Boston College 27, Pittsburgh 21: Panthers settle for four field goals

Boston College beat Pittsburgh 27-21 on Saturday at Alumni Stadium because the Panthers kept arriving in range and leaving with three. A. Chadha kicked four field goals, Pittsburgh converted 2 of 10 third downs, and the Eagles scored touchdowns on all four of their scoring drives.

Pittsburgh led 12-0 after one quarter and still lost. The 6.5-point favorite falls to 5-2. Boston College, a +200 underdog, moves to 3-3.

How it was won

The Panthers started fast. On the game's opening snap from scrimmage at 14:42, Corey Dailey hit Cataurus Hicks for a 75-yard touchdown. At 13:06, K. Thompson blocked a Boston College punt that went out of bounds for a safety, and Chadha added a 28-yard field goal at 7:58 for a 12-0 lead.

Boston College answered before the quarter ended. Bo MacCormack III scored from 1 yard at 1:41, and with 51 seconds left in the half Mason McKenzie found Javarius Green for an 11-yard touchdown. The Eagles went into halftime ahead 14-12.

The second half opened with the play of the game. At 14:14 of the third, McKenzie threw 69 yards to Landon Wright for a 21-12 lead. Pittsburgh then drove for two Chadha field goals, from 29 and 42 yards, to pull within 21-18.

Evan Dickens scored from 1 yard at 13:02 of the fourth. L. Lombardo missed the extra point, leaving the margin at 27-18. Chadha's 38-yarder at 8:13 made it a one-score game, and that was the last scoring of the day.

The box score is close almost everywhere except where it mattered. Boston College out-gained Pittsburgh 405 to 392 and held a 25-22 edge in first downs. The gap was third down: 8 of 12 for the Eagles, 2 of 10 for the Panthers. Pittsburgh also turned it over three times to Boston College's two.

McKenzie finished 17 of 28 for 295 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Landon Wright had 122 yards on two catches; Green caught five for 60. Dickens ran 15 times for 57 yards and MacCormack 11 times for 35.

For Pittsburgh, the ground game worked. Damon Ferguson Jr. ran 17 times for 119 yards and La'Vell Wright added 52 on 15 carries, part of 199 rushing yards. Dailey was 11 of 25 for 193 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and Hicks accounted for 135 of those yards on five catches. Malik Knight had three catches for 30.

Against the number

Pittsburgh closed at -6.5, and Boston College covered by winning outright. The moneyline paid on the Eagles at +200; the Panthers had closed at -245.

The total closed at 42.5 and the teams scored 48, so the over cashed. It got there despite a scoreless final eight minutes, with the safety and Lombardo's missed extra point offsetting each other in the arithmetic. Full prices are on the game page.

What's next

Pittsburgh is now 5-2 and has lost two straight, following a 21-17 home loss to North Carolina with this one. The Panthers' next opponent was not listed in the schedule data available at publication.

Boston College is 3-3 after snapping a two-game losing streak that included losses to Virginia Tech and SMU. The Eagles' next game was also not yet listed. We will add both matchups and their odds once they are posted.