Thomas Castellanos’ 2 fourth-quarter TDs lift BC over No. 17 SMU in Fenway Bowl
BOSTON (AP) — Thomas Castellanos had two fourth-quarter touchdown runs and Boston College beat No. 17 SMU 23-14 on Thursday in the Fenway Bowl at the home of the Boston Red Sox, snapping the Mustangs’ nine-game winning streak.
Castellanos rushed for 155 yards and completed 11-of-18 passes for 102 yards. Ky Robichaux also had a scoring run for the Eagles (7-6), who have a main campus that’s located about 4 miles west of Fenway.
Kevin Jennings went 24 of 48 for 191 yards and a TD for SMU (11-3), which finished with its most victories since the 1982 squad also got 11.
With the Mustangs moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season in a sweeping list of realignments that have overtaken college football, it was a matchup of two teams that’ll see each other again next season in Dallas during league play.
Castellanos’ 15-yard keeper up the middle moved BC ahead 17-14 early in the fourth. He stopped and posed briefly in the back of the end zone directly in front of Boston’s bullpen, where Hall of Famer David Ortiz belted many of his 541 career home runs.
On his second score, he broke around the right side and dove inside the pylon for a 14-yard score.
SMU had taken a 14-10 lead when Jennings hit Jaylan Knighton with a 6-yard scoring toss with eight seconds left in the first half, scoring just in front of the visitors’ dugout.
Trailing 3-0 early in the second quarter, the Mustangs took the lead on LJ Johnson Jr.’s 1-yard run just a few feet from where home plate was covered.
But the Eagles answered right back, scoring on Robichaux’s 6-yard burst into the end zone just in front of the bullpens.
Playing in a steady rain that would usually have a tarp on Fenway’s infield during baseball games, the Eagles grabbed a 3-0 lead on Liam Connor’s 45-yard field goal.
Due to tight foul territory, both sidelines were in the outfield in front of the fabled Green Monster that was draped with banners of the Fenway Bowl logo and advertisements. The manually operated scoreboard had the line score of the game broken by quarters.
The opening kickoff came just after 11 a.m., just like annual Patriots’ Day Red Sox games on the third Monday in April.
THE TAKEAWAY
SMU: Jennings filled in nicely after starting QB Preston Stone was lost when he broke his leg in their regular-season finale against Navy. … The Mustangs leave the American Athletic Conference with 12 titles.
Boston College: The play of Castellanos saved what could have been a terrible season for the Eagles. The sophomore transfer from Central Florida was inserted early in the first game and finished the season as the sixth ACC QB since 1996 (joining Lamar Jackson, who did it twice) to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000.
___
Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here.
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football