Bill O’Brien, Boston College move to 2-0 after 56-0 rout of FCS Duquesne

Boston College was able to carry the momentum of their enormous Week 1 win at Florida State into a dominant 56-0 win in their home opener over the Duquesne Dukes on Saturday afternoon.

First-year head football coach Bill O’Brien moved to 2-0 with the Eagles in front of a three-quarters-full Alumni Stadium.

Normally, a blowout win at home over a team from the FCS would not be worthy of an above-the-fold headline.

And, look - that’s still the case here.

But what O’Brien and Boston College did on Saturday is noteworthy because of what the program was unable to do in 2023.

Last season saw BC playing an FCS opponent in Week 2 as well, as Holy Cross made the 40 mile drive from Worcester to Alumni Stadium to renew their traditional Catholic school rivalry.

The Eagles were 0-1 after an embarrassing homer opener against Northern Illinois ( losing to NIU 27-24 in overtime ), and nearly started the season 0-2 after narrowly escaping an epic upset by the Crusaders, squeaking by with a 31-28 win .

It was a win that felt like a loss for a program under Jeff Hafley that had long ago reached the apathy phase for football fans in the Boston area.

But Week 2 in 2024 brought on a completely different set of circumstances.

The Eagles did what a bigtime FBS program is supposed to do, and demolished their FCS opponent. It was such a convincing win, BC pulled most of their starters on both sides of the ball for the entire second half.

The demolition came after a historic win for the program, instead of an embarrassing loss to a team from the MAC.

And maybe most importantly, that local apathy for BC Football seems to be evaporating by the day.

“[Director of football communications Brendan Flynn] just told me there were 6,000 students at the game, that’s unbelievable,” said O’Brien postgame. “So I think if we can get student turnout like that, that’s a huge thing for this program.”

“Plus, can we get non-students to fill [Alumni Stadium] for Michigan State?” O’Brien wondered aloud about his team’s next home game in two weeks. “Can we get, whatever it holds - I think it holds [55,000]. Somebody told me there’s always an argument about what it holds.

“I think that’s what’s huge about this deal right now, is that these guys, like, they feed off that energy. So they’re putting a lot of work in, they’re playing well, and I’d love to see the crowd. Thank the students big time for turning out - 6,000 students, that’s awesome.”

When O’Brien was asked if continuing to win football games was the only way to keep the momentum going locally, he said that’s only part of the equation.

“Look, I think it’s a big part of it, right?” said O’Brien. “I mean, I think that Boston is the city of champions, Boston loves a winner. And you know, look - I think we have to continue to be a team that people wanna come watch, you know?

“We can’t be ‘three yards and a cloud of dust.’ You know, if it takes that to win a game, then that’s what we’ll do. But we have to be a team that can make some chunk plays and do some things to get fans to wanna come watch us play. And so I think it’s a two-way street.”

Those chunk plays were on full display on Saturday, as five of the team’s eight touchdowns came on plays of 30 yards-or-more:

- A 72-yard first quarter bomb from junior quarterback Thomas Castellanos to freshman wide receiver Reed Harris to put the Eagles up 14-0

- A 45-yard interception return by senior defensive back Khari Johnson to give BC a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter

- A 49-yard touchdown pass from Castellanos to junior wide receiver Lewis Bond to make it a 35-0 game with 5:31 left in the second quarter

- Another long touchdown pass from Castellanos, this time a 30-yarder to grad transfer Treshaun Ward to really put the nail in the coffin at 42-0 with 51 seconds left in the first half

- And a 47-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter from freshman running back Datrell Jones to make it a 49-0 ballgame

Castellanos’ trio of 30-plus yard touchdown passes marked the first time a BC quarterback had done that since Anthony Brown in 2018.

In his one half of work, the 5’9 standout was 9 for 10 passing with 234 yards and 4 touchdowns, marking the second straight superlative week for Castellanos.

He gave all the credit to his teammates on offense.

“We got a lot of talent,” said Castellanos. “I’ve been telling you guys all summer long that we got some weapons, you know, that’s new and that’s been here. And really just been waiting to showcase those guys. Last week we really didn’t intend to do that, but this week we got a chance to show the world that we’re two-dimensional - we can run the ball and throw the ball.

“We have a great coaching staff. Coach O.B. and his staff have done an amazing job with me and my teammates with just preparation, and demanding discipline and respect. So those guys are doing an amazing job.”

Like his head coach, Castellanos wants to pack Alumni Stadium full this season, saying he’s been motivated to do so since seeing how the BC Men’s Hockey team is able to routinely sellout Conte Forum for big games.

O’Brien knows that if winning becomes a habit, that won’t be a problem.

“Boston loves a winner,” he said. “And so we have to try to understand that and hopefully if we can continue getting better one day at a time, maybe we’ll get - the students, like I said, 6,000 students, unbelievable - maybe we can get some non-students here and fill it up for Michigan State.”

Before the Spartans come to town for the team’s annual “ Red Bandana Game ” in Week 4, the Eagles will head to Columbia, MO to take on the #9 Mizzou Tigers.

It’s an early kick for that one - 12:45 p.m. ET (11:45 a.m. in Missouri) on WEEI and the SEC Network.

The last time the Eagles played the Tigers was an early season matchup in 2021 at Alumni Stadium, where BC won a wild one 41-34 in overtime on the back of an eight-catch performance from future Ravens star Zay Flowers.

Although the Tigers were unranked at the time, BC fans stormed the field after beating their opponent from the vaunted SEC. It was a microcosm of the state of Boston College Football at that time.

A win next Saturday would be BC’s second against a top 10 team in three weeks.

It’s safe to say the times are a-changin’ at Chestnut Hill.