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BOSTON (AP) — David Bailey stood on the sideline waiting for his chance. When it came, he made Boston College forget about the loss of injured star running back AJ Dillon, if only for a little while.
Bailey ran for 112 yards and a touchdown, Travis Levy recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a score for the second straight week and BC beat struggling Louisville 38-20 on Saturday.
Anthony Brown completed 16 of 22 passes for 179 yards and a TD for the Eagles (5-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Ben Glines rushed for 107 yards.
Dillon was out for the second straight week with an injured left ankle.
"We had made a decision we were playing David," BC coach Steve Addazio said about his 6-foot-1, 245-pound true freshman. "I regret we didn't play David a week ago, but the game had a different flow on the road."
Bailey played some in blowout wins over Massachusetts and Holy Cross in the Eagles' first two games, but was back on the bench with Dillon and Glines carrying the running load. Freshmen can play in four games before the option of redshirting is lost, and it's possible the school wanted to keep that option available.
"You can throw a guy in and do it that way or you can do it in bits and pieces," Addazio said. "What you saw is, honestly, in my mind, the tip of the iceberg of what he can do."
Jawon Pass was 17 of 31 with 170 yards and ran for a TD for the Cardinals (2-5, 0-4). It was Louisville's fourth consecutive loss.
"A lot of times we just beat ourselves, it's not the other teams," Pass said. "It's dropped balls, missed blocks and misreads, turnovers."
Bailey's 1-yard TD run made it 31-20 early in the fourth quarter after BC passed on a field goal attempt and converted a 4th-and-4 at the Cardinals' 23.
"Coach told me: 'Stand by. Stand by,'" Bailey said. "I was standing by ready to go."
Colton Lichtenberg's 38-yard field goal with 4 seconds left gave BC a 24-20 halftime edge in a first-half filled with big momentum-shifting plays and turnovers.
The Eagles grabbed a 14-0 lead in the opening three minutes before they fumbled it away on consecutive possessions, setting up two short Louisville scoring drives.
Malik Cunningham's 1-yard TD run came after Glines' fumble at the Eagles' 6, but the extra point was blocked. On the ensuing kickoff, Michael Walker fumbled and Hassan Hall's 3-yard scoring run capped a 40-yard drive.
BC regained the lead when Nolan Borgersen blocked Mason King's punt. The ball bounced into the end zone where Levy recovered it. He scored off a blocked punt last week in the Eagles' loss at then-No. 23 North Carolina State.
The Cardinals moved ahead 20-14 on Pass' 3-yard run.
THE TAKEAWAY
Louisville: The struggles continued defensively. The Cardinals gave up 430 total yards a week after they allowed 542 on the ground against Georgia Tech.
"It's always hard when you lose," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. "There's no question about that. We have a bye coming up. We have to have a couple of good practice weeks."
Boston College: The Eagles were sloppy, at times, but found a way to beat a weaker opponent again at home, raising their record to 4-0 for the first time since winning their first six in 2009 in Alumni Stadium. It gets a lot tougher the rest of the way with No. 16 Miami, fourth-ranked Clemson and Syracuse coming to Alumni Stadium.
OUT AGAIN
Dillon was on the sideline in sweatpants and wearing his jersey.
The ACC's preseason player of the year has averaged 159 yards per game in his last 12.
GLAD THAT'S OVER
BC scored on its first two offensive possession, making it 10 straight the Cardinals had allowed over their last two games.
Georgia Tech scored all eight times it had the ball in a blowout victory over Louisville last week.
UP NEXT
Louisville: Hosts Wake Forest on Oct. 27.
Boston College: Hosts Miami in a nationally-televised game on Friday Oct. 26.
