COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Boston College offense in gear in easy win over UMass

The Eagles rolled to 622 yards of total offense and scored seven first-half touchdowns in a 55-21 victory over the Minutemen on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.

CHESTNUT HILL – The late-season surge by the Boston College football team last fall was keyed in large part by a productive offense.

 The Eagles scored at least 35 points in five of their final six regular-season games on the way to earning a spot in the Pinstripe Bowl.

 There is reason for optimism that the offense will be capable of again being difficult to stop this season with the return of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s preseason player of the year, running back AJ Dillon; with quarterback Anthony Brown healthy again after his 2017 season ended Nov. 11 due to a knee injury; and with a veteran offensive line creating time and space.

 BC’s first impression in 2018 did not dispel any of that optimistic feeling, even if the Eagles opened their season against an inferior opponent, the University of Massachusetts.

 The Eagles piled up 622 yards of total offense and scored seven first-half touchdowns while rolling to a 55-21 victory over the over-matched Minutemen before 30,112 at Alumni Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

 For the first time since 1996, BC had more than 300 yards passing (320) and rushing (302) and registered its highest opening-day point total since getting 78 against Saint Anselm in 1941.

 “We’re real excited about it,’’ said senior left tackle Aaron Monteiro of Brockton about the potential of the offense. “We come out and work every day in practice and each day try to improve.

 “We’ve been working at it since the end of last season. We’ve just trying to perfect our craft and improve from the work we’ve been putting in.’’

 The Eagles certainly made it look easy against UMass, jumping to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter, then getting five touchdowns in the second quarter for a 48-7 halftime bulge.

 Brown, whose red-shirt freshman season ended when he tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against NC State, was 15 of 21 for 279 yards and four touchdowns while playing only the first half.

 BC brought Brown along slowly during training camp, not letting him get hit, so the game against UMass was a test for the knee. There appeared to be no rust on Brown’s game as he was sharp from the start and threw TD passes to AJ Dillon (15 yards), Kobay White (34 and 27) and Ray Marten (33)

 “You kind of had an idea (Brown was ready),’’ said Monteiro. “He gives us a lot of confidence. He’s the guy who led us last year and he knows what he’s doing back there. We feel confident with him back there, he feels confident with us up front.’’

 Said Brown: “It was very encouraging. I was really excited. I was like an 8-year-old playing football again. There weren’t any jitters at all. We prepared for this. I put a lot of time into this so I’d be ready.’’

 The other BC touchdowns were on runs of 1 and 2 yards by Davon Jones, a 59-yard interception return by Lukas Denis and an 8-yard run by David Bailey, the team’s lone score in the second half.

 The Eagles’ defense held UMass to one touchdown until the Minutemen scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 6:05 after trailing, 55-7.

 “Today was a great kind of look at all the hard work that we’ve put in during the winter and the spring,’’ said Dillon, who had 98 yards on 20 carries. “We’re definitely optimistic.’’

 BC won’t be tested next weekend when it hosts Holy Cross in their first meeting since 1986. The ACC opener is Sept. 13 at Wake Forest.

 “I thought we had an explosive performance on both sides of the ball,’’ said coach Steve Addazio. “I thought it was a great opening day performance. Our goal for our kids was to give all the effort they had, be physical, be fast, be relentless and play together. We certainly saw that.

 “Quite frankly, I told our guys it’s just one game. We came out, we had a heckuva day today. We can grow from it and most importantly we can improve on it.

 It was great, wonderful, terrific, and now we start fresh.’’

 During a few spots in the game, Monteiro found himself blocking UMass senior defensive lineman Joe Previte, another Brockton High School graduate. Previte, who was two years ahead of Monteiro in high school, was in on three tackles for the Minutemen.

 “He’s a tough competitor,’’ said Monteiro. “He’s a hard worker. He’s a strong guy. He’s always been like that ever since we were in high school. It was nice to see him after the game.’’

  Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.