“We’ve got to take care of the ball better,” said BC head coach Bill O’Brien. “We did a better job on defense, obviously, of getting the ball back, but the defense was brutal.”
The Eagles (1-7, 0-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) showed tenacity at times — a rarity in recent weeks — but ultimately unraveled against a superior opponent. The No. 19 Cardinals (6-1, 3-1), fresh off a thrilling triumph over No. 2 Miami, shook off a sluggish start and took care of business.
Louisville racked up 504 net total yards, including 317 on the ground, averaging 10.2 yards per carry. BC is still searching for its first win at Louisville since 2017, and is one of two Power Four teams without a Football Bowl Subdivision win this season.
“We’ve just got to put a full game together,” said BC quarterback Grayson James.
Boston College opened the game with a methodical drive, claiming a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal from Luca Lombardo with 6:36 left in the opening quarter. It was BC’s first 15-play drive under O’Brien and displayed the kind of physicality the Eagles desperately need.
Louisville answered almost immediately, as Isaac Brown broke free for a 73-yard gain and quarterback Miller Moss powered into the end zone from a yard out.
Lewis Bond, who entered the day sixth in the nation with 50 catches, hauled in his first score of the season — a 6-yard strike from James — to vault BC ahead, 10-7, early in the second.
The Eagles preserved that lead for 13-plus minutes, but a disastrous 40-second stretch in the final two minutes of the half yielded a 9-yard TD rush for Moss and 62-yard score for Brown.
“We’ve got to stop the run,” O’Brien said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a game where I’ve seen that many long runs. I’ve got to coach it better.”
BC possessed the ball for nearly 24 minutes in the first half and ran 50 plays to Louisville’s 21, but trailed, 21-10, at the break. The sequence illuminated a telling trend, where the Eagles are unable to bring runners down and watch helplessly as they burst past them toward the end zone.
“We did a good job taking the ball away, but we also gave up three-hundred-something rushing yards, which is unacceptable,” said safety KP Price.
A pair of fumbles defined the third quarter. First, BC’s Omarion Davis knocked the ball out on the first play of the second half and Isaiah Farris fell on it, setting up a 23-yard TD pass from James to Kaelan Chudzinski. Then, a recovery from Louisville’s Antonio Watts paved the way for a 22-yard strike from Moss to Caullin Lacy to make it 28-17, Cardinals through three.
Promising freshman TJ Green provided a strip sack early in the fourth, recovered by Price, but James immediately gave the ball back with a costly interception.
“We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball,” O’Brien said.
Louisville extended the margin on a 41-yard field goal from Cooper Ranvier with 8:13 remaining, before a hobbling James (23 for 46, 244 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) found Jeremiah Franklin for a 21-yard touchdown to trim it to 31-24 with 6:17 left
James said he would have felt sick to his stomach if he didn’t keep playing. He continued to epitomize the resilience the program takes pride in embodying.
“You’ve just got all the respect in the world for that guy,” O’Brien said. “We need a lot of guys like him in the future.”
The Eagles needed a stop and touchdown to tie it, but the stop never came. Keyjuan Brown delivered the dagger with a 67-yard touchdown run at the 1:49 mark to seal it. It was a fitting ending to a night where BC’s inability to stop the run made the difference.
Boston College still has plenty of room to grow, but the Eagles showed signs of life and proved their season isn’t completely over.
With Notre Dame coming to town, James and Co. will have to quickly regroup.
“There’s nobody else I’d rather go to battle with every single day,” James said. “I love these boys.”
Trevor Hass can be reached at trevor.hass@globe.com. Follow him on X @TrevorHass.
