In the home of the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, Boston College’s quarterback Thomas Castellanos put on quite a show Thursday for the hometown crowd. It was the second Wasabi Fenway Bowl. It is one of four bowls being played in a baseball park. In the second half against SMU, Castellanos ran for two impressive scores as the Eagles soared over the Mustangs 23-14. This capped a season for BC that could be described as up and down, to say the least. This was validation for a team that clearly wanted it.
The two teams came into their bowl game with SMU ranked at No. 24, champions of the AAC (American Athletic Conference), and boasting an 11-2 record. Boston College on the other hand came in with a 6-6 record, 3-5 in the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), and an 11.5-point underdog. AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco even complained that the Mustangs deserved a better bowl game on New Year’s Day. Yet, here the Eagles were, the victors, and doing it convincingly.
December in Boston
The day started cold, and windy, with a heavy, steady rain. The Fenway ground crew had re-sodded the turf in their conversion from baseball to football. This made for a slow track, suitable maybe for a fullback that doubled as a mudder. For clarification, that’s a racehorse that does well in the mud.
That being said, the turf held up very well, with little to no mud, but running was slow and sometimes slippery. The first half saw turnovers, at times due to the weather, and other times for the usual reasons.
Also, the atmosphere was eerily quiet, possibly due to the empty stands. The rain was so heavy, that fans huddled under upper decks or in the concourse. Besides the sound of the bands, cheering was at a minimum.
But both teams played well despite the circumstances. The first half ended with SMU up 14-10 and stayed that way through three quarters. At that point in the game, Mustang head coach Rhett Lashlee in an on-camera interview pointed to the sloppiness. “Yeah, we’ve done a lot of things in the first three quarters to lose the football game,” Lashlee said. “We’ve had two kicks blocked; we’ve dropped touchdowns. We’ve just been really sloppy. We’re fortunate to have the lead, though.” The Mustangs would not score another point in the game.
A Quarterback Duel
In a lot of ways, it was a battle between two quarterbacks. Castellanos performed his best at Fenway, passing 11 of 18 (61%) for 102 yards. But the damage he did to the Mustangs clearly came from his legs. He led the team, running 21 times for 156 yards and those two touchdowns in the second half.
For the Mustangs, quarterback Kevin Jennings was impressive as well, especially considering the circumstances that got him to this game. SMU starting quarterback Preston Stone went down with a broken leg in their final game, and redshirt freshman Jennings came in to lead his team to an AAC championship. His game at Fenway was only his second start. Still, he showed the poise of a veteran, extending plays, spreading the ball around to multiple receivers, and scrambling one time as if he were Lamar Jackson. Jennings completed 24 for 48 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown. He also led SMU’s running attack with 10 carries for 51 yards.
Lashlee praised Jennings’ play in his post-game press conference. “With the exception of that first drive, he did a really nice job throwing the football in the weather, in the elements,” Lashlee said. “He did a nice job scrambling, keeping plays alive, made some big-time throws, made some big-time runs…Thought it was a gutty performance by Kev and I’m really proud of the way he competed.”
A Meaningful Game
Meaningful can be many things. For Boston College, it marked their first bowl win since 2016. For the Mustangs it means the end of a nine-game winning streak.
But reflecting on the season, both teams had positive takeaways. BC’s coach Jeff Hafley said in his post-game comments that it made up for a rough year. “It was pretty emotional for these guys when you got to take one final knee,” Hafley said. “It was special, for all the ups and downs we had during the season to finish like this.”
SMU’s Lashlee praised his team. “The accomplishments of this team this year are not diminished,” Lashlee said. “It’s a really good football team.
Moving to a New Conference
It was somewhat symbolic that because of the reconfiguration of Fenway, both teams’ benches were on the same side of the field, under the legendary Green Monster. Next year, these teams will be together in the ACC as SMU makes the move to that conference. Their fifth game of the season will see Boston College in Dallas, Mustang turf. Perhaps then, the Eagles will have a chance to double their pleasure or SMU can take revenge for BC breaking their nine-game winning streak. Stay tuned, the 2024 season will be interesting.
