DETROIT– Ford Field has been good to Boston College. It was here that the 2010 Eagles hockey team under Jerry York, won the men’s NCAA Ice Hockey Championship with a 5-0 shutout of Wisconsin. Boston College added to their Detroit laurels, by winning the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl, 36-30 over Maryland. The Boston College defense was relentless and it paid off with a 36-30 victory over Terrapins. Boston College did enough to hold on for the win as Maryland was making a 4th quarter comeback.
The Boston College defense had four sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception from junior defensive end Harold Landry. In the beginning of the third quarter, teammate Kevin Kavalec recovered a fumble and turned it into a touchdown for the Eagles. Kavalec said post-game, “It was huge, really made a difference in the game, so that was awesome.” It turned out to be the winning score of the game because at the time it was 36-13. Maryland just would not succumb.
The best play of the game had BC quarterback Patrick Towles catching a 20-yard touchdown pass from wide-receiver Jeff Smith. It was a trick play that started as a reverse.
When asked how dire it was to have to settle for a field goal in the fourth quarter, Maryland coach D. J. Durkin said, “Critical, we need to get the ball in the end zone. The ball is on the half-yard line, you’ve got to get the ball in the end zone let alone turn it over.
Boston College head coach Steve Addazio said after the game, “Well it was great to celebrate with the guys in the locker room and a lot of fun. As I said in that locker room, I’m really going to miss this group of seniors. This was our first group of seniors when we got here and special group of guys, tremendous guys. They did so much for our program and this game was an exciting game.”
He further praised the defense, “I thought our whole defensive front played great. I saw so many guys making so many plays out there. It was really impressive. They gave the MVP to the defensive line. I really thought that was very appropriate. At the end they were relentless.”
Neither team had stellar stats but BC led in time of possession 33:15 to Maryland’s 26:45.
Boston College recruits the Detroit area and has two future contributors, Tom Kowalkowski, freshman, offensive line- Plymouth (Novi Catholic Central) and Richard Wilson, sophomore, running back- Southfield, (Southfield Lathrup).
The game was sparsely attended and was televised on ESPN. For the first time it was in the afternoon.