Boston College-Louisville Final Score: Cardinals Embarrass Eagles in 38-19 Win

Boston College-Louisville Final Score: On Saturday night at Alumni Stadium, the Louisville Cardinals defeated the Boston College Eagles, 38-19.

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With the loss, Boston College has fallen to 6-4 (3-3) on the season, and is guaranteed a losing record at home this year as they are 2-4 with one game remaining.

This was the first meeting as ACC members between the two teams, with round one decisively going to Bobby Petrino and the Cardinals.

Boston College-Louisville Final: Eagles Lead Early

On the first play of the game, Boston College quarterback Tyler Murphy threw an interception on a tipped ball, pulled down by Gerod Holliman at the Eagles’ 42 yard line. The Cardinals would drive to the one before taking a false start and getting stopped by the Boston College defense, settling for three.

On the following drive, Boston College got a 31-yard kick return from Myles Willis and then drove 64 yards for a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead. After the defense recovered a Louisville fumble at the two yard line to stop the Cardinals again, eventually, Boston College blasted down field in four plays for another touchdown, taking a 13-3 lead.

Boston College-Louisville Final: Missed PAT The Turning Point?

Once again, Boston College’s Joey Launceford missed an extra point, hitting it off the left upright to keep the lead at ten. It was the team’s seventh miss of the year, the most since prior to 1985.

Following the missed extra point, Boston College’s defense mounted a goal-line stand, stuffing Louisville at the one yard line, but after a quick three-and-out by the Eagles, Louisville got the ball back and went 44 yards for a touchdown to make it a 13-10 game.

Boston College was unable to move the ball much thereafter, but disaster struck when the Eagles got the ball back with about two minutes to go in the first half. After a drive mostly stuck in reverse, save for a Louisville pass interference call, Alex Howell‘s punt was blocked and recovered at the Boston College 19. Louisville scored moments later, and took the lead for good at 17-13.

Boston College-Louisville Final: Second-Half Blowout

Boston College seemed without a pulse for most of the second half. Louisville took the third quarter kickoff and marched on a 14-play drive for a touchdown from Reggie Bonnafon to go ahead, 24-13.

The Eagles’ lone bright spot of the second was in driving 71 yards for a touchdown to answer the Cardinals, making it a 24-19 game. Steve Addazio wisely chose to go for two, but the play never had a chance.

From there, Murphy would get intercepted three more times, two of them leading directly to Louisville touchdowns, though not pick-sixes. The game quickly got away from Boston College in the fourth quarter, from 31-19 to 38-19 with 4:47 to play.

True freshman quarterback Darius Wade led the final drive for the Eagles, with Thadd Smith, Gabe McClary, and Nat Dixon also getting into the game.

Boston College-Louisville Final: Bottom Line

The Eagles played one of their worst games of the season on Saturday night, getting outscored 35-6 after the extra point miss. Boston College played a sloppy game with too many penalties and mental breakdowns.

The Boston College offense did not play well. Some of that is attributable to Louisville having a good defense, but the Eagles’ playcalling was at times very questionable, and individually, Tyler Murphy played his worst game of the year. Murphy and the Eagles tried to force too much with the pass, and Murphy’s decision-making on several of those throws was brutally bad. Further, the offensive line did not play well, with the run not performing up to its usual high standards and Murphy facing more pressure than usual.

On defense, some early stops were the only reason Boston College did not lose by more than 30. Over time, Louisville’s DeVante Parker began shredding them, and the Eagles had no answers on how to stop him. Louisville wide receivers were wide open all night and quarterbacks Will Gardner and Bonnafon had more than enough time to throw as the Eagles’ pass rush disappeared.

Finally, with regards to the poor kicking situation — and there will be more to say on all of this later — at a minimum, it is time to bench Launceford. Four extra points missed in a season is inexcusable, and it makes no sense for the coaches to continue trotting him out there as the “extra points” guy when he misses an abnormally high percentage.

The Eagles will have a week to regroup, and they need it after imploding on Saturday night.

Boston College-Louisville Final: Next Up

Boston College will head to Tallahassee to face the Florida State Seminoles on November 22.