Boston College vs. Maine Final Score: Eagles Trounce Black Bears, 40-10

Boston College vs. Maine Final Score: On Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium, the Boston College Eagles roared back from an early lull to defeat the Maine Black Bears, 40-10.

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With the win, Boston College is already half-way to bowl eligibility at 3-1 on the season. Maine falls to 1-2, losing their only scheduled FBS game. The Eagles remain undefeated against FCS teams in the 21st Century.

Last season, the Eagles had to wait until October 5 to get their third victory. The 3-1 start for Boston College marks their best start since 2009.

Boston College vs. Maine Final Score: Early Woes

Fears of a “USC hangover” appeared to have been justified, at least in the early going. The Eagles were unable to get anything going on offense in their first drive, and in their second, an ill-advised Tyler Murphy throw into traffic resulted in an interception by Randy Samuels on 3rd and 11, giving Maine the ball on the Eagles 20.

Maine would go three plays before scoring their only touchdown of the game, with Dan Collins finding Micah Wright to give the Black Bears the early 7-0 lead.

The shocked home crowd would see Boston College go 40 yards in ten plays in their ensuing drive, only getting an Alex Howell 40-yard field goal out of it.

Boston College vs. Maine Final Score: Eagles Wake Up

On defense, Boston College would then force Maine into a three-and-out, giving the Eagles the ball back a little over a minute later. Tyler Murphy made the resulting Eagles drive just one play: he took a 71-yard rush to the house, giving Boston College a 10-7 lead.

Maine would see Dan Collins hit Jeremy Salmon for a big 67-yard play on first down early in the second quarter, as the Eagles defense had nobody in the vicinity, but the Black Bears did not find the end zone despite getting as close as the seven yard line. They would, however, kick a field goal to tie the game at 10-10.

It would be all Boston College from there.

In a rare feat for this offense, Tyler Murphy hit Josh Bordner for a 48-yard touchdown strike on the following drive, giving the Eagles back the lead at 16-10. Joey Launceford‘s low line-drive extra point try was batted down at the line and returned a few irrelevant yards by Maine.

Boston College vs. Maine Final Score: Second-Half Dominance

Boston College took a 19-10 lead into the half following a 34-yard field goal by Alex Howell late in the second quarter, but after the half, the Eagles would not know any danger.

Maine went three-and-out on their first drive of the second half, but then Boston College ran a 15-play, 74-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a Jon Hilliman touchdown run to put the Eagles ahead 26-10.

Boston College went for the throat shortly thereafter, catching Maine off-guard with an onside kick attempt which was recovered by the Eagles at their own 45. The Eagles would go those last 55 yards in six plays, finished off by another Hilliman touchdown. Boston College took a 33-10 lead late in the third.

Another Maine three-and-out was again followed by a Boston College touchdown, this one by Tyler Murphy to make it a 40-10 ballgame.

Boston College vs. Maine Final Score: Mop-up Duty

Freshmen Darius Wade and Marcus Outlow notably came into the game by the fourth quarter with the game well in hand. Boston College was able to run out the clock, literally.

Outlow ended up being the Eagles’ leading rusher on the day with 107 yards on 14 carries.

Boston College vs. Maine Final Score: The Stats

Boston College outgained Maine 549 yards to 139 in the rout. The Eagles ran for over 400 yards again this week, though slightly less than they had against USC with 413. Seven different Eagles ran the ball, including Outlow, Murphy (99 yards), Hilliman (98), Sherm Alston (57), Myles Willis (48), Tyler Rouse (6), and wide receiver Shakim Phillips (-2).

The Eagles’ run defense came up big again, holding Maine to 16 yards on the ground. That’s an average of 18 rushing yards between USC and Maine.

Boston College vs. Maine Final Score: Next Game

The Eagles return to Alumni Stadium next Saturday, closing out their four-game homestand against the Mountain West’s Colorado State Rams; it will be their second all-time meeting.