Thomas Castellanos injury: Boston College QB's status vs. Western Kentucky revealed

Boston College is 3-1 and looking solid in a crowded ACC during Bill O’Brien’s first season on the job, and a lot of that has to do with the quarterback play of Thomas Castellanos.

Unfortunately, the Eagles were dealt a major blow in the days following their win over Michigan State last weekend. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Castellanos will be forced to miss this weekend’s game against Western Kentucky due to an injury suffered against the Spartans, and backup Grayson James will start.

“Sources: BC quarterback Thomas Castellanos will miss the game against Western Kentucky with an injury that occurred in the Michigan State game on Saturday,” Thamel reported. “Grayson James will get the start, which is his first at Boston College.”

On the season, Castellanos has been more than solid, passing for 729 yards and ten touchdowns, while only throwing two touchdowns. Additionally, the quarterback has added 112 yards and a touchdown on the ground to his stat-sheet.

As for Grayson James, he’s been a starter before, playing with the Florida International University Panthers. Perhaps he’ll be able to hold the fort and help the Eagles defeat the Hilltoppers in Week 5, as Boston College looks to stay hot in September.

James Franklin comments on Bill O’Brien’s early success at Boston College

Moreover, Penn State head coach James Franklin isn’t surprised by the initial success his predecessor, Bill O’Brien, is having at Boston College.

“I’ve known Bill for a long time,” Franklin said, regarding O’Brien’s start with the Eagles. “I’ve known Fitz (Craig Fitzgerald), his strength coach, for a long time. We were all at the University of Maryland together. Me and Bill lived in the same neighborhood. His wife and my wife were good friends. Obviously I’ve followed his career in the NFL and now back at BC.”

Franklin took over for O’Brien as the Nittany Lions’ head coach in 2014 and has since led the program to five 10-plus-win seasons, all but one of which ended with 11 wins.

“For a short period of time, he was also in our conference at Ohio State,” Franklin said, “and now back at BC, which, for a lot of those guys from that part of the country, BC is like a dream job. It’s interesting. I’ve talked to a ton of guys, that BC job is a very desirable job. 

“And if you know Billy’s background, it makes a ton of sense. So when that hire happened, when that whole thing went down, I thought it was a win-win for both BC and Billy. He’s got a really mobile, dynamic quarterback that had really done some nice things last year. And when you got that piece of the puzzle, you can build from there. Billy’s got tremendous experience doing that so it’s been cool to watch it and happy for those guys, and not surprised.”

Alas, O’Brien has been the architect of a handful of rebuilds. His latest is already well on its way in Chestnut Hill. Franklin wouldn’t have expected anything different.

On3’s Andy Backstrom contributed to this article.