; Anam, L 2-1; Brown, R 0-3; Washington, A 0-3; Francois,
R 1-1; Akins, K 1-1; Raji, B 1-1; Ramella, J 0-2; Willis, K 1-0; Ottolini, J
1-0; Burns, J 1-0; Mueller, B 0-1; Poles, R 0-1; Brace, R 0-1. Brigham
Young-GABRIEL, Dustin 7-4; JENSEN, Cameron 6-3; SOELBERG, Natha 7-1; GOOCH,
Quinn 2-4; ROBINSON, Justi 4-1; LUETTGERODT, Ju 1-4; BROWN, Manaia 0-5;
BILLS, K.C. 3-1; WHITE, Spencer 2-2; MARQUARDT, Dani 1-3; WALKENHORST, Pa
3-0; FEULA, Vince 0-3; KEHL, Bryan 0-2; MCLAUGHLIN, Der 1-0; HALE, Chris
1-0; TEAM 1-0; LOVELY, Gary 0-1.