Boston College 27-21 Pittsburgh (Oct 17, 2026) Final Score

Team pages: Pittsburgh · Boston College

Pittsburgh5-221

Boston College3-327Final

Sat, Oct 17 · Alumni Stadium (Chestnut Hill, MA), Chestnut Hill, Mass. · Crowd 32,847

Boston College beat Pittsburgh 27-21 as a 6.5-point underdog.

We had Pittsburgh favored. Boston College won.

Next: Pittsburgh at Miami, Sat Oct 24 · 12:00 PM ET · Pittsburgh underdog by 20.5

Next: Boston College at Georgia Tech, Sat Oct 24 · 3:30 PM ET · Boston College underdog by 4

Top comment in the game thread

Cfb’s 9/11 is a smug Narduzzi

Q1 13:06 · r/CFB game thread · Sat, Oct 17

How it swung

The turning point: Dailey intercepted by Comella at the Boston College 33 (Q4, 1:34). Boston College went from 67% to 91% to win.

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Boston College an 18% chance, and the closing betting line (Boston College was a 6.5-point underdog) put it at 30%.

Safety

Pittsburgh · Q1 13:0621 unanswered

Boston College · Q2 0:51

FinalBoston College 27-21 PittsburghBoston College wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.

The three plays that swung it

1Q2 0:51McKenzie 11-yd TD pass to Green, Boston College goes ahead 14-12Boston College 31% → 53% (+22)
2Q3 14:14McKenzie 69-yd TD pass to Wright, Boston College leads 21-12Boston College 50% → 72% (+22)
3Q4 1:34InterceptionDailey intercepted by Comella at the Boston College 33Boston College 67% → 91% (+24)

The three plays that swung it

1Q2 0:51McKenzie 11-yd TD pass to Green, Boston College goes ahead 14-12Pittsburgh 69% → 47% (−22)
2Q3 14:14McKenzie 69-yd TD pass to Wright, Boston College leads 21-12Pittsburgh 50% → 28% (−22)
3Q4 1:34InterceptionDailey intercepted by Comella at the Boston College 33Pittsburgh 33% → 9% (−24)

What fans said, play by play

The line in bold above each quote is written by our model from the thread’s comments and the play-by-play.

Q1 13:06Pittsburgh fans celebrate a blocked punt and safety that extends their lead to 9-0Quoted at the top of the page.Ideal start to say the leastr/CFB game thread
Q2 5:55Pittsburgh fans rage at officials after Strader intercepts McKenzieGive up DPI or get an INT, absolutely no in betweenr/CFB game thread
Q2 2:37Pittsburgh fans lament Dailey's interception and poor backup quarterback playLove how nonchalant the commentators were over that pick.. Just a routine playr/CFB game threadWow we have no QB. Both backups so far have one good throw each and are otherwise terrible and look like a deer in the headlights out therer/CFB game thread
Q3 4:53Pittsburgh fans argue Ferguson fumble should have been forward progress“Yeah we don’t think about Pitt at all” - Penn State fans in a game thread that only sickos would be watchingr/CFB game thread
Q3 0:35Officials overturn on-field fumble call on Dailey sack to incomplete passThere’s no way that’s a fumble lolr/CFB game threadThat they called that a fumble on the field is probably the biggest indictment of the refs of this gamer/CFB game thread
Q4 9:27Pittsburgh fans blame one-sided officiating after 13 penaltiesThere’s no way on earth any team commits 13 penalties for almost 150 yards that is gotta be as investigated for gambling. There’s no way on earth I’ve ever seen a game where…r/CFB game thread

Boston College’s chance to win after every play.

How to read this chart

Starts from the pregame line (Pittsburgh -6.5), at 18% for Boston College (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. Outlined diamonds mark rare plays. Under the scores, r/CFB comments per minute from fans with a Boston College or Pittsburgh flair (57 and 238); both sides share one scale, regulation only. A gold diamond marks a play fans were reacting to.

Watch the plays

The bar and the arrow show Boston College’s chance to win after each play; the logo is the team the play helped.

Every drive

Boston College scored on 4 of its 10 drives; Pittsburgh on 5 of its 10.

Boston College’s drives are teal, Pittsburgh’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

From Pittsburgh’s side

Pittsburgh’s best moment: MacCormack run for a 1-yd loss, turnover on downs (Q3 3:53). It lifted Pittsburgh’s win chance by 15 points.

How Pittsburgh fans took it: “Season was cooked when our qb went down but, "not like this...not like this"” r/CFB game thread

“Someone here called that lol”

A Pittsburgh fan

When fans got loud

Busy

It was the second quarter that had fans talking the most.

Jump to the loudest stretch

The jump was busy; the crowd was quiet.

The winner fell to 12%.

What it cost

Pittsburgh’s chance to make the playoff fell from 4% to 1%.

Make the playoff

Pittsburgh · lost4% → ▼1%

Boston College · won0% → 0%

Win the conference

Pittsburgh · lost3% → ▼1%

Boston College · won0% → 0%

Before the game (October 16, 2026) → after this result, in our model.

Pittsburgh plays at Miami on Sat Oct 24 with a 1% chance to make the playoff.

Box score

Boston College 27, Pittsburgh 21

Boston College covered +6.5 by 12.5. The total, 48, went over 42.5.

