Food Chain: Top Five Best Boston College Football Finishes In ACC Atlantic Division Play
by Brian Favat on Jul 15, 2011 8:00 AM EDT
in Boston College Football
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Brian: In six seasons in the ACC, BC has gone 20-9 against Atlantic Division opponents. In those 29 (30 really #vacated) games, there has been no shortage of exciting finishes, many of which involved the Clemson Tigers. Today we play a game of Food Chain, considering these eight games and ranking the top five finishes of the last six years of ACC divisional play.
Boston College 20, Clemson 17 (November 17, 2007)
Trailing 19-17 with less than two minutes to play, Matt Ryan finds a wide open Rich Gunnell for the 43-yard go-ahead touchdown. On the ensuing drive, Clemson drives to the BC 30 before Roderick Rollins crucial sack backs the Tigers' offense back seven yards. Mark Buchholz 54-yard game-tying field goal attempt falls way short, and the Eagles escape Death Valley with their first outright ACC Atlantic Division title.
Boston College 27, Wake Forest 24 (OT) (September 26, 2009)
With BC up 3 in overtime, Wake QB Riley Skinner drives the Deacons offense to the BC 3, just three yards away from a game-winning score. However, on first and goal from the BC 3, Skinner ran left without blockers, Isaac Johnson forced the fumble and Wes Davis pulled in the game-winning fumble recovery.
Boston College 34, Clemson 33 (2 OT) (September 9, 2006)
JoLonn Dunbar blocked a Clemson XP attempt in the second overtime, then L.V. Whitworth and Ryan Ohliger combined for the winning points as the Eagles won the 2006 ACC opener holding off Clemson 34-33.
Boston College 38, N.C. State 31 (October 4, 2008)
BC QB Chris Crane scampers around the left side for a 13-yard touchdown with 22.8 seconds left to give the visiting Eagles a 38-31 victory over N.C. State. Crane had a monster day in Raleigh, throwing for 428 yards and scoring 5 touchdowns (2 passing, 3 rushing). This game was won in the final seconds because BC blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead.
Boston College 24, Wake Forest 21 (November 22, 2008)
Dominique Davis came on in relief of an injured Chris Crane and led the Eagles on a game-winning TD drive with 1:12 remaining to lead the Eagles past Wake Forest 24-21, keeping its ACC Atlantic Division title hopes alive.
Boston College 16, Clemson 13 (OT) (September 24, 2005)
In a dud of a game during regulation, after holding the Clemson offense to a field goal on its first possession in OT, Matt Ryan marched the Eagles down the field with Brian Toal scoring the 1 yard touchdown to earn a 16-13 victory. The win was BC's first in the ACC after losing the ACC opener to Florida State the previous week.
Boston College 35, Wake Forest 30 (October 15, 2005)
Despite having five turnovers on a wet and windy day, Matt Ryan led the Eagles on back-to-back fourth quarter TD drives to overcome a 30-21 fourth quarter deficit. Ryan hit Tony Gonzalez for a 38-yard TD pass with 2:30 left. On the ensuing Eagles possession, Ryan hit Kevin Challenger in the corner of the end zone and managed to keep one foot in-bounds with just over a minute to play. The Eagles would win 35-30. Ryan went 7-of-9 for 134 yards and 2 TDs in relief of Quinton Porter.
Boston College 24, Florida State 19 (October 21, 2006)
Leading 24-17 with the ball on its own 11, BC's Brian Dempsey rushed the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety. On the ensuing FSU drive, QB Drew Weatherford hit Chris Davis for a 13 yard reception to the BC 42 before his next pass was picked off in the end zone by Larry Anam to seal the 24-19 victory in Tallahassee.
Brian's Food Chain
5. Boston College 16, Clemson 13 (OT)
4. Boston College 24, Wake Forest 21
3. Boston College 34, Clemson 33 (2 OT)
2. Boston College 20, Clemson 17
1. Boston College 35, Wake Forest 30 -- Matt Ryan does it again
Jeff's Food Chain
5. Boston College 27, Wake Forest 24 (OT)
4. Boston College 35, Wake Forest 30
3. Boston College 34, Clemson 33 (2OT)
2. Boston College 16, Clemson 13 (OT) -- First ACC road win
1. Boston College 20, Clemson 17 -- Going to the 'Ship
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Most Impressive
Boston College 24, Wake Forest 21 (November 22, 2008)
Or as I like to call it “The game Mark Herzlich cemented his legacy as the best defender BC has ever seen”. Seriously, three quarters of the Wake Forest offense against Mark Herzlich until Davis decided to wake up on the final drive to win it for the Eagles.
