Clemson 17, Boston College 13: By The Numbers

0. Turnovers forced. In fact, neither team forced a turnover in this game. Pretty cleanly played game by both teams.

120. Rushing yards, well below the Eagles' 315.67 yards per game average. Still, it was the most rushing yards surrendered by the Clemson defense to any team NOT named Georgia. The Eagles finished with 120 yards on 36 carries, 3.33 per attempt--also the second highest average given up by the Clemson defense.

9th. The Eagles' rushing attack falls to ninth in rushing offense this week after falling well below their season average. The Eagles' 287.71 yards per game on the ground is bested by only Georgia Southern, Wisconsin, Navy, Army, Georgia Tech, New Mexico, Nebraska and Indiana (and only Wisconsin, Nebraska and Indiana don't exclusively run the option).

0. Boston College rushing touchdowns. For the first time this season, an opponent held the Eagles' potent rushing attack out of the end zone. The Eagles came into the game averaging 3 1/3 rushing touchdowns a game through the first six games of the season.

3. For the third time this season, Clemson held its opponent to no rushing touchdowns. CU also kept South Carolina State (73-7) and N.C. State (41-0) out of the end zone in blowout victories.

9-of-20. Combined passing for the Eagles. I didn't think the stat line accurately reflected Murphy's passing ability in this one and obviously all the drops skew this stat. But Murphy only finished 8-of-19, including several drops and balls thrown away to evade pressure. Bordner's one completion gets BC to 9-of-20.

143 yards. Despite the Eagles' poor pass completion percentage, they still managed 143 yards through the air--the team's third highest passing yardage output of the season behind the UMass (173 yards) and Colorado State (169) games.

2. For the first time this season, BC got in the end zone through the air twice--the first time on the wheel route to Alston and the second on Murphy's across-the-body strike to Bordner. The Eagles now have 5 passing TDs on the year to go with 6 interceptions.

2-of-14. Eagles third down conversion percentage. BC started the game 0-for-9 on third down before Murphy scrambled and hit Callinan late in the fourth quarter. The Eagles offense ranks 97 nationally in third down conversions (36 of 98, 36.73%). Clemson's defense is tops in the nation on third down, giving up just 25 conversions on 106 attempts (23.58%).

10-of-21. Clemson's offense converted 10 third downs, several of them on third and long.

417.7. Through seven games, the Eagles offense is averaging 417.7 total yards of offense--the highest yards per game output since the 2007 season.

35:42 to 24:18. Figured if BC was going to pull off another home upset over a top 25 team this weekend, they had to control the clock. Unfortunately they didn't do that. Several three-and-outs on offense allowed Clemson's offense to control the clock, winning the TOP battle 35:42-24:18. The closest BC came to winning even a quarter's worth of TOP came in the first, where CU edged BC 7:57 to 7:03. Clemson had a significant advantage in TOP over the game's final three quarters.

10th. Boston College falls to 10th nationally in time of possession, holding the ball for 232:45, or 33:15.00 per game. Michigan State, UTEP, Buffalo, Rice, San Jose State, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Alabama and Arkansas are ahead of BC in this category.

1/2. PATs for Mike Knoll in his second game as the starter. Obviously the second one was brutal and changed the dynamic of the last drive. Not having a reliable kicker also completely changes the dynamic on offense. Not sure this will get much better the rest of the way, but will be something to keep an eye on going into next season.

DFL. With BC's PAT miss, the Eagles now rank 128th of 128th nationally in PAT kicking, converting on just 20 of 24 attempts. Eagles placekickers have missed at least one kick--FG or PAT--in every game this season.

34.0. Average yards per Myles Willis kick return, including a long of 50. Thought the special teams play was vastly improved over past weeks and it showed in the return game.

3 for 51. BC's special teams held Clemson to 51 yards on kick returns...

3 for 10. ...and just 10 yards on punt returns. Clemson's punt return man Adam Humphreys took one 72 yards for a touchdown the week before against Louisville. BC did a good job of covering punts and taking away the big play on punt coverage. Tackled well too.

3. Penalties against Boston College for 30 yards, a shade below BC's average of 3.9 penalties / game. Both BC and Clemson are among the least penalized teams in the country. The Eagles rank 7th this week with 33.3 penalty yards / game. Clemson is right behind BC at 8th with 33.6 penalty yards / game.

21st. Murphy ranks 21st in the nation in rushing yards this week with 766 yards on 99 carries through 7 games. Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott is the next closest FBS quarterback on that list. Prescott has 576 yards on 106 carries through 6 games.

7.74. Rushing yards per attempt for Murphy. Of the 20 offensive backs ahead of Murphy in total rushing yardage, only Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon (7.92 ypc), Indiana's Tevin Coleman (8.83), Marshall's Devon Johnson (8.24) and Georgia Southern's Matt Breida (8.66) have averaged more yards per attempt.

4.7. Average yards per play for the offense, down from 5.4 the week before at N.C. State.

81. Clemson ran 81 offensive plays to BC's 56. Last week' BC held N.C. State to 58 offensive plays, while Clemson held the Wolfpack to 57.

1.0. Total team sacks for a loss of 3 yards. The BC defensive front just wasn't able to get to Stoudt the same way the Clemson defense got to Murphy.

5.0. Clemson team sacks for a loss of 23 yards. The Tigers' D made Murphy uncomfortable for most of the afternoon.

26.0. The two teams combined for 26 TFLs for a loss of 63 yards. Clemson had the edge with 14 of those 26 TFLs for a loss of 44 yards. Steven Daniels led the Eagles with 3 TFLs. Dominique Williams and Malachi Moore each notched two in the defensive battle.

1. Only one Eagles defender--linebacker Steven Daniels--had double-digit tackles on the day (11 solo).

10th. Boston College's national rank in rushing defense. The Eagles are allowing just 101.71 yards per game on the ground, though they gave up 113 to a pretty mediocre rushing team.

30th. BC's falls out of the top 25 in passing defense this week. The Eagles are giving up 203.6 yards per game through the air. Six ACC defenses (#7 Pittsburgh, #10 Miami, #12 Louisville, #14 Clemson, #17 Wake Forest and #27 Virginia Tech) rank ahead of BC this week.

11th. BC's defense drops out of the top 10 nationally in total defense this week. The Eagles defense is giving up 305.3 yards per game. Clemson's defense improves to 5th nationally, surrendering just 282.7 yards per game.

6-of-7. The sixth time that Clemson has taken home the O'Rourke-McFadden Trophy and those sweet, old timey leather helmets. A shame too. Would have been awesome to see Tyler Murphy don the leather helmet.

42,038. Announced attendance, the largest home crowd of the year for BC. Of course it helps when 10k Clemson fans descent on the Heights.