A must-win with meaning: Boston College and Cal chase momentum and belief

BC Football Fans
Sep 27
4 min read

Lonergan and the Eagles need a win to steady the season and re-ignite belief in Chestnut Hill.

Thomas Castellanos (Photo: BC Athletics) — (Photo: BC Athletics)

CHESTNUT HILL, MASS — Two programs that look like mirror images meet Saturday at Alumni Stadium. Boston College and California arrive with talented but young quarterbacks, rosters under construction, and fan bases that live in pro sports cities where autumn attention has to be earned. The winner does more than bank a September result. The winner convinces its own people that the build is moving in the right direction. This first ACC meeting between BC and Cal kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network, with Chris Cotter, Max Browne and Kendra Douglas on the call.

The context is clear. Cal is a new member of the league in its second ACC season and has opened 3–1 with a freshman quarterback who already has two Rookie of the Week honors. Boston College is 1–2 after a bye, carrying the sting of two road losses and the weight of an eight-game run that will include Georgia Tech, SMU, Clemson and Notre Dame. For both, this is a checkpoint game that says something about the rest of the fall.

The quarterbacks are the draw. For BC, Dylan Lonergan has looked like the long-term answer. Through three games he has thrown for 991 yards with nine touchdowns against one interception, the lone pick coming at Stanford. He leads the ACC in passing yards per game and sits top two nationally in that category. Accuracy has traveled, and so has distribution: the ball has consistently found Lewis Bond, Reed Harris and tight end Jeremiah Franklin, with depth behind them that BC fans have not seen in years. The task now is to carry that efficiency back home and finish drives.

California counters with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, a true freshman who plays with poise and touch. He has already been named ACC Rookie of the Week twice and is pushing toward 1,000 career passing yards only a month into his college career. The Bears will help him with a steady ground game and a defense that has been stingy through four weeks.

Cal’s identity has been defense first. The Bears rank top five in the ACC in total defense and top four against the run, and they have allowed only one fourth-down conversion all season. Cornerback Hezekiah Masses leads the nation in passes defended, with seven breakups and three interceptions, while return man Jacob De Jesus has flipped fields with a top-ten national total in combined return yards. Those are pressure points BC has to handle.

BC’s own numbers tell you where the edge should be. The Eagles enter Week 5 leading the nation in passing offense at 393.7 yards per game and topping the ACC in red-zone touchdowns. Bond leads the country in receptions per game, Franklin is among the most productive tight ends in America, and kicker Luca Lombardo has been perfect. The production is there. It has to translate to 60 clean minutes.

This matchup is also a market test. Boston and the Bay Area are cities where Saturdays fight for oxygen with the Celtics and Warriors, the Patriots and 49ers, the Red Sox and Giants. Winning helps. Style helps. So does the experience of showing up and feeling like the afternoon matters. Alumni Stadium is sold out for Cal. That is an invitation to seize.

What decides it. First, protection and pre-snap operation. If BC keeps Lonergan on schedule, the passing game can stress Cal horizontally with Franklin and strike vertically with Bond or Harris. Second, explosives versus explosives denied. Cal’s secondary, led by Masses, has lived on tip-aways and takeaways; BC has lived on timing and windows. Third, hidden yards. De Jesus is a field-position problem, and BC’s coverage and punt game have to be sharp. Fourth, finishing. Boston College moved the ball against Michigan State and Stanford, then left points on the field. That cannot be the story again.

There is a bigger takeaway here, and fans know it. Both schools are trying to rebuild into consistent winners while sharing sidewalks with champion brands. Both believe they have quarterbacks who can become faces of the ACC in the years ahead. For Boston College, this is not only about avoiding 1–3. It is about restoring energy after two long trips, keeping a sold-out stadium engaged, and showing a city that the product is getting better. The work of becoming Boston’s fifth team starts with days like this, where a must win looks like a complete performance.

Predictions

38-35, BC Wins – Mac Hutchinson, Eagles Weekly

34-27, BC Wins – Brett Rider, Eagles Weekly

27-31, Cal Wins – Jack Seiberlich, Eagles Weekly

Kickoff: Saturday, Sept. 27, 3:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network; BC radio on WEEI 850 AM.

Mac Hutchinson, a columnist in Boston, is a reporter for Eagles Daily, co-host of Eagles Weekly Podcast, and the founder of @BCFootballFans. He may be reached at mac@thinklyn.com