Another week, another embarrassment for head football coach Bill O’Brien and his Boston College Eagles (1-5, 0-5).
This time, it was at the hands of a Clemson team (3-3, 2-2) that started the season ranked No. 3 overall, falling to the Tigers 41-10 in a game that didn’t even feel that close.
Clemson has now won 13 consecutive O'Rourke-McFadden Trophies, and has beaten BC 14 of their last 16 meetings. Their win on Saturday moves their all-time record against the Eagles to 22-9-2, which begs the question of why these two teams even play for an oft-forgotten rivalry trophy that’s only been in place since 2008.
To say BC would get blown out by their “rivals” from South Carolina before the season started would not have surprised anyone. On paper, this was always going to be a “scheduled loss,” for lack of a better term.
But it was the way in which BC lost to the Tigers that remains troubling: an offense unable to find any sort of rhythm, and a defense unable to get off the field.
A deadly combination for any team at any level.
The Tigers outgained BC 504 to 221, dominating the time of possession battle at 37:21 to 22:39.
For the second straight week, the Eagles were held to under 100 rushing yards (85) and under 190 passing yards (136), accounting for only 15 first downs on the night. Clemson, on the other hand, had 28 first down conversions of their own.
Despite Clemson’s dominance throughout the ballgame, there was a brief moment in the first half where BC looked like they could still make it a competitive game.
With 5:31 remaining in the second quarter, the Eagles began their fourth offensive possession of the game down 24-10. Eight plays into the drive, and BC was moving the football. You could feel the crowd starting to get back into it. Eagles were eating clock, and were giving their fans hope for a manageable 24-17 deficit at the half with the first possession of the second half in their back pocket.
But on the ninth play of the drive, sophomore quarterback Dylan Lonergan fumbled the football on an 8-yard sack by Clemson’s Sammy Brown, and the Tigers recovered on their own 30 yard line. Three plays and 31 seconds later, and Clemson was on top 31-10.
An absolute back-breaker.
Even with BC only allowing 7 second-half points after trailing at the half 34-10, Clemson’s ability to control the pace of the game during the third and fourth quarter completely sucked the life out of Alumni Stadium. Here’s what the Tigers offense was able to do in the second half on only four possessions:
- 10 plays, 38 yards, 5:26 off the clock, ending with a BC interception (KP Price)
- 10 plays, 52 yards, 5:25 off the clock, ending with a BC interception (Max Tucker)
- 6 plays, 21 yards, 3:54 off the clock, ending with a punt
- 10 plays, 60 yards, 5:02 off the clock, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run (Keith Adams Jr.)
Regardless of the picks and the punt, your not going to be able to come back in a game if your second-half offensive output looks like the following:
- 4 plays, -10 yards, 1:55 off the clock, punt
- 3 plays, -8 yards, 1:44 off the clock, punt
- 3 plays, 8 yards, 40 seconds off the clock, punt
- 4 plays, 8 yards, 1:21 off the clock, interception
- 12 plays, 36 yards, 4:09 off the clock, turnover on downs
- 1 final play to run out the final 24 seconds of game clock
“It starts with me,” O’Brien said postgame. “I told the team this - I’m the head coach, right? I can’t figure out how to get this team how to play.
“I can’t get the coaching staff to coach it right. It’s on me. I’ve gotta do a better job of coaching the team. I’ve gotta do a better job of helping the coaches. This was a terrible night. But it’s football, and it’s adversity.”
The above words from O’Brien have been a popular refrain for the 55-year-old head throughout the 2025 season. With a head coach unable to figure out how to coach his players properly or lead his staff effectively, the Eagles are now 1-5 through six games - the first time BC has had a record this bad to start a season since 2012. They finished that season 2-10, and Frank Spaziani was relieved of his head coaching duties after four seasons.
With Saturday’s loss, O’Brien’s 8-11 record across his first 19 games as head coach gives him a win percentage of .421, officially worse than the much-maligned Spaziani Era (.431). For comparison, Jeff Hafley had a .458 win percentage while manning the sidelines at Chestnut Hill, and Steve Addazio was right at .500.
As I wrote last week, I don’t believe O’Brien needs to be worried about losing his job. On top of giving the former Texans head coach a five-year commitment to turn this program around, Boston College doesn’t want to pay an eight-figure buyout. Whether BC finishes 1-11 or 2-10, I strongly believe the administration has every intention of bringing O’Brien back for 2026.
I think the more apt question to ask is whether or not O’Brien wants to keep coaching in an environment where the deck is always going to be stacked against him. With the amount of money being thrown at football programs across the Power 5, BC is content to operate their football program at its own self-imposed limit.
If you want to play with the big boys, you have to come to the table with the same goods. Until that happens, this Eagles program will fall further and further into obscurity.
I want to make it clear - I’m not making excuses for O’Brien’s poor showing in 2025. I don’t think he’s been a good football coach this season. With that being said, I don’t think you could hand prime Nick Saban this program and get a different result.
BC looks for win No. 2 on Saturday with regional rival UConn (4-2) coming to town. Kickoff between the Eagles and Huskies is set for 12:00 p.m. ET.
Listen to every snap of Boston College Football this season on WEEI, the Audacy app, and across the BC Eagles Van Wagner Sports Network.