Writer at BC Interruption SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
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A Non-ACC comeback, but memorable...
…if the list gets expanded for all recent comebacks, one of the other really memorable ones from the 2000s has to be BC @ ND in ’04. Three factors:
-It would be the last game between BC and ND for three seasons (and at the time, it also appeared that South Bend in ’07 and Chestnut Hill in ’08 could have been the end of the series for a long time since the more recent extension through 2019 had yet to be inked); only current freshmen at the time of the game would ever be students when BC again would play Notre Dame. Needless to say, anyone with a borrowed car or the ability to get an RV made what could have been the penultimate road trip to Indiana. Worth noting that all four of those classes never had seen or would see a BC loss to Notre Dame while students.
-It was the Saturday after the Red Sox comeback in the ALCS. I know there are just as many Yankee fans and non-Sox supporters around the BC community, but anyone on campus that week would have found it very hard not to at least get sucked in. Whether it was your room or another room on the hall, the nightly drama led to lots of wasted hours and bloodshot eyes in the mornings for weeks. With all of that – not to mention the unfavorable, ‘final-year-in-the-Big-East’ schedule that included not exactly the most inspiring tilts – this was really one of the first times in that fall that the campus zeitgeist was focused on football.
-The weather that day of the game and the comeback (just like the Wake game). It rained throughout the first half, it was muddy in the fields and a 20-3 locker room deficit was as depressing as the not-so-warm front hanging over Notre Dame stadium. Second half begins, and Paul Peterson et al drop two quick scores on the Irish as the sun peeks out from behind the cloud. “God loves us more” and the 2004-relevant, borrowed-from-Yankee-Stadium, Pedro-esque “Who’s your daddy?” shouted down via the vocal chords of the 9,099* BC students who made the trip. The clouds covered again when the Irish moved the scoreline to 23-17, but anyone with a sense of football impending doom knows that the only result to follow that is a ridiculous completion (got it, 4th and 13) and a miraculous grab (Tony Gonzalez, I believe) as the sun once more came out before setting behind the stadium.
(*estimate)
Agreed
Jeff and I road tripped to that game after graduation. Paul Petersen was clearly ahead of his time, popularizing the fourth quarter comeback well before Matt Ryan or Dominique Davis perfected the trade.
It was Tony Gonzalez. It was also one hell of a catch.
Editor, BC Interruption
One that might also qualify
Was the 08 home finale against Maryland. A win and we go to the ship. In what was a back and forth game, Robert Francois had a pick-6 with 2 minutes to play to put the Eagles up 14 and into the ACC championship. Might not be the most exciting finish because UMD dinked and dunked for 90 seconds and a TD with no time remaining to cut it to 7. But that pick-6 and the the eruption from the stands was incredible and it was such a meaningful game with everything on the line.
It also had one of the best “boom-boom” moments in BC history. Herzlich makes this full extension interception (the clip you see in every Herzy highlight reel) followed by a play-action bomb for a touchdown from DD to a wide-open Gunnell (not 100% sure). Love that mentality after forcing a turnover- go for the jugular.
The Maryland game was awesome, but didn’t think it had a particularly memorable finish (maybe because after Tex sealed the victory, the Terps scored a garbage time TD with only a few seconds left).
Editor, BC Interruption
Love that mentality after forcing a turnover- go for the jugular.
And there in one quote, is what Spaz & Co. lack.
Writer at BC Interruption SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
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BC 35, Wake 30
This game gets a bit lost in recent history, but this is a clear #1 in my book.
A young Matt Ryan comes off the bench to engineer two TD drives late in the fourth quarter. Ryan only had 3:29 in which to work, and BC even got hit with an excessive celebration penalty after the first TD drive. This was Virginia Tech 2007-esque with less time left on the clock and Ryan coming off the bench in relief of Porter.
Kevin Challenger’s one-footed catch was also a sight to see.
