Long after Boston College victoriously swept onto the field but before the lights went out on ACC football at Byrd Stadium, it started to snow.

The steely gray sky that covered College Park for most of Saturday afternoon after a sunny morning opened, and snowflakes were pushed through the stadium’s wind tunnel by cold gusts, flitting by press box windows and fluttering through empty bleachers.

The sudden change in weather capped a bizarre and occasionally ugly afternoon and evening. On Senior Day in its final ACC home game, the Terrapins football team blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead and fell to Boston College, 29-26, after Eagles kicker Nate Freese’s second attempt at a 52-yard field goal as time expired split the uprights.

One week after clinching bowl eligibility in a wild overtime win at Virginia Tech, the Terps (6-5, 2-5 ACC) were once again left searching for answers after their largest collapse of the season against the Eagles (7-4, 4-3) before an announced 32,147.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a setback,” quarterback C.J. Brown said. “But it’s a gut-wrenching loss.”

Boston College running back Andre Williams rushed 32 times for 263 yards and two touchdowns, breaking the 2,000-yard barrier for the season and recording his third straight 200-yard game in the process. A swarming defense missing inside linebacker Cole Farrand was able to bottle up Williams for most of the game, but when the senior escaped, it usually had a significant impact on the game.

On the Eagles’ opening drive, which ended in a field goal, Williams got loose on consecutive plays for runs of 31 and 30 yards, and on the latter, he stiff-armed cornerback Will Likely, tossing the 5-foot-7 freshman to the ground. In the fourth quarter, Williams broke through for a 72-yard touchdown run to bring Boston College within four points. Finally, on a third-and-4 with 44 seconds remaining, Williams cut back and raced 36 yards through the secondary to the Terps 37, setting up Freese’s game-winning field goal.

“Defense played very hard,” coach Randy Edsall said. “A few plays, maybe four or five plays that they got some big plays on, but I thought our guys really played hard, really got after it on defense. It’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t have made just a couple more plays.”

Edsall came under scrutiny for using timeouts in the final minute of the game. Before Williams’ 36-yard run, the third-year coach called a timeout to stop the clock as Boston College seemed content to play for overtime. After the game, he said he was hoping the defense would hold on third down and allow the Terps to go for a blocked punt on fourth down.

Later, Freese — who entered Saturday’s game 14-of-14 this season with a long of 51 — lined up for the game-winning kick with two seconds left and banged a low line drive that tracked wide left into the net in front of Gossett Football Team House. The Terps rejoiced, but Edsall had called a timeout in an attempt to ice Freese, so the kicker got another attempt. This time, the ball flew true.

“It’s just one of those things that just happens,” Edsall said. “Hindsight’s 20/20. Obviously, I shouldn’t have taken the timeout. He missed it. But it’s just one of those things that you feel; you’re doing something to put a little more doubt in the guy’s head.”

The roller coaster of a final minute wasn’t even the most unusual part of a bizarre finish. With the Terps leading 24-20, Eagles quarterback Chase Rettig found wide receiver Alex Amidon wide open after two defensive backs collided for a 74-yard touchdown pass and a 26-24 Boston College lead.

But outside linebacker Marcus Whitfield tipped Freese’s ensuing extra point attempt, and safety Anthony Nixon corralled the ball and took off on a 98-yard run while players from both teams milled around, confused as to what was happening. Nixon’s scamper was good for two points, and instead of going down three points, the Terps tied the game, 26-26, and got the ball back.

Brown and the Terps stalled, though, and were forced to punt the ball back to Boston College with 1:32 remaining. And 90 seconds later, Freese ended ACC football at Byrd Stadium.

The loss was the Terps’ fifth in seven games after their 4-0 start. Boston College’s blitzing defense held the Terps offense to 278 yards, as running back Brandon Ross led the ground game with 44 yards, and Brown passed for 178 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo (four catches, 57 yards, one touchdown) and extra point put the Terps up 17-10 in the third quarter. Brown also had a 3-yard scoring dive to put the Terps up 24-13.

But it wasn’t enough. The defense couldn’t stiffen and instead broke in the cold on Boston College’s last possession. One week after taking control of the ending in an overtime win at Virginia Tech, the Terps left Saturday’s result hinging on Freese’s foot.

And he delivered.

“We had the confidence we could get it done,” center Sal Conaboy said. “We just didn’t. We had all the confidence in the world that we were going to drive down the field and score and close the game out, and it just went the other way.”