Boston College fell behind early again in Atlanta on Saturday, then leaned on its offensive line, two 150-yard runners and a two-interception afternoon from safety Charlie Comella to beat Georgia Tech 49-27 for its first road win of the season and its second straight Atlantic Coast Conference victory.

What happened at Bobby Dodd Stadium

The first quarter looked like a repeat of a pattern BC fans have come to dread. Georgia Tech scored on its first two possessions to go up 10-0, with quarterback Alberto Mendoza finding Kevin Roche Jr. for a 4-yard touchdown. The Eagles fought back to within a point, though a missed field goal and two missed extra points over the afternoon, as the AP noted, kept them from doing more damage early. Aidan Birr’s 20-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the half sent the Yellow Jackets into the locker room ahead 13-12.

The second half belonged to Boston College. Less than three minutes after the break, running back Bo MacCormack III scored from 2 yards out to give the Eagles a lead they never surrendered. From there BC outscored Georgia Tech 37-14 over the final two quarters, according to the final score and halftime totals reported by the Associated Press and CBS Sports.

The swing play came from the secondary. Comella picked off a deflected pass and returned it 23 yards, setting up a 6-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mason McKenzie. Later in the half Comella intercepted Georgia Tech again and took that one back for a touchdown. Boston College’s athletics department credited him with five tackles to go with the two picks.

The numbers behind the rout

• Rushing yards: Boston College ran for 399 yards and five touchdowns, according to the school. Georgia Tech managed 101 on the ground.
• Total offense: BC finished with 500 yards to Georgia Tech’s 360.
• Bo MacCormack III: 155 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, his first multi-touchdown game as an Eagle, per BC.
• Mason McKenzie: about 170 rushing yards and two rushing scores, as reported by the AP and CBS Sports, plus a 25-yard touchdown pass to Nedrick Boldin Jr., who caught his first career touchdown.
• Grady Adamson: the backup quarterback added a late touchdown pass after the outcome was settled.
• Records: Boston College is now 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the ACC. Georgia Tech fell to 2-5 and 1-3.

One caveat on the box score: published accounts differ slightly on McKenzie’s final rushing total and the length of Comella’s touchdown return, so the figures above use the numbers that two or more outlets agree on, and round where they do not.

Georgia Tech coach Brent Key did not hide from the result. “What we’re doing is not working,” he said afterward, according to CBS Sports, adding that the problems went beyond the quarterback position.

How BC got here

Three weeks ago the Eagles lost 25-16 at SMU and looked like a team searching for an identity. Since then they have beaten Pittsburgh 27-21 on homecoming weekend and now Georgia Tech on the road. The common thread has been a run game that wears defenses down after halftime, even when the opening quarter goes badly.

That formula carries risk. Spotting a conference opponent 10 points and leaving 2 extra points and a field goal attempt on the field, as AP’s account noted, is the kind of sloppiness that gets punished by better teams. Saturday it was covered up by 399 rushing yards and a defensive touchdown.

The Newsroom Take

The Newsroom views Saturday as the most complete second half Boston College has played this season, and the clearest sign yet that the offense has found its shape. A two-back attack in which the quarterback is also a primary runner forces defenses to choose, and Georgia Tech chose wrong all afternoon. McKenzie’s mobility turns ordinary read plays into chunk gains, and MacCormack’s between-the-tackles running lets BC protect a lead late.

The open question is the kicking game and the slow starts. Missed extra points are a small thing in a 22-point win and a large thing in a one-score game in November. The defense also needs to show it can get off the field early, not only after halftime adjustments. If those two issues tighten up, the Eagles have a realistic path to bowl eligibility: at 4-3, two more wins in the final five games would get them to six.

Duke is the next test, on the road Saturday, Oct. 31, at noon on The CW. A third straight ACC win would turn a mid-season recovery into a genuine push.

What it means for you

• Fans planning a trip: BC plays at Duke on Halloween at noon, broadcast on The CW, so check your local listings rather than a cable sports channel.
• Fantasy and pick’em players: BC’s rushing production is real and repeatable when the line controls the line of scrimmage; slow starts make early-game spreads riskier than full-game lines.
• Season-ticket holders: the bowl conversation is live again. Six wins is the threshold, and BC needs two of its final five.
• Recruits and families: a run-first identity with two featured ball carriers is a selling point for linemen and backs watching from home.