Boston College coach Bill O’Brien wrapped up his first spring practice with the annual Jay McGillis Memorial Maroon and Gold game on Saturday at Alumni Stadium.

The proceedings were more of a scrimmage on steroids than an actual game with the intent of giving incumbents, wannabes, and newbies the chance to make plays and get noticed by the new coaching staff.

“We wanted everybody to get in there, I think that is important going into a game like this,” said O’Brien. “You want all 100-plus guys get into the game and that is what we have been doing all spring.

“We’ve got everyone on film to give them a fair opportunity to show what they can do and that is what we tried to do today.”

The great divide

There is a common belief that the defense is one week ahead of the offense in spring ball and training camp and that was the case in the first half. The scoring system was predicated on plays made by the Gold offense vs. the Maroon defense. The Defense lead 14-2 at the end of the first quarter and 27-26 at the half.

The second half began with the offense successfully attacking the defense on third down and red zone situational football plays. The offense made its surge in on red zone and goal line plays to lead 78-43 after three. The game ended with the offense up, 96-62.

“The defense the last four or five practices has come up,” said Brien.

Tommy points

Quarterback Tommy Castellanos, who appeared in 13 games with 12 starts in 2023, did not distinguish himself early. In the opening set of downs, Castellanos went 0-for-2 on passes with a sack followed by a punt from the 25.

On his second set of downs from the 25 on the opposite side of the field, Castellanos was 0-for-2 with a throw-away under pressure and an incompletion. Castellanos picked up his third straight three-and-out, but did complete consecutive passes to tight end Mamari Morales and wide receiver Jayden McGowan.

Castellanos gained traction later in the scrimmage and completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jeremiah Franklin in the third quarter. He had a four yard-rushing touchdown in the third but got picked off by cornerback Bugg Jones on a deep explosive in the fourth.

Castellanos ended his day with a pair of short touchdown passes to sophomore Jaedn Skeete of Hyde Park. He completed 13-of-29 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns.

“Whether it is red zone or open field, he (Skeete) is a lively target I can depend on every time,” said Castellanos.

QB connections

Junior quarterback Grayson James, a transfer from Florida International, completed a 40-yard scoring pass to redshirt freshman wide receiver Reed Harris for the opening touchdown of the scrimmage. James was exceptional in the third quarter executing situational third-down pass plays. He finished with 21 completions for 228 yards and two touchdowns.

“Grayson did a good job today,” said O’Brien. “Out there in the huddle he called plays clearly and he operated efficiently and made some plays down the field.”

Extra points

On a punt from midfield, junior Sam Candiotti watched the coverage team down at the 2-yard line. Junior kicker Liam Connor closed out the second quarter with a 41-yard field goal.

Redshirt sophomore cornerback Ryan Turner, a transfer from Ohio State, had the big hit of the game. Turner blew up redshirt junior running back Anthony Ferucci on a screen pass from Jacobi Robinson.

“Ryan came up on that screen pass and had another on trap corner and he did a good job on that,” said O’Brien.

Cornerback Bryquice Brown, a graduate transfer from Georgia State, picked off Matthew Rueve and returned it 40 yards. Linebacker Sione Hola, who led the D with six tackles and two TFL’s, picked off James on the final play of the game. 6-1, 217-pound, Hola is from Los Angeles and played scholastically at California powerhouse St. John Bosco.