BOSTON — Mason McKenzie threw a 78-yard touchdown pass, ran for another score and Boston College held off Rutgers 28-21 on Friday night in the Eagles’ annual Red Bandanna Game.
McKenzie completed 18 of 29 passes for 252 yards with two interceptions for the Eagles (1-1).
Making his first start, quarterback AJ Surace was 18 of 27 for 230 yards with three TDs and four picks for Rutgers (0-2).
BC linebacker Bodie Kahoun, a 6-foot-2 redshirt sophomore, was taken off the field by an ambulance in the middle of the second quarter after leading with his head on a tackle.
The school announced he had movement in all his extremities and was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
“We brought him to the hospital, obviously, we feel like he had feeling in his extremities, but we’ll wait to see,” BC coach Bill O’Brien said. “Very tough. He’s just an awesome guy. You can see what that meant to the team.”
Trailing 20-7 at halftime, the Scarlet Knights sliced it to a one-score game on Surace’s 4-yard TD pass to KJ Duff.
After an interception, they were stopped on a fourth-and-1 at BC’s 11 late in the third. It was the second of three times Rutgers was stopped on fourth down deep in Eagles’ territory.
“They played tough,” O’Brien said of the defense. “I was very proud of them.”
McKenzie rolled out right and hit Dawson Pough, who was about 10 yards behind the nearest defender before he made the grab and scored easily with 7:06 left to make it 28-14.
“When you get to that, it’s like: ‘Don’t miss. Don’t miss,”’ McKenzie said, smiling. “There was nobody around him. I was able to hit him and that was a big play in the game.”
Duff’s second TD catch, a 60-yarder, cut it to 28-21 midway into the fourth, but BC linebacker Anthony Palano made his second interception at the Eagles’ 35 with just under 2 minutes left to preserve the victory.
McKenzie had a 10-yard scoring run that made it 14-0 late in the first quarter.
The takeaway
Rutgers: Coming off an embarrassing home loss against UMass last week that coach Greg Schiano said made the school a “punchline,” the Scarlet Knights rebounded with a solid comeback, but kept failing in BC territory.
The Scarlet Knights will host No. 14 USC in Big Ten play next Saturday
Boston College: After being dominated by Cincinnati in the opener, the Eagles needed a better showing. They had it, barely.
The Eagles host Maine next Saturday.
Special night
The Red Bandanna Game honors the memory of former lacrosse player Welles Crowther, who died rescuing more than a dozen people in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The BC grad was known for carrying a red bandanna.
“It was the 25th anniversary of a terrible day,” O’Brien said. “A very important person in the BC community, Welles Crowther. This game is just such an important game to Boston College.”
