It's our third competition in the BC Ultimate Game Competition, and today we have one of the favorites going into tournament, two home games and a bowl game that ended with a fake field goal. Let's get this party started!
2006: Boston College 34, (#18) Clemson 33
The opening of ACC in 2006 wasn't an easy one for the Eagles, but it was certainly a memorable game for anyone who got to watch it. Clemson the 18th ranked team in the country, came to the Heights as heavy favorites, and started the game off strong with a 26 yard FG from Jad Dean and a Tyler Grisham TD pass from Will Proctor. BC and Clemson traded touchdowns in the 2nd quarter with a nine yard TD reception by Kevin Challenger from Matt Ryan and an 82 yard take it to the house touchdown run from C.J. Spiller. Ryan Ohliger tacked on a field goal, and BC went into the half down 17-10.
BC didn't trail for long, as Jeff Smith who earlier muffed a kickoff, scorched the Tigers for a 96 yard kickoff return for a touchdown tying the game. In the fourth quarter the Eagles fell behind yet again, after a missed 36 yard field goal by Ohliger, James Davis' scored his second touchdown of the day. The Eagles tied it up with 4 minutes remaining on a Matt Ryan sneak.
Overtime was where the real drama started. After Clemson and BC traded field goals to start, Clemson scored a touchdown to take the lead. But on the extra point attempt, JoLonn Dunbar blasted through the line to block the attempt. BC scored on the next drive, giving them the lead and the win.
2007: (#2) Boston College 14, (#8) Virginia Tech 10
I literally just wrote on this two weeks ago, so I will save myself the time and just paste it here for you to peruse.
Let's fast forward a little. Going into the 4th quarter Boston College was trailing 10-0, after an 8 yard touchdown pass from Sean Glennon to Eddie Royal and a 44 yard field goal from Jud Dunleavy. Boston College's offense was struggling, just look at the drive break downs going into the 4th quarter.
13:31 1 02:08 BC 9 6 13 Punt 08:27 1 04:18 BC 14 8 35 Punt 03:13 1 00:29 VT 39 3 -5 Punt 10:23 2 01:48 BC 35 3 -7 Punt 06:32 2 03:50 BC 30 8 28 Punt 02:38 2 00:33 VT 19 4 -4 Turnover on Downs 15:00 3 00:13 BC 20 3 32 Interception 13:28 3 01:44 BC 28 3 9 Punt 10:23 3 01:36 BC 39 3 6 Punt 05:26 3 03:27 BC 26 8 11 Punt
That is a total of 118 yards, 8 punts with a turnover thrown in there which looks a lot like some of the BC offenses we have seen of late. But this team was different. In the fourth quarter Matt Ryan went from great BC quarterback, to a quarterback of legend. After yet another punt, and yet another INT, Matt got things cooking. On back to back plays Ryan hit Brandon Robinson for passes of 23 and 22 yards. After an incompletion, Matty then nailed Ryan Purvis for a 20 yard pass, and even showed his legs on a 11 yard first down scramble. The 92 yard drive was capped off with a beautiful 16 yard pass to Richie Gunnell for a touchdown. Even with three quarters of futility, and only 4 minutes remaining, BC was back in the game.
It was all up to walk on Superfan Steve Aponavicius to give BC a chance. And that he did, perfectly executing an onside kick that was recovered by the Eagles. Matt Ryan was given his chance to secure his place in BC lore. Avoiding pressure from VT lineman, Ryan hit Robinson for 20 yards, and Gunnell for 15. With 58 seconds left, the Eagles were called for a holding call, making it 3rd and 20. To cap off the unbelievable night Ryan scrambled and hit Andre Callender in the end zone, giving the Eagles the lead, and sealing an improbable BC win.
2011- Boston College 24, Miami 17
Try to remember back to last season, there weren't many good moments in your memory correct? The game against Miami could possibly be the highlight of that dismal season. BC was playing their best ball of the year, and was heading to Miami where the Hurricanes had beaten BC every game since the Doug Flutie era. Add onto that the U had self imposed a bowl ban due to their program being a giant disaster, and this was going to be Senior Day for many of the starters.
This game was all Eagles. Miami started off strong with a huge bomb from Jacory Harris to Travis Benjamin for yards, followed up by a 6 yard TD pass to LaRon Byrd. But BC immediately answered with two touchdown passes from Chase Rettig to Chris Pantale, giving the Eagles a seven point lead. Basically the next two quarters followed a pattern, Miami would do something incredibly stupid (like Harris throwing one of his 4 Int's) and BC would do nothing with the opportunity, allowing Miami to stay in the game until the next stupid mistake.
The final mistake Harris made was throwing a telegraphed pass to Luke Kuechly--in his final game with the Eagles---that he took to the house running it back 45 yards and sealing a win to end the 2011 season.
2004- Boston College 37, North Carolina 24 (Continental Tire Bowl)
After losing a heart breaker to Syracuse just the month before, BC's morale was at an all time low. (BLAST YOU DIAMOND FERRI). Basically playing a road game as UNC fans filled the stadium, the Eagles needed a win to stay in the post season Top 25. BC and the Heels traded touchdowns to start the game, with L.V. Whitworth and Ronnie McGill scoring the touchdowns.
Both teams continued to trade touchdowns with the Eagles getting their points from catches from Grant Adams and David Kashetta. The real drama began in the 4th quarter. BC had a huge gut check moment as quarterback Paul Peterson was stretchered off the field after breaking his leg. TOB rallied his team though:
"Paul is the heart and soul of this team, and everyone went back to the huddle and Coach O'Brien said, `We're not going to lose. We're going to put it in the end zone for Paul," said Matt Ryan
Up 3, and with the ball at the 21 yard line, Tom O'Brien called a fake field goal, in which Matt Ryan handed off the ball to Ryan Ohliger who stormed into the end zone sealing the game for the Eagles. BC held on to win, and due to his injury Peterson couldn't accept his MVP award, which his wife went to the podium to accept. Great moment in Eagles' history.
There you have it. The polls will be open for the next week. Make sure you vote, and get all of your fellow BC fans into the contest as well! Top two vote getters proceed to the round of 16.