The Boston College football team started slowly Saturday, responded convincingly, then held on late to outlast Pittsburgh, 27-21, at Alumni Stadium.
The Eagles (3-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a two-game losing streak, while the Panthers (5-2, 2-2) have dropped two straight.
The game began in disastrous fashion for BC, as Pitt freshman quarterback Corey Dailey hit Cataurus Hicks in stride on the opening play for a 75-yard touchdown.
Kanye Thompson then blocked a Boston College punt, which resulted in a safety to make it 9-0 in the Panthers’ favor less than two minutes into the action. Antonio Chadha added a 28-yard field goal to push it to 12-0 with 7:58 left in the first quarter.
The Eagles responded with a 1-yard TD rush from Bo MacCormack III before the quarter was out. A Mason McKenzie interception gave Pitt momentum, but a pick by KP Price paved the way for an 11-yard TD reception from Javarius Green with 51 seconds left in the half that gave BC a 14-12 lead at the half.
After shaking off the sluggish start, BC extended the margin to 9 points on a 69-yard McKenzie-to-Landon Wright connection 46 seconds into the second half. Two Chadha field goals for the Panthers made it 21-18 Eagles through three quarters.
A 53-yard pass from McKenzie to Wright set up a 1-yard score from Evan Dickens to give BC a 27-18 edge with 13:02 to go. Chadha tacked on his fourth field goal, a 38-yarder, at the 8:08 mark.
McKenzie threw a second interception with 2:12 left to give the Panthers life, but Charlie Comella intercepted Dailey with 1:34 remaining.
Trevor Hass can be reached at trevor.hass@globe.com. Follow him on X @TrevorHass.