Rutgers had lost the last nine contests to Boston College in the team’s 27-game history.
And while the 28th matchup wasn’t pretty, the Scarlet Knights came back from down eight at one point to beat the Eagles, 22-21.
Down by six with just six minutes to go on their four-yard line, the Scarlet Knights ran 12 straight run plays, capped off by Al-Shadee Salaam’s 22 -yard touchdown run to give Rutgers the lead, and eventually the win.
Salaam totaled the last 45 rushing yards on the game-winning drive and over 10 yards a carry in the contest.
Rutgers’ 96-yard drive to win was a microcosm of the strong showing in the run game for the Scarlet Knight’s offensive line. Rutgers ran for over 216 yards and three touchdowns on the day.
Boston College got the scoring started early after being given a short field by a struggling passing offense for the Scarlet Knights. Phil Jurkovec threw a touchdown pass to Zay Flowers to start the scoring in the first quarter.
The first of three Eagle turnovers though led to Schiano’s club scoring their first touchdown of the season to start the second quarter.
The two teams would trade scoring strikes after halftime, with an Eagles’ fumble setting up a goal-to-go situation for Rutgers while BC ended up going 66 yards to strike right back a possession later.
But with the Scarlet Knight’s offense struggling to throw the ball for much of the day (110 total passing yards), and Boston College pinning them at their own four-yard line, the outlook of opening day seemed dire for Greg Schiano’s club.
96-yards and a quick three-and-out from BC later flipped the script for Rutgers football.
The Scarlet Knights trotted out both Evan Simon, and Gavin Wimsatt at quarterback Saturday afternoon, but after an ineffective three quarters, chose to go on the ground the rest of the way.
Win the win, Rutgers won their season opener for the second straight season. The 2021 squad started 3-0 for the first time since 2012. In their long history with Boston College, Rutgers is now 20-7-1 against the Eagles.
The Scarlet Knight’s next matchup will be next Saturday against Wagner in the home opener for Schiano’s club.
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