Boston College Eagles Defeat Villanova Wildcats 24-14 in Season Opener
By Kyle Egan
Aug 31, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston College Eagles wide receiver Alex Amidon (83) leads his teammates on the field prior to the start of a game against the Villanova Wildcats at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Talk about half time adjustments. Boston College was down 14-7 in the beginning of the Steve Addazio era on the Heights. Literally everything was going wrong.
The defense was not adjusting well to Villanova quarterback John Robertson’s dual threat capabilities. The special teams unit allowed a 47 yard rush for a touchdown on a fake punt in the first possession of the game.
Then while the Eagles were able to answer the challenge from the Wildcats of the FCS, the offense was Frank Spaziani-like stagnant. In the final two minutes of the first half with the Eagles offense finally looking like they were gaining some life, Alex Amidon fumbled the ball to Nova at their 26 yard line.
The Boston College Eagles went to the locker room at halftime with their heads hanging low and down a touchdown to a FCS team.
When the Eagles initially got the ball in the second half, it didn’t look like things were going to change. Spiffy Evans took the opening kickoff out the endzone and was summarily tackled at the 15 yard line. For a team struggling with field position the entire game, starting that far back was surely not optimal.
Aug 31, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; An eagle rests on its trainers arm prior to a game between the Boston College Eagles and the Villanova Wildcats at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
However, after getting the ball up to their own 49, the Boston College faithful finally got a break as Alex Amidon was left wide open by the Villanova secondary and took in a deep pass from Chase Rettig which he took in for the score.
After a couple of punts by both sides, running back Andre Williams, injured for most the 2012 season, rushed 26 yards along the sidelines to push the score to 21-14.
The BC defense held through the efforts of Bryce Jones, Manny Asprilla and Sean Sylvia who made the 1 game suspension of Al Louis-Jean look meaningless. Kasim Edebali and Kevin Pierre-Louis also laid down punishment on the Villanova offensive players.
Kicker Nate Freese, who also punted quite exceptionally, also made a 39 yarder to seal it in the fourth quarter.
Game Notes:
-Alex Amidon is now tied for first place in BC history with eight 100 receiving yard games
-People are now happy at Boston College
-Quite positive this is the first time Boston College has had a winning record since 2010. Wow.
-The new Gold Cards caused problems as half of them didn’t work and students waited in long lines to get into the game
-We are ONE and O BABBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
-And we have a REAL Eagle