If we don’t lose to Virginia Tech or UNC in the following weeks, BC goes to the ’Ship in our first season.
Editor, BC Interruption
BC vs. Clemson, 2006
34-33, epic win in 2OT. I think Clemson was ranked #17 at the time. Anyway, it was my very first BC football game as a freshman. It was an absolutely insane game. Jeff Smith’s kickoff return TD still one of my favorite memories of BC football. I couldn’t even speak after the game, I was so hoarse. Truly unforgettable experience.
BC end career of most storied coach in college football!
Montel Harris from nearby Jacksonville ran for 121 yards and a touchdown, and Marcellus Bowman went 87 yards with an interception for another score to help Boston College knock off the 19th-ranked Seminoles 27-17.
2008 win over ranked FSU at Doak. Wow. how did this gem get overlooked? A great game and you have to love the outrage at FSU of having lost to “those guys” Pure schadenfreude!!
How many ACC road wins do we have over a top 20 ranked opponent??
what am i missing or misreading here??. I am baffled that this was left off.
It is not the critic who counts; The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; and if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Top ACC Atlantic Division game finishes
The BC offense held the ball for almost 9 minutes on a game-sealing fourth quarter drive that ended with a Sid Vicious 30-yard field goal to put the Eagles up 10.
Great win, not all that exciting in the game’s final 9+ minutes.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Jul 15, 2011 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions
generation gap!
not all that exciting in the game’s final 9+ minutes
I thought a 70-yard drive was the epitome of ball control and clock killing! Man, that is great football. And the drive ended in a “dagger” game sealing FG with onlt 20 seconds to go. All the while the faces at Doak were getting longer and longer. Really it was very, very exciting. This is FSU at Doak we are talking about.
It must be a youth thing — you guys have a very different idea of what is and what is not great football than older guys like me.
Reminds me of a story of an outfileder who everyone thought was an exciting superstar because he ran like the blazes and caught all manner of balls. Look a that diving catch! When the truth was the outfileder was not good because he was so often out of position he had to run to make up for his positoning errors. The point is that solid baseball and solid football are exiting without trumped up and maybe meaningless theatrics.
Is blowing a 14 point lead against NCSU and then scrambling to win more exciting that holding the ball against a rabid FSU squad and sealing a victory. One exudes desperation the other exudes confidence and competence. Both events happened with a month of each other in 2008
You think the NCSU is the more memorable finish, whereas I would go for the FSU finish.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.
BC’s fourth quarter drive was great football, but still, not all that exciting. If you want to watch the Eagles offense run 15 straight run plays between rushing the QB and the RB, then do I have an exciting I-AA non-conference matchup to show you!
There have been much better finishes in our games against the ACC Atlantic. And no, I don’t think this is a generation gap, either. Nice try, old man.
Editor, BC Interruption
If it does not have bells and whistles and a highlight reel feel to a play you “dudes” it just can’t find it exciting – the ESPNing of sports if you will. NCSU game v FSU game finish is a good example. Too bad dont get it young laddy, it is just too bad.
You know, Once they started calling u kids “superfans” (good lord!) and you liked it, I knew it was trouble!
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.
Admit it, waterwater. Your Top 5 finishes list is exclusively wins against either Clemson or Florida State, since you love the schadenfreude.
Editor, BC Interruption
i do luv the schadenfreude!
and beating Clemson is sweet. Love the well-heeled southern gents who come to BC for the games (and they really do travel en mass to Alumni) and politely brag about Clemson’s “overall team speed” , their “atheticism” and how BC has a “nice program” and silently they expect to beat us 52-0, but we win. Oh, it is good, good good. Clemson really is like ND in many way — overblown sense of greatness, trading on past glory and arrogant fans who are always badly disappointed and will never have any humility.
FSU fans are not like Clemson loonies so much, but it really is the premiere ACC program, so always good to beat them BUt not as much schadenfreude as with an Clemson…
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.
Zone Option
Best utilization of the zone option ever.
Wake 2009
I’m still trying to figure out how BC won that game…Skinner fumbles on the 3! unbelievable ending…
The lesson here is clear
If you are an opposing QB, you aren’t going to get very far on the BC D without running in front of a blocker or two.
Editor, BC Interruption
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