300-YARD EFFORT
BYU quarterback John Beck completed 41-of-60 passes for 330 yards against Boston College in the season opener, his fifth-career 300 yard game. He is now tied with Gary Sheide and Sean Covey for the 10th most career 300-yard games.
CAREER-HIGH COMPLETIONS
Beck's 41 completions against the Eagles was a career high for the junior quarterback. He completed 34-of-67 against UNLV at home in 2004, setting an MWC record for most pass attempts in a game.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Davey O'Brien Award candidate John Beck used all of his weapons Saturday against Boston College. In the first half, he completed 24-of-33 passes for 184 yards to nine different receivers, seven of which had multiple receptions. For the game, Beck was 41-of-60 for 330 yards, throwing to nine different receivers.
FIRST CATCH AS A COUGAR
Several Cougars made the first catch of their BYU career. Juniors Nathan Meikle and Jonny Harline, both starters, caught their first passes during the Cougars' first drive. Other BYU players making their first catch included Michael Reed, Zac Collie.
REPLAY PUT TO THE TEST
Boston College used the new instant-replay option on its first possession with 9:40 left in the game. Eagle quarterback Quinton Porter threw to Larry Lester on third down, but Vince Feula broke up the pass. The ball popped out and Feula picked it up and ran, fumbled and the ball was picked up by BYU. The Eagles challenged the play and it was ruled that the pass actually hit the ground. Boston College punted on the ensuing play. The Eagles challenged later in the quarter when they thought the Cougars had fumbled. The challenge was denied and Boston College lost a timeout.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Jonny Harline made his presence known early in he game, making three catches for 42 yards in the fist quarter. He finished the game with 4 receptions and 44 yards.
UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
When the Boston College Eagles scored with 29 seconds left on Porters' 14-yard pass to Chris Miller, it was only the third time in 12 games an opponent scored before BYU. In 2004, the Cougars scored first in 9-of-11 games.
SCORELESS FIRST
With the Cougars failing to score in the first and second quarters, it was the first time BYU was shutout in the first half since losing to Utah, 3-0, November 22, 2003. The Cougars had scored in the first half in 11-straight games.
BLOCKED KICKS
At the end of the first half, sophomore kicker Jared McLaughlin attempted the first field goal of his career, a 48-yarder that was blocked by Boston College's Karim El Nokali. It was the first time a BYU field goal had been blocked since 1999 against Utah. After the Eagles failed to convert on third down on their third drive of the second half, Johnny Ayers' punt was blocked by BYU sophomore Bryan Kehl. It was the first punt BYU had blocked since 2004 against Air Force.
HOME OPENING LOSSES
Saturday's 20-3 loss to the Boston College Eagles was the first time the Cougars had dropped their home opener since losing 42-20 to Washington in 1997. BYU defeated Washington, Tulane, Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame in 1999 and 2001-04, respectively.
BOSTON COLLEGE NOTES
Quinton Porter's 14-yard touchdown throw to Chris Miller was his first TD throw since October 25, 2003, when he connected with tight end David Kashetta with 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter of the Notre Dame game, which the Eagles went on to win, 27-25. Porter injured his hand two games later, against West Virginia, and redshirted last season.
Senior tight end Chris Miller scored BC's first points of the season for the second consecutive year. Last year, Miller had a 16-yard touchdown catch from Paul Peterson vs. Ball State and a 14-yarder from Quinton Porter today, his third career TD reception.
Miller went on to notch the first multiple-touchdown game of his career. He caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Porter at the 14:53 mark in the fourth quarter.
Brian Toal blocked the first field goal of his career and registered the second blocked kick of his career. He blocked a punt last year vs. Syracuse, which DeJuan Tribble returned 27 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter vs. the Orange.
Boston College held an opponent scoreless for the first half for the first time since the second game last season, vs. Penn State. The Eagles went on to win that game 21-7.
Will Blackmon became the first three-way player in the Tom O'Brien era at Boston College. Blackmon, who played cornerback his first three seasons at BC, converted to wide receiver this past spring. He saw action at wide receiver, as a defensive back and as a return man in today's game.
BC quarterback Quinton Porter set a new career mark for completions in a game. His previous high was 22 (22-for-39) in his first collegiate start, vs. Wake Forest on 8/30/03.