The Boston College defense intercepted Rutgers quarterback AJ Surace four times and forced two turnovers on downs, while Mason McKenzie threw for one touchdown and rushed for another in the Eagles’ 28-21 win in their home opener on Friday night at Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The Eagles (1-1) raced out to a 17-0 lead while gaining 226 of their 402 yards in the first half and held off the visitors late with the help of Anthony Palano’s two fourth-quarter picks.
McKenzie was 18-for-29 for 252 yards through the air and also rushed for a team-high 94 on 13 carries. Dawson Pough was McKenzie’s leading target with 106 yards on four catches, including a 78-yard touchdown with 7:06 remaining.
Rutgers fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2017. Surace, who started in place of injured Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan, was 18-for-27 for 230 yards and three touchdowns. KJ Duff Jr. caught two scores on a 137-yard receiving day.
After the Boston College defense stopped Surace’s 4th-and-1 sneak on the first possession, the Eagles converted their own fourth-down play and scored first on Dickens’ 19-yard touchdown run to the right.
Charlie Comella’s interception halted the next Rutgers drive into opposing territory, setting up the Eagles for a 14-0 lead. Two plays after McKenzie’s 53-yard heave to Landon Wright, the quarterback found the front corner of the end zone for a 10-yard score.
An 11-play drive into the red zone turned into more Boston College points on Luca Lombardo’s 30-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Rutgers chewed up the next 8:29 going on a 15-play, 72-yard scoring drive. The Surace-led offense gained five first downs before finding Antwan Raymond for a 4-yard touchdown with 1:55 left before halftime.
The hosts strung together 11 plays before the first-half horn, taking a 20-7 lead on a 46-yard field goal by Lombardo as time expired.
Rutgers clawed within one possession on Duff’s 4-yarder with 2:37 left in the third quarter and got the ball back on a Moses Walker pick inside the red zone one play after the ensuing kickoff, but the hosts maintained the lead after Palano sacked Surace on another 4th-and-1 keeper.
After forcing a punt, the Scarlet Knights drove back to Boston College’s 21, where another turnover — a Palano interception on 4th-and-3 — set up Pough’s key insurance score with 7:06 left. Two plays later, Surace responded with a 60-yard deep ball to Duff.
Rutgers later had a chance for a game-tying drive after another Walker pick, but Palano sealed the game for the hosts.
Boston College linebacker Bodie Kahoun was stretchered off the field with an injury following a second-quarter stop. It was later announced that he “has movement in all extremities” and was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The game fell on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy and marked the Eagles’ annual Red Bandanna Game in honor of alum Welles Crowther, the “Man in the Red Bandanna” who was credited with saving more than a dozen lives in the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
