Boston College wide receiver Lewis Bond began training camp for the 2023 season looking to get noticed.

While portal transfer Thomas Castellanos was supplanting incumbent Emmett Morehead for the starting quarterback’s position, Bond followed suit by enhancing his standing in the wide receiver’s room.

In his first two seasons at the Heights, the 5-11, 188-pound redshirt sophomore from Chicago, Ill., appeared in eight games with six receptions for 57 yards.

Bond worked his way to the top of Castellanos’ targets list and will make his 13th start when the Eagles (6-6) engage the Mustangs of SMU (11-2) in the second annual Wasabi Fenway Bowl on Dec. 28 at Fenway Park.

“It started with practice and making sure you are running the right routes every time in seven-on-seven with the team,” said Bond. “When you are down there practicing in the red zone you have to be reliable so in the game, he (Castellanos) trusts you.

“Then you just have to take advantage of your opportunities in the game.”

BC will be playing in its first bowl game since 2019, a lopsided 38-6 loss to Cincinnati in the Birmingham Bowl. BC was bowl eligible in 2020 but voted as a team not to participate. BC’s game with East Carolina in the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md., in 2021 was cancelled when 40 players tested positive for the coronavirus.

“I am excited to play and that’s the biggest thing in the group, especially the receiver group,” said Bond. “My freshman year we didn’t play. We had gotten all the way down to D.C. and the day of the game it got cancelled. So, we are excited to play in a bowl game.”

Bond emerged as the Eagles’ leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns because he can play all-three wideout positions and blocks like a demon down field. Bond is sixth in the ACC with 48 receptions for 611 yards and seven touchdowns. Bond is the Eagles’ most reliable option in the red zone with nearly half of BC’s 15 receiving touchdowns.

“I think we get a lot of zone coverage in the field and when we get to the red zone it is more one on one,” said Bond. “You have to use the techniques we’ve been working on all year to win your one on ones.”

Bond was the perfect complementary receiver to burner Ryan O’Keefe, a stretch-the-field split end who transferred to BC from Central Florida along with Castellanos.

Bond’s situation changed when O’Keefe suffered a season-ending neck injury in the second half of the Eagles; 27-24 win over Virginia on Sept. 30 at Alumni Stadium. Despite playing in four and a half games, O’Keefe is fourth on the team with 23 receptions for 235 yards and a touchdown.

“We have missed Ryan throughout the season but we came together and I think we have had a successful year,” said Bond. “I think we could have a few little things better and that is what we are working on now, the small details to get better and to move on to the bowl game and next year.”

Castellanos has emerged as one of the premier dual threat quarterbacks in the ACC. Castellanos is third in the nation in rushing yards by a quarterback with 957 and fifth in touchdowns with 11, which tied him with Tyler Murphy for the school record.

Castellanos has completed 178-of-312 passes for 2,146 yards with 15 touchdowns and 13 picks. His ability to extend plays has allowed the receivers to find holes in the zone and accumulate yards after the catch.

“We have been taught to get on his arm as fast as we can and keep the play alive,” said Bond. “We have to separate from the DB’s, because once he scrambles it becomes man again.”