Boston College needs to grow up and decide who it wants to be

BC Football Fans
Sep 16
3 min read

BC hits the bye week searching for answers and accountability

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

This one hurt in a way that feels much bigger than the scoreboard. Boston College’s 30–20 loss at Stanford was not just another frustrating night. It was the first time under Bill O’Brien that the shine truly wore off, the first time it felt like the future of the program might not be as certain as many of us believed. Fans are not just upset about this one game. They are nervous about where this whole thing is headed.

I wrote in my column last month that BC has a chance to become Boston’s fifth team, a program that could matter in a city dominated by pros. Right now, that vision feels miles away. Saturday offered nothing to cheer for. Instead, it showed us a team that looked careless, uninspired, and unprepared in a moment that was supposed to signal progress.

I was not in Palo Alto. Work had me in Quebec City, scrambling with VPNs to catch the late-night feed from my Airbnb. By the time the postgame Zoom wrapped up with O’Brien, it was nearly three in the morning and I sat there wondering why I had invested so much energy in a team that gave so little back on the field.

This was the sequence that told the whole story, a moment of failure so familiar to BC fans that it felt like proof once again that when things go wrong, they go all the way wrong. Fourth and goal from the 1, a chance to take control. Instead, a fumble in the end zone. It was the same mistake Turbo Richard made the week before, and the pain felt all too familiar. O’Brien explained afterward:

“I mean, we have a chance to go up in the game. We fumble the ball. Even if we get stopped there, it’s still a 99-yard drive that they have to perform, right?”

Instead of Stanford pinned, the Cardinal started at the 20 and scored three plays later. It was worse than the worst-case scenario, and it turned the game completely upside down.

Boston College never recovered. Zero points in the second half. A loss to a team that looked overwhelmed the week before at BYU. More troubling than the result was the way it happened. Epic turnovers. Penalties before the snap. Missed assignments. Poor body language. It felt like a team that wanted the game to be over.

O’Brien did not sugarcoat it.

“The coaches, we were terrible tonight. We got to coach better. It starts with us, starts with me.”

That accountability is welcome, but it has to be more than words now. As Jack Bergamini wrote in his column, when it comes to commitment "fans also have a choice". He pointed to O’Brien’s own message to the locker room:

“I told the team—I’ll tell you exactly what I told the team—everybody’s got a choice. You want to be here. You don’t want to be here. Make your choice.”

Well, fans also find themselves looking in the mirror. Nights like Palo Alto test whether people stick around or turn away. The product has to earn loyalty.

The danger is bigger than one season. Conference realignment is reshaping the sport. Programs that show vision and relevance will survive. Those that collapse on national stages against inferior opponents will not. BC cannot afford to be lumped into the wrong category. Nights like Saturday put BC at real risk of being left behind, and if this program cannot raise its standard, it will have no one to blame but itself.

The bye week comes at the right time. Two weeks to reset before Cal visits on Sept. 27. Two weeks to decide whether this is going to be another bowl-or-bust season or the start of something that can grow. Two weeks to prove that Lonergan’s talent, which still looks like the best the Heights has seen since Matt Ryan, will not be wasted by sloppy play and a lack of heart.

I still think O’Brien is the right coach, but the benefit of the doubt is shrinking. Fans believed the meltdowns of the past would not carry over. Saturday proved otherwise. If that continues, the talk of BC mattering in Boston again will feel like fantasy.

The next two weeks are about more than preparation. They are about identity. Do you clean up the details, protect the ball, and show some fight? Or do you let Palo Alto define you?

We will find out when Cal arrives. For now, Boston College has two weeks to grow up and decide who it wants to be.

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