Fagnano’s Career Day Powers Connecticut over Boston College
- Natalie Zona
- Oct 19
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 20
The UConn Huskies beat the Boston College Eagles 38-23 behind Joe Fagnano’s 362 yards and four touchdowns in this regional matchup.
After Dylan Lonergan was the starting quarterback for the Eagles' first six games, the coaching staff decided to put in the redshirt senior, Grayson James, hoping for a spark in the offense. Boston College got the opening kickoff and moved the ball well in their first drive with 6 plays going to running back, Turbo Richard. James completed a 16-yard pass to Dawson Pough, but a pass break up on third and long forced a field goal for the Eagles.
“It felt like the best thing for the team, at this point, was to go with Grayson. I thought he did a lot of good things today. I think he gave us a shot.” Bill O’Brien said.
UConn’s first drive was extended by a pass interference call on Boston College’s defense. Three plays later, Quarterback Joe Fagnano hit Juice Vereen for a 50-yard touchdown reception to take a 7-3 lead.
The Eagles utilized their other running back, Jordan Mcdonald, a lot in their second possession of the game after Richard exited the game with an injury. He accounted for 8 of the 13 plays. With the ball on the two-yard line, two of James’ passes fell incomplete, and the Eagles lined up for a field goal once again.
O’Brien said, “There were times when we could not convert [in the redzone]. I thought the playcalling was very good, we did a lot of good things. But the low red area was tough today, no doubt about it."
With the second quarter on tap, the Huskies would get possession of the ball. After a slow start to the drive, tight end, John Neider, picked up 26 yards down the sideline. Another strike to Alex Honig put Connecticut on the two-yard line. Fagnano ran it in himself to give UConn a 14-6 lead.
Boston College’s drive was once again run heavy with long rushes for McDonald (17 yards) and James (20 yards). James then completed his fifth pass of the game in the endzone with a touchdown pass to Kaelan Chudzinski. The Eagles cut the deficit to only one point.
UConn immediately got to work with a 40-yard catch and run to Alex Honig. From there, the offense stalled, forcing the field goal unit to come out. Chris Freeman hit the 40-yard kick to extend the Huskies’ lead.
After back-to-back punts from both offenses, the Eagles quickly rallied to put together a 62-yard touchdown drive in just over a minute of game play. James found Reed Harris in the endzone to retake the lead going into halftime.
Out of the break, Fagnano recorded his second touchdown pass of the game to Neider for 43 yards. In this back-and-forth game, UConn took the lead once again with under 12 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.
Three punts later, the Huskies started their drive with great field position at Boston College’s 45-yard line. Skylar Bell got his ninth reception of the day, which went for 23 yards. Vereen then picked up his second touchdown of the game on a 14-yard reception. Connecticut took a two-score lead late in the third quarter led by Fagnano, who had over 300 passing yards at that point.
Lewis Bond helped the Eagles drive down the field on a long reception and a clutch fourth down conversion. Once in the red zone, their offense couldn’t get anything going, so they settled for a field goal from Luca Lombardo who is now 10-10 on field goals this season.
Following punts from both teams, the Huskies sealed the win with Fagnano’s 3rd touchdown pass of the game to Bell for a 38-23 final.
“At the end of the day, we didn’t get it done, so there’s a limelight on that. We just have to keep pushing, keep trekking.” James mentioned.
UConn's win over BC marks their second win ever against them and their first on the road at Chestnut Hill. The Eagles lead this regional rivalry with 13 wins over the Huskies, but it seems that things have started to flip in the last couple of years. Connecticut's most recent win outside of Saturday's came in 2022. BC and UConn are arguably the biggest schools for football in New England, and the Huskies are looking to take the number one spot.
The Eagles’ next game is at Louisville on October 25th at 7:30 PM. The Huskies continue their season at Rice also on October 25th at 3 PM. UConn can also become bowl eligible for the second straight year with a win over Rice.
