Saturday’s upset loss in the Boston College vs Rutgers season opener was one to remember. After three quarters of barely standard play, the game went off the rails for the Eagles, resulting in the 22-21 victory by Rutgers’ Scarlet Knights. Along with the upset itself, the game was full of shocking moments, from Rutgers’ 4th and goal punt to Al-Shadee Salaam’s back-to-back runs that won the game for the scarlet knights. Here are our top 10 craziest moments from Rutgers’ 22-21 victory over Boston College.
#10: Jurkovec Fumbes his First Snap of the Season
Less than two minutes into the game, Eagles’ quarterback Jurkovec took his first snap of the season. Without hesitation, the Scarlet Knights’ star defensive back Robert Longerbeam left his pass defensive position and sprinted straight toward Jurkovec wrapping his arms around the 6’5″ redshirt junior and whipping him to the ground. Clearly startled by the unexpected hit, Jurkovec fumbled the ball, which was very nearly recovered by Rutgers’ linebacker Tyreem Powell. Luckily, before Powell could capitalize on the opportunity, Jurkovec fell back on the ball, narrowly avoiding an early turnover.
#9: Zay Flowers’ Spectacular Catch
How did Zay Flowers catch that⁉️ pic.twitter.com/teKARbsSVD
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 3, 2022
After the first few drives of the game fizzled out, BC finally had their first scoring opportunity in the seventh minute of the first quarter. From the 17-yard line on 2nd and 10, Jurkovec lobbed a 20-yard pass to a tightly covered Zay Flowers. Despite the coverage, Flowers still managed to pull off a miraculous grab under the legs of redshirt senior linebacker Deion Jennings.
#8: Rutgers Punts on 4th and Goal
A series of big runs finally got the Scarlet Knights into red zone territory in the second half of the first quarter, bringing them to a first and goal at the Eagle’s 10-yard line. After a two-yard run from Kyle Monangai, things started to go downhill. First, an offensive pass interference set them back 15 yards to the 23-yard line. Next came a 10-yard holding penalty, which was followed by an incomplete pass. On 3rd and 33, Rutgers managed to draw a false start, setting them back another five yards to the 38-yard line. But it didn’t end there. After 30 yards of penalties, Rutgers’ quarterback Gavin Wimsatt was sacked for a loss of five yards, taking a 1st and goal with eight yards to go to a 4th and goal with 43 yards to go.
#7: Rutgers Misses Their First Extra Point
After Rutgers finally amassed a scoring drive in the early stages of the second quarter, it was up to kicker Jude McAtamney to tie the game up with a simple extra point. But it turns out it wasn’t simple enough for McAtamney, who sent the ball wide right despite a good snap, good hold, and 0 MPH wind.
#6: Boston College’s Second Fumble Gives Rutgers a Free Touchdown
After two straight tackles for losses, the Scarlet Knights’ defensive line pounced on a low snap from Eagle center Kendall Drew at the seven-yard line, giving the offensive a golden opportunity to score. Rutgers capitalized with a handoff to Kyle Monongai, who took the ball in from the one-yard line for his first touchdown of the season. The Knights went for a two-point conversion to tie the game, but failed to convert and remained at 14-12.
#5: Kendall Drew’s Snap Hits Jaden Williams For a 3rd BC Fumble
On a second and 10 play by the Eagles, Jaden Williams made two runs in the backfield, and due to some unlucky timing, Kendal Drew’s first snap to backup quarterback Emmet Morehead hit Williams, sending the ball back towards the offensive line. Luckily, Morehead dove onto the ball before the Scarlet knights could take advantage of the situation.
#4: Aron Simon Fumbles the Ball and it Goes Out Of Bounds
Following the trend of quarterback fumbles came Rutgers’ own Evan Simon, who managed to fumble a ball all the way out of bounds in quite a sequence of events. On third and four, Simon took a big hit from defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku, which sent the ball flying into the air and up for grabs. Defensive back Josh DeBerry nearly recovered the ball but ended up swatting it onto the ground and out of bounds.
#3: Boston College’s Special Teams Prevents a Touchback
After Jurkovec failed to convert on third and three, the Eagles’ special teams came out for a huge play to prevent a touchback. After Aron Cruikshank failed to catch the punt, the ball bounced towards the goal line, but a sprinting Regen Terry managed to swat the ball out of the end zone before it hit the ground, landing the ball at the four-yard line and setting Rutgers up for a tough crawl out of dangerous territory.
#2: Al-Shadee Salaam’s Victory Drive
After a slow crawl into Eagles territory, backup runningback Al-Shadee Salaam, who took just 5 handoffs in the entire game made a 27-yard run to put the Knights just 22 yards away from victory. On the next play, he took another handoff, this time topping off the drive with the 22-yard run that Rutgers needed. Salaam finished the game with an average of over 10 yards per carry thanks to this miraculous 49-yard drive.
#1: BC Throws Away Their Only Chance For Victory
After both teams failed to do much of note after Salaam’s miraculous victory drive, it seemed like the Eagles had just one shot to shut down Rutger’s comeback win. With 16 seconds remaining in the game, the Scarlet Knight’s punter Adam Korsak sent the ball into the arms of Zay flowers, who made a 34-yard return and was downed with 4 seconds to go on the clock; enough time for Jurkovec to achieve a miracle. But it was all for naught, as a flag indicated that an Eagle had run into Korsak after the punt, giving Rutgers the ball again with nothing to do but run down the final seconds of the game.
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