Boston College hype train comes to a screeching halt with loss to Purdue

The Boston College hype train was derailed by Purdue on Saturday.

Following a 3-0 start to the season, the No. 23 Eagles were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2008, but that time in the rankings will be short-lived. BC took one on the chin from the previously winless Boilermakers in a 30-13 road loss.

Boston College entered the game averaging 577.3 yards per game. Against Purdue, it could muster only 229 yards of offense, including just 27 in the first half and 121 in garbage time in the fourth quarter.

The game was close early. A 15-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Brown to Tommy Sweeney tied the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter, but that would be the only points of the game for the Eagles. That drive, set up by a long kickoff return, went 38 yards. For the rest of the half, the Eagles went backwards with drives of minus-4, minus-8, three and zero yards.

All the while, the Purdue offense got on the board with two touchdowns from explosive freshman Rondale Moore, including this 70-yard beauty.

The second half was plagued by turnovers. Brown threw his first interception late in the first half, leading to a Purdue field goal, and added three more in the second half to skid his sparkling start to the season to a screeching halt.

Brown finished the afternoon 13-of-37 for 96 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions while A.J. Dillon, BC’s star running back, was limited to just 59 yards on 19 carries.

What does this mean for Boston College?

It’s reasonable to think that Boston College may have been a bit overconfident after its 3-0 start. The Eagles just weren’t sharp in any facet of the game on Saturday and were served a big dish of humble pie from the Boilermakers.

It’s also fair to look to the competition BC had played to this point in the season, especially UMass and Holy Cross. But the performance offensively last week against Wake Forest really elevated the BC hype, leading some to declare the Eagles as the second-best team in the ACC Atlantic behind Clemson.

Boston College, which plays Temple next week before getting back into conference play, isn’t as bad as Saturday’s performance would lead you to believe, but any talk of BC being a possible contender in the ACC was probably premature.

What does this mean for Purdue?

Purdue lost its first three games — to Northwestern, Eastern Michigan and Missouri — by a combined eight points. The home loss to EMU is inexcusable, but the fact that the Boilermakers were that competitive against solid teams like Northwestern and Missouri was proof that the 0-3 record was somewhat misleading. Saturday’s win, the program’s first over a ranked team since 2011, is further proof of that.

Jeff Brohm getting Purdue to a bowl in his first season was unexpected last year. Entering 2018, the country knew that Purdue wasn’t a pushover like it was in previous years. With a 1-3 record entering Big Ten play, another bowl trip will be a tall task, but this team is going to be competitive on a weekly basis.

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