Team totals	Pittsburgh	Boston College
Total yards	392	398
Passing	11 of 25, 193 yds	17 of 28, 295 yds
Rushing	39 for 199 yds	40 for 103 yds
First downs	22	25
Third down	2 of 10	8 of 13
Fourth down	2 of 2	1 of 3
Turnovers	3	2
Penalties	13 for 133 yds	7 for 47 yds
Time of possession	28:22	31:38

Pittsburgh leaders

Passing Corey Dailey 11 of 25, 193 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing Damon Ferguson Jr. 17 for 119 yds; La'Vell Wright 15 for 52 yds
Receiving Cataurus Hicks 5 for 135 yds, 1 TD; Malik Knight 3 for 30 yds

Boston College leaders

Passing Mason McKenzie 17 of 28, 295 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing Evan Dickens 15 for 57 yds, 1 TD; Bo MacCormack III 11 for 35 yds, 1 TD
Receiving Landon Wright 2 for 122 yds, 1 TD; Javarius Green 5 for 60 yds, 1 TD

No rain, gusts to 32 mph

48° at kickoff · no rain recorded · wind 17 mph from the northwest, mostly at an angle to the field, gusts to 32

A 32 mph gust is stronger than the peak gust in 96% of games since 2018.

Each gray tick is one game. The black line is the typical game.

The usual here around this date is 57°, with about 7 in 10 games between 47° and 67°.

October game-day temperatures at Alumni Stadium (Chestnut Hill, MA)

Drag along the chart, or step through the game.

First quarter, 0:32 left12:42 p.m.

Pittsburgh 12, Boston College 7 · Boston College 34% to win

no rain · wind 14 mph from the north-northwest, mostly along the field, gusts to 32 · 50°

Dailey 8-yd pass to Lee

Measured at Boston Logan International Airport, 8.2 miles away. Wind and rain are airport readings near the stadium, not on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last three games

Pittsburgh · 5-1

Rated 47th in our preseason ratings, 40th now.

2-1 in its last three, including a 2-point win over Virginia Tech as a 1.5-point underdog.

L 17-21 vs North Carolina #67 of 668

lost by 4 as a 3.5-point favorite

W 35-33 @ Virginia Tech #46 of 668

won by 2 as a 1.5-point underdog

W 59-0 vs Bucknell #247 of 668

won by 59 as a 54.5-point favorite

W 27-13 vs Syracuse #125 of 668

won by 14 as a 10.5-point favorite

W 12-7 vs UCF #93 of 668

won by 5 as a 7.5-point favorite

W 59-14 vs Miami (OH) #81 of 668

won by 45 as a 16.5-point favorite

Last three games

Boston College · 2-3

Rated 130th in our preseason ratings, 123rd now.

1-2 in its last three — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.

L 16-25 @ SMUTop 25 #27 of 668

lost by 9 as a 21.5-point underdog

L 14-21 vs Virginia Tech #45 of 668

lost by 7 as a 14.5-point underdog

W 22-16 vs Maine #215 of 668

won by 6 as a 37.5-point favorite

W 28-21 vs Rutgers #88 of 668

won by 7 as a 3-point favorite

L 15-34 @ Cincinnati #110 of 668

lost by 19 as a 7-point underdog

Week by week

Boston College

Wk 1Lat Cincinnati15-34
Wk 2Wvs Rutgers28-21
Wk 3Wvs Maine22-16
Wk 4Lvs Virginia Tech14-21
Wk 5Lat SMU16-25

Pittsburgh

Wk 2Wvs UCF12-7
Wk 3Wvs Syracuse27-13
Wk 4Wvs Bucknell59-0
Wk 5Wat Virginia Tech35-33
Wk 6Lvs North Carolina17-21

Power rating by week

Pittsburgh is rated 8.2 points ahead as of week 6. Our power rating by week; higher is better.

Matchups

Biggest mismatch: Boston College’s success rate against Pittsburgh, 80 points

Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.

Boston College’s success rate against Pittsburgh’s defense
Boston College offense, 18th percentile · Pittsburgh defense, 98th
Boston College’s explosive plays against Pittsburgh’s defense
Boston College offense, 76th percentile · Pittsburgh defense, 5th
Boston College’s rushing EPA against Pittsburgh’s defense
Boston College offense, 23rd percentile · Pittsburgh defense, 100th

Season profile, all the rows

Season profile

PittsburghBoston College

EPA/play, offense

EPA/play, defense

Success rate, offense

Success rate, defense

Explosive-play rate, offense

Explosive-play rate, defense

Rush EPA, offense

Rush EPA, defense

Pass EPA, offense

Pass EPA, defense

The series

Pittsburgh leads the series 19-16

35 meetings since 1959 · Pittsburgh won the last meeting

2025Pittsburgh 48-7
2024Boston College 34-23
2023Pittsburgh 24-16
2020Boston College 31-30
2019Boston College 26-19

Each line is Boston College’s chance to win through that meeting. Boston College is 2-1 in the meetings since 2018 that were still close in the fourth quarter.

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Boston College fans are in a better mood than Pittsburgh fans (68th vs 3rd among FBS fanbases), even with Pittsburgh favored.

Pittsburgh favored by 6.5 · Total 42.5

How games like this usually go

Pittsburgh by 6.5, on the usual path until 1:34 left in the fourth

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 377 games since 2025 with a favorite of 3.5 to 7.5 points.

The market

The spread moved 0.5 points toward Boston College.

The total fell 4 points.

The books’ cut: 4.3%, the margin built into the odds

Home field

Boston College is worth +1.7 points (±3.5) more at home than on the road since 2018 — bottom third of FBS, 13th percentile.

46% at home, 36% on the road against FBS opponents (22-26 home, 16-29 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads -0.0 at home vs. away over 100 games — inside the ±6.1 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

The visitors travel about 477 miles to get here.

Last meeting in our History pages

Boston College 31, Pittsburgh 30Oct 10, 2020

Where next

Conference standings

Place in the conference, then conference record.

Boston College16th0-2
Pittsburgh4th2-1

Full ACC standings

Boston College upsets Pittsburgh 27-21