ATLANTA — Thomas Castellanos led an impressive Peach State homecoming for three key Boston College players, then proclaimed the Eagles are back as a team to be respected in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Castellanos ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns, including a 43-yard score on a fourth-down scamper in the fourth quarter, and resurgent Boston College beat Georgia Tech 38-23 on Saturday.
The Eagles (4-3, 2-2) have won three straight games.
“I will say this: We’re turning this thing around,” Castellanos said. “Boston College football is back. We’re no longer the laughingstock of the ACC. We’ve got this thing going.”
Boston College has matched its conference win totals of each of the past two seasons and topped its overall win total of 2022, when it finished 3-9.
The Eagles took control after trailing 23-17 through three quarters. Boston College ran for 153 of its 308 yards in the final quarter while outscoring Tech 21-0.
Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key said the fourth-quarter turnaround was “a telltale sign of what the issues are” for Tech (3-4, 2-2), which played for the first time since pulling off a shocking last-minute upset at Miami on Oct. 7.
The Eagles led 24-23 before Castellanos skipped through the line on a fourth-and-1 run and beat Ahmari Harvey to the goal line, pushing the lead to eight points.
Amari Jackson’s 33-yard interception return for a touchdown gave Boston College its first lead, and Kye Robichaux ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns for the Eagles.
Tech lost despite quarterback Haynes King running for 150 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown. King also threw three interceptions, including two in the fourth quarter, while completing just 14 of 32 passes for 204 yards.
“Untimely interceptions, and there’s too many of them,” Key said. “We can’t turn the ball over like that.”
Castellanos, from Waycross in South Georgia, had the upper hand in the matchup of dual-threat quarterbacks. Castellanos began the day tied for the nation’s lead among quarterbacks with seven rushing touchdowns, including four in a 27-24 win over Army on Oct. 7. He had a 12-yard scoring run in the second quarter Saturday and completed 17 of 29 passes for 255 yards with an interception.
“It felt great, it felt like a home game for me,” Castellanos said.
Jackson, from McDonough, just south of Atlanta, stepped in front of Tech receiver Dominick Blaylock and caught the pass from King against his hip with his left hand before running down the sideline for the score and a 10-7 lead.
“To do it in front of my people, my family, it was amazing,” Jackson said.
Robichaux is from Columbus, some 100 miles southwest of Atlanta near the Alabama border.
“They all kind of ran up to see their families after the game,” Boston College coach Jeff Hafley said of the trio of Eagles from Georgia. “… That’s so awesome to see.”
Castellanos had four carries on a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive late in the first half. Castellanos ran for 11 yards on a fourth-and-1 play from the Tech 23 before scoring on a 12-yard run. The quarterback took one step back before cutting through the defense on the touchdown run for a 17-10 halftime lead.
With running back Pat Garwo held out with a leg injury, Robichaux, a Western Kentucky transfer, moved into a lead role with his big game. He helped put the game away with a 57-yard gain and 3-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.
“It was an emphasis we’ve been working on: finish games strong,” he said.
The Jackets ranked last in the ACC and 128th in the nation with their average of 214.3 rushing yards allowed per game, but they were not overwhelmed by the Eagles’ ground game, which ranked second in the league, until late in the game. It was a disappointing finish for the defense after Andrew Thacker, who had been Tech’s defensive coordinator since 2019, was demoted on Oct. 1 after an embarrassing 38-27 home loss to Bowling Green. Kevin Sherrer took over control of the defense the next day.
It was the fourth straight ACC home loss for Tech, which fell to 5-12 in its past 16 home conference games. Tech hasn’t had a winning home record since 2018, and the Jackets have alternated victories and defeats this season, failing to win or lose consecutive games.
They host North Carolina next weekend, needing an upset to extend their two-game winning streak in the series. The Tar Heels entered Saturday undefeated and ranked 10th, but a stunning home loss to one-win Virginia left them needing to regroup and refocus after one of their hottest starts in years.