For the Tigers third matchup of their 2024-25 campaign, Missouri will welcome in the Boston College Eagles to Faurot Field. The meeting occurs on the early afternoon of September 14.
The Eagles finished tenth in the ACC this past season, with a 7-6 overall record and 3-5 in conference play. This was a significant improvement from the season prior, where the Eagles were one of the worst teams in the conference, finishing 3-9.
Boston College did reach the Fenway Bowl last season, where they took down SMU 23-14. It was their first postseason appearance since 2019 where they fell 38-6 in the Birmingham Bowl. They made the 2021 Military Bowl against East Carolina, but it was canceled.
Arguably the biggest addition for the Eagles this offseason will not be suited up in pads. When former head coach Jeff Hafley took a job in the NFL as the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, Boston College gave former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien a call.
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O’Brien has plenty of accolades, including winning Big 10 Coach of the Year with the Nittany Lions in 2012. It’s been four years since O’Brien was a head coach, but the Eagles may have scored big with their new hire. He has past success in both leagues and his experience could prove impactful for a Boston College team looking for a big ACC season. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Boston College Eagles.
Dec 17, 2023; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien watches the team warm up before a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports /
The face of the Eagles offense last season was sophomore quarterback Thomas Castellanos. A composite 3-star out of high school, Castellanos committed to Central Florida from Waycross, Ga. He barely touched the field for the Knights in year one, only throwing 16 passes for 75 yards.
Castellanos flipped the script last season after transferring to Boston College. He led the team in both passing and rushing yards. On the ground, he ran for 1,113 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was equally active in the air, tossing 15 touchdowns to go along with 14 interceptions and 2,248 yards. He racked up a 57.3% completion percentage as well.
The Eagles will have plenty of options on the ground, not including Castellanos. Senior Kye Robichaux was the second-leading rusher, running for 780 yards and 8 touchdowns. This was the best season of his career compared to his two prior seasons with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
Kansas State graduate transfer Treshaun Ward will also provide a threat as he ran for 643 yards and 5 touchdowns. He rushed for 46 yards on 9 attempts against Missouri early last season, while also racking up 61 receiving yards on 5 receptions. He was the leading rusher for the Wildcats in this matchup. Junior UCF transfer Jordan McDonald should also get a couple of looks on the ground, as could last year’s backup Alex Broome.
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It remains unclear who the Eagles top receiving threat will be next season. They return their leader in receiving yards from last season, Lewis Bond, with 646 yards. They are also bringing in Junior Vanderbilt transfer Jayden McGowan and Senior Texas Tech transfer Jerand Bradley. Both were productive for their respective power-5 schools last season and both could be top options for Castellanos this year.
The Tigers did a very good job of not allowing lots of rushing yards by quarterbacks, with now Washington Commander Jayden Daniels lighting Missouri up for 130 yards. The mobility of Castellanos is one of the Eagles’ best offensive weapons, so if that can get shut down with the Missouri secondary clicking, the Tigers should walk out with unscathed.
Graduate Kam Arnold will return to Boston College as their leading tackler. He recorded 65 tackles last season, as well as 1 sack and a forced fumble. They have two other big returners on the defensive line with graduate student Cam Horsley and Senior Donovan Ezeiruaku.
Junior cornerback Amari Jackson also returns for the Eagles next season, who posted 38 tackles and a single interception last year. He was one of four Boston College players to record an interception. They took a huge hit in the secondary with cornerback Elijah Jones declaring for the NFL Draft, which ended with him being selected in the third round by the Arizona Cardinals.
Their headline transfer on the defensive side is former Ohio State safety Cameron Martinez. He only recorded 40 career tackles for the Buckeyes in three seasons, as well as one interception in the 2021 season. Georgia State graduate transfer Bryquice Brown could also step into an immediate role in the Eagles secondary. He posted 35 tackles and an interception last season.
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Boston College allowed the third most yards in the ACC last season and the second most on the ground. The roles could reverse this season, with the secondary improving and the front line taking some hits. The Tigers bring in a strong receiving core and a running back room that took hits. That may match up well for the Eagles, but the likes of Marcus Carroll, Nate Noel, Jamal Roberts and others should be talented enough to offset it.
