If it looked like Boston College quarterback Dennis Grosel had been in this situation before — coming off the sidelines cold after sitting on the second rung of the depth chart all season, then replacing the Eagles’ starting quarterback at a pivotal point in a game — it’s because he had.
Same situation. Same opponent. Same Grosel.
It was just a year ago at Louisville that Grosel jumped into the frying pan after the Eagles lost starting quarterback Anthony Brown to a knee injury, ultimately for the rest of the season. Grosel ended up starting seven games.
This time, Louisville was at Alumni Stadium and Grosel’s first action of the season was no less sudden. He threw a pair of touchdown passes in the fourth quarter Saturday and BC held on for a 34-27 victory.
BC was up 20-13 in the third quarter, starting a drive at its 32-yard line when starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec made a routine drop-back on first down. Jurkovec tried planting his feet to throw when his left knee (the same knee covered by a black brace every game) buckled.
Still in the line of fire, with the ball in his hand, Jurkovec threw a pass to no one in particular, then calmly sat down on the turf to assess the damage.
On the sidelines, Grosel was taking warmup snaps with center Alec Lindstrom and Eagles coach Jeff Hafley overheard Grosel say, “It’s just like riding a bike.”
No need for nerves.
“I just wanted to keep it light really,” Grosel said. “Hopefully, guys don’t get tense in that situation. I guess it’s kind of like riding a bike. I did last year and it’s just hopped back on and you know, hang on for the ride.”
Grosel completed 4 of 7 passes for 44 yards and two touchdowns, handling pressure with the poise of a backup quarterback who had been there before.
“He comes to work every single day,” Hafley said. “One of our best leaders. Never, never complains. Never says a word. All he does is prepare. And when his time came, he took the game over and he made huge plays.”
Grosel broke the ice by breaking loose for a 44-yard run near the end of the third quarter that set up his 11-yard touchdown pass on a dazzling one-handed catch in the back of the end zone by C.J. Lewis.
The BC sideline lit up. Hafley knew he had nothing to worry about.
“When Dennis went in the huddle, I was right there,” Hafley said. “‘And the confidence Dennis had, the confidence the guys had in him, it’s because they see the way he works and they know what type of kid he is.”
The Eagles had to hold off Cardinals quarterback Malik Cunningham, who threw for 294 yards and ran for 133 while playing with a hand injury that briefly sent him to the sidelines in the second quarter. Even though Cunningham threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns that kept the Cardinals in reach, Louisville couldn’t overcome the turnover issues that have plagued them all season.
The Cardinals came in with the second-most giveaways in the conference (21). They turned it over twice in the first half and BC had no problem taking advantage.
In the first quarter, Louisville receiver Tutu Atwell hauled in a pass over the middle from Cunningham but coughed it up as soon as he turned upfield.
Down 3-0 at the time, the Eagles took over at the Louisville 48 and quickly cashed in. A 21-yard play-action pass from Jurkovec to a wide-open Zay Flowers set BC up 8 yards from the goal line. Then running back David Bailey plowed up the middle and through the Cardinals defense for a touchdown that made it 7-3.
In the second quarter, the Cardinals were driving at midfield when running back Hassan Hall lost his grip on the ball and fumbled at the BC 44. Eagles freshman defensive tackle Cam Horsley smothered it to give BC its 19th takeaway of the season.
The Eagles drove to the Louisville 6, and Aaron Bouhmeri hit a 23-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-3.
Louisville’s mistakes masked some of the issues that slowed BC down in the first half and cost the Eagles chances to put more points on the board.
Even though Jurkovec completed his first five passes for 58 yards, he fumbled at the goal line on the Eagles’ first drive.
Late in the second quarter, after Louisville tied it at 10 on a 2-yard rush by Jalen Mitchell, the Eagles were in the red zone at the Louisville 9, when an illegal formation penalty set them back. They settled for another field goal from Boumerhi and went into halftime up 13-10.
The Eagles came out of the locker room with a crisp six-play, 68-yard drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown by Bailey that pushed the lead to 20-10. But Louisville stayed within reach thanks to a 24-yard field goal from kicker James Turner.
Grosel was able to close it out and help the Eagles push their record to 6-4 going into next week’s regular-season finale at Virginia. He laughed when he thought about how much preparation he actually had for the moment.
“I was joking with the strength coach [Phil Matusz] last night,” Grosel said. “He was charting my plays and it was just a big ‘0’ for the week. Phil was getting all the snaps and he was joking that I didn’t need any treatment last night because I hadn’t been practicing all week.”
When the time came, he was ready.
Said Grosel: “The satisfaction of that is just coming in and feeling like I could step up in a big situation and not letting the guys down.”
Julian Benbow can be reached at julian.benbow@globe.com.
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Dennis Grosel provides relief again to lead Boston College past Louisville - The Boston Globe
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