Eagles comeback win stuns Hokies 14-10

The Hokies dropped their second game to a number two ranked team as Boston College rallied to beat Virginia Tech 14-10 in Blacksburg Thursday night. The Eagles got two touchdowns in the last three minutes to remain undefeated.
It was one of the biggest games ever played at Lane Stadium, with Boston College ranked second and Tech ranked eighth. In one of the most wide open seasons ever, the Hokies were still in the mix for a berth in the national championship game.
The setting was perfect for a Tech upset: hosting an undefeated, ranked team, national television night game, and a steady rain that seemed to inspire the crowd. But the teams slogged it out for most of the early going.
The teams played field position for the first quarter, with Eagles’ punter Johnny Ayers having a great game. He rolled punts to the one and the nine and had a 62-yarder taken off the books by a running-into-the-punter.
It was after Ayers’ punt to the nine that Tech started the only scoring drive of the first half. The Hokies had a 91-yard drive keyed by quarterback Sean Glennon and tailback Brandon Ore.
Early in the second quarter, Glennon scrambled to hit Eddie Royal with an