The Tigers only power-5 opponent in the out-of-conference portion of the schedule was Kansas State, which ended in an all-so-memorable finish for Missouri. It shouldn’t be as much of a nailbiter this time around, as Missouri has appeared to improve.
Boston College was ranked fourteenth in CBS Sports preseason power rankings, only behind Pittsburgh, Virginia and Stanford. It would be a surprise if the Tigers did not leave Farout Field in week three with a win.
Date: Sept. 14
Time: 11:45 a.m.
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TV: SECN+ and ESPN+
Location: Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium
Series: Boston College leads 1-0
Sept. 25, 2021: The Tigers and Boston College went head-to-head right into overtime in Alumni Stadium, resulting in a 41-34 victory for the Eagles. A Sophomore Harrison Mevis tied the game with a 56-yard field goal, sending it into extra time. In only five plays, Dennis Grosel led the Eagles down the field, ending in a touchdown pass to Zay Flowers. Connor Bazelak threw an interception on the first play of the Tigers’ drive, handing the win to Boston College.
Head Coach: Bill O’Brien, former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach.
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Offensive Coordinator: Will Lawing, 2023 New England Patriots TE coach.
Defensive Coordinator: Tim Lewis, defensive coordinator for the New York Giants from 2004-’06.
Players to Watch: QB Thomas Castellanos, RB Kye Robichaux, WR Jerand Bradley, S Cameron Martinez
Top Newcomer: Former Texas Tech WR Jerand Bradley comes into Boston with a chance of becoming WR1. He joins transfer Jayden McGowan and returner Lewis Bond.
Missouri senior forward Mark Mitchell was recognized Monday with a second-team selection to the All-Southeastern Conference teams.
Mitchell has led the Tigers all season long and tops the team in scoring (17.9 points per game), rebounding (5.2) and assists (3.6). He would be the just the second player in program to lead all the categories in one season, joining Albert White from the 1998-99 season.
Mitchell is also on pace to become the first player in program history to average at least 17 points, five rebounds and three assists since Anthony Peeler in 1992, the year he took home the Big 8 Conference Player of the Year award.
Mitchell was the only Missouri player to be recognized in SEC postseason awards.
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Five players were named to each of the three All-SEC teams.
Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Tennessee), Thomas Haugh (Florida), Labaron Philon Jr. (Alabama) and Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt) made the first team.
Acuff was named the conference’s player of the year and freshman of the year.
Joining Mitchell on the second team were Nate Ament (Tennessee), Rueben Chinyelu (Florida), Otega Oweh (Kentucky) and Dailyn Swain (Texas), while Rashaun Agee (Texas A&M), Alex Condon (Florida), Keyshawn Hall (Auburn), Aden Holloway (Alabama) and Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State) were named to the third team.
The All-SEC defensive team consisted of Chinyelu, Somto Cyril (Georgia), Felix Okpara (Tennessee), Billy Richmond III (Arkansas) and Tanner. Chinyelu was selected as the defensive player of the year.
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Appearing on the all-freshman team were Acuff, Amari Allen (Alabama), Ament, Malachi Moreno (Kentucky) and Meleek Thomas (Arkansas).
Swain was selected as the newcomer of the year, while Urban Klavzar of Florida was named the sixth man of the year.
The 2026 Missouri high school basketball state championship brackets continue on Monday, March 9, with eight games in the sectional and quarterfinal round of the higher classifications.
High School On SI has brackets for every classification in the Missouri high school basketball playoffs. The championship games will begin on March 19.
Missouri High School Girls Basketball 2026 Playoff Brackets, Schedule (MSHSAA) – March 9, 2026
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Sectionals
Doniphan vs. Potosi – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
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St. James vs. St. Francis Borgia – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
Notre Dame de Sion vs. Oak Grove – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
Smithville vs. Benton – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
Cardinal Ritter College Prep vs. Clayton – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
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Orchard Farm vs. Kirksville – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
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Boonville vs. Strafford – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
Reeds Spring vs. Nevada – 03/09, 6:00 PM CT
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Quarterfinals
Festus vs. Lift for Life Academy – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
Grandview vs. Kearney – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
MICDS vs. St. Dominic – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
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Helias vs. Marshfield – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
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Quarterfinals
Jackson vs. Marquette – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
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Rock Bridge vs. Staley – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
Incarnate Word Academy vs. Troy-Buchanan – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
Kickapoo vs. Lee’s Summit West – 03/13, 6:00 PM CT
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe’s request to grade public schools on an “A” through “F” scale is pushing House lawmakers to approve legislation some think isn’t quite ready.
With approval and dissent on both sides of the aisle, the House voted a bill to create a new school accountability system through to the Senate 96-53 Thursday despite concerns the letter grades could be a “scarlet letter” for underperforming schools.
“Will this labeling system actually improve schools or will it mostly brand communities, destabilize staffing and incentivize gaming rather than learning?” asked state Rep. Kem Smith, a Democrat from Florissant, during House debate Tuesday morning, March 3.
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She said the key metrics that determine the grade, performance and growth, are volatile.
“The label itself can become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” she said. “The bill doubles down on high stakes metrics that are known to be unstable.”
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Dane Diehl, a Republican from Butler, told lawmakers that a performance-based school report card with “A” through “F” grades is inevitable. The details, though, are negotiable.
“The governor’s executive order, it is going to happen either way,” he said. “I think we tried to make that process a little better for school districts.”
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Kehoe’s order directs the state’s education department to draw up a plan for the report cards and present it to the State Board of Education. The board could reject the idea, but with a board with primarily new members appointed by Kehoe, lawmakers have accepted the system as fate.
State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly and chair of the House’s education committee, told the committee in January that he prioritized the bill as a way to give lawmakers influence over the final outcome. He is happy with the edits the committee made, which gives the education department more leeway to determine grade thresholds and removes a provision that would raise expectations once 65% of schools achieve “A” or “B” grades.
The House also approved an amendment March 3 that would grade schools’ environment. This would be based on the rates of student suspension, seclusion and restraint incident rates and satisfaction surveys given to students, parents and teachers.
The Senate’s version, which passed out of its education committee last week, does not include those changes.
“I think (the House bill) is the best product we have in the Capitol right now,” Lewis said. “I am not saying it’s complete, but it is the best we have right now.”
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The changes have softened some skeptics of the legislation, like state Rep. Brad Pollitt.
Pollitt, a Sedalia Republican, said he didn’t support the legislation “for a number of years.” But with the edits, he sees potential for the legislation to usher in changes to the way the state accredits public schools.
The current process, he said, “nobody seems to like,” pointing to widespread concerns with the state’s standardized test.
Some of these changes are already happening quietly. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received a grant from the federal government to develop a state assessment based on through-year testing, which would measure student growth throughout the school year, instead of a single summative assessment.
The department is poised to pilot the new test in 14 classrooms this spring, hoping to eventually offer it statewide within a few years. But the estimated startup cost of $2 million is one of many department requests cut from the governor’s proposed budget as the state grapples with declining revenue.
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Creating the “A” through “F” report cards is estimated to cost a similar amount, if not more, according to the state’s fiscal note. The expense is largely frontloaded, going to the programming and technology support required to create the grade cards’ interface.
When The Independent asked Kehoe’s office about the fiscal note, the governor’s communications director Gabby Picard said he would work with “associated agencies” to determine appropriate funding “while remaining mindful of the current budget constraints and maintaining fiscal responsibility.”
The House’s version of the legislation includes an incentive program for high-performing schools, giving bonuses to go toward teacher recruitment and retention, if the legislature appropriates funding for the program.
More: Missouri school board considers using letter grades to score districts
The bill originally proposed incentives of $50-100 per student to subsidize teacher pay. This had large fiscal implications, and Lewis surmised that it would violate a section of the State Constitution prohibiting bonuses for public employees.
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Making the funding optional and directing it to the school’s teacher recruitment and retention fund remedied those concerns. The Senate Education Committee removed the incentive program in its version of the legislation.
The House’s approval Thursday does not stop discussion and possible amendments. Next, the bill will go to the Senate for consideration, and if any changes are made, it will return to the House for more discussion.
This story was first published at missouriindependent.com.
