FOXBOROUGH — After one quarter, the UMass football team looked poised to slug it out toe to toe with Boston College. For the remaining three, the Eagles systematically beat back the Minutemen and took control of the game.
BC scored the final 26 points en route to its 26-7 win Saturday over UMass at Gillette Stadium.
The Eagles’ defense changed coordinators and personnel from the unit that led the nation in total yards allowed last year, but the updated edition was more than sharp enough to dominate the Minutemen.
UMass couldn’t move the ball in the air or on the ground. The Minutemen had 33 rushes for minus-23 yards. Quarterback Ross Comis lost 59 yards on eight sacks. After a 4-for-7 first quarter, Comis was 7-for-21 the rest of the way. He finished with 145 yards, one touchdown, one interception and lost two fumbles.
UMass punted 12 times and accumulated just eight first downs.
The Minutemen were called for a false-start penalty on the first play of the game and never really got in sync. His team’s lack of poise surprised UMass coach Mark Whipple, who thought his athletes played with more composure last week at Florida.
“Our guys were nervous coming out. They jumped offside and they didn’t do that at Florida, which is where you’d expect that,” Whipple said. “We had to settle down. We never got the run game going. Our defense played hard. When they got the lead we didn’t do anything. They were just better today.”
Senior quarterback Patrick Towles led BC in the air and on the ground. He rushed for 66 yards on 12 carries, mostly on drive-extending scrambles. He completed 12 of 22 throws for 191 yards and two touchdowns.
Neither offense was sharp early. The game’s first four drives ended on three punts and a turnover on downs.
UMass broke through first. A defensive breakdown by BC left big tight end Adam Breneman wide open over the middle of the field. Comis hit him at the BC 40 and Breneman covered the rest of the ground himself, taking it to the house for a 58-yard touchdown that put UMass up 7-0 with 2 minutes, 23 seconds left in the first quarter.
James Allen nearly picked off BC’s first touchdown, but Towles’ pass slipped through his fingers and Jeff Smith pulled it down for a 36-yard TD. BC missed the extra point initially, but that was negated by a penalty. So the Eagles lined up, kicked again and missed again, leaving UMass ahead 7-6 with 4:32 left in the half.
Two second-quarter Comis fumbles proved costly for UMass and gave Boston College momentum and the lead. The first miscue came on a scramble when the sophomore quarterback had the ball dislodged while pushing for extra yards. After recovering it on the UMass 36, BC attacked.
Towles lofted the ball just out of the reach of UMass defenders for a 36-yard touchdown pass to Smith with 3:08 left in the half. The PAT was good this time and the Eagles took a 13-7 lead.
After Comis lost 11 yards on a third-down sack on the ensuing drive deep in UMass territory, Logan Laurent lofted a 55-yard punt out of trouble.
Shane Huber appeared to grab momentum back by intercepting Towles and returning the ball to the Eagle 20. But an incomplete pass followed by a 1-yard run set up third-and-9. Comis held the ball too long and Connor Strachan ripped it loose stunting the drive and allowing BC to head into the halftime locker room up 13-7.
“If we lose the turnover game by two, we don’t have a chance to win against these people, against a Power 5,” Whipple said. “That’s not going to happen.”
The Eagles hit two third-quarter field goals to increase their lead to 19-7 before a 15- yard touchdown run by Jon Hilliman with 4:15 left put the game out of reach.
UMass (0-2) returns to Amherst next week to host Florida International University at 3:30 p.m. at McGuirk Stadium.