Boston College 29, Maryland 26: Wild Fourth Quarter Comeback Puts BC at 7-4

All I'll remember from this game is running through my apartment screaming until I got dizzy and fell on the floor from sheer euphoria.

Andre Williams ran for 263 yards, his third consecutive 200-yard game and a continuation of an assault on the Boston College record books, and BC rallied from down 24-13 to defeat the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday evening in College Park.  The win improved BC to 7-4 on the season, its most wins since finishing a 7-5 regular season in 2010.

BC got on the board first on the opening drive of the game, finishing out a 70-yard drive that featured six plays, all rushing.  Williams posted back-to-back 30-yard carries, rushing for 31 on his second play from scrimmage and 30 on his third.  After the teams traded punts, Maryland ran a 30-yard drive that started at midfield to post a field goal and tie the game at 3-3.

That's when things got weird in the first half.  Three drives later, BC faced a third down on their own 26 yard line, when center Andy Gallik's low snap caught quarterback Chase Rettig off-guard.  Rettig hustled after the missed ball, which bounded back and was recovered by Maryland's Marcus Whitfield at the BC 1-yard line.  Albert Reid scored on the only play to put the Terps up, 10-3.

After BC went three-and-out, the Don Brown Defense rose to their own occasion, forcing a three-and-out of their own.  That's when Manny Asprilla came right up the gut on Nathan Renfro, blocking the punt and setting up an easy score from six yards out for Williams to tie the game at 10-10.

Maryland managed to strike for a touchdown on the ensuing drive, but it was immediately called back for pass interference.  The Terps drive stalled in four-down territory, where they opted to punt.  Renfro shanked it for nine yards, giving BC the ball at their own 29 yard line.  That's when Chase Rettig decided to get in on the poopoo platter, throwing an incompete pass for Alex Amidon on second down and overthrowing Amidon on third down.  Overthrown was an understatement as Rettig intended the ball for the back judge, overthrew him, and instead found the awaiting black jersey of Terps safety Sean Davis.  BC would hold, though, thanks to a great defensive stand, and the teams traded punts before BC took the game into the half.

The home team made a good adjustment in the second half on offense, striking for the first points on a great first drive.  CJ Brown and Brandon Ross combined to drive the team 70 yards in eight plays, including a fourth down conversion in BC territory, to score on a seam pass up the middle to Amba Etta-Tawo.  BC cornerback CJ Jones stumbled when Etta-Tawo broke inside, allowing the wideout just enough separation to catch the pass.  Brown went 3-for-4 for 46 yards on the drive, connecting for 33 on the touchdown strike.

BC went an abysmal zero for their first eight (although Maryland wasn't much better by opening up 1-for-10).  It wasn't helped by Rettig, who opened up 1-for-9 for one yard and an interception while looking generally like this whole "throwing the football" was a foreign concept to him.  He eventually completed a pass to Mike Naples down the middle that set up an Andre Williams run inside the five.  But BC was unable to score a touchdown as Williams was stuffed on runs up the middle, and a Rettig play action roll out showed enough hesitation to allow him to get tackled for a loss.  The Eagles opted for a field goal to cut the lead to 17-13.  The inability to score cost BC a chance to tie after a sustained drive that took almost seven minutes off the clock.  All in all, the two scoring drives consumed nearly the entire third quarter.

Despite this, the Eagles forced the Terrapins to punt to open up the fourth quarter.  Instead of getting the ball with decent field position, though, Bryce Jones decided to muff it off his finger tips, and Abner Logan recovered at the BC 33.  Jones followed that up with a pass interference on second down that gave Maryland a first down at the BC 19.  CJ Brown ran a read option to the BC seven yard line, then scored on another read option play on third down to put the Terps up 24-13.

That lead lasted all of one play.  Andre Williams went up the middle, broke right, found empty field, and went 72 yards.  He'd have kept running if there wasn't a wall.  Even with the wall, he'd have broken through it and kept running clear to B1G country.  But BC promptly shot themselves in the foot as the two-point conversion roll out pass to Amidon was negated by a pass interference penalty.  Nate Freese did Nate Freese things and tacked on a 35 yard extra point to make it 24-21.

The ensuing drive began at midfield thanks to a killer return, but the Don Brown Defense did it again as Steven Daniels recovered a fumble inside the BC 10 after Asprilla nearly came up with a game-changing interception.  That's when all hell broke loose.

Chase Rettig completed a pass.  For 74 yards.  To Alex Amidon.  Who was open wider than the Grand Canyon.  Nate Freese's kick was blocked and returned for a 2-point conversion by Maryland to tie the game at 26-26.  My head exploded.  Freese kicks a 35 yard extra point, but he has his first miss of the season on a) a block and b) something that turns into a conversion for the Terps.

After forcing Maryland to punt, BC got the ball back on their own 20 with 1:30 and one timeout.  Two runs into the line, and nothing.  Then Andre Williams broke it down the sideline and set up Nate Freese for 52 yards.  With the wind at his back, Freese lined up.  The kick had the distance.  It looked.....SHANK.

Wait.  Randy Edsall took a timeout.  Second life.  BOOM.  Right down the middle.

BC 29.  Maryland 26.

Rettig finished 6-for-14 with 120 yards, a touchdown and an INT.  Taking away the Amidon 74 yard pass, he went 5-for-13 for 46 yards.  CJ Brown had 200 all-purpose yards for Maryland in comparison, including 178 in the air.

What a game.  Despite how weird and horrible it was at times, the fourth quarter was entertaining.  Nate Freese is perfect on field goals.  Andre Williams is a god.  And BC is in position for its best year since 2010, when they won eight games and lost in the Diamond Walnut bowl against USC.  Sound off with thoughts below.  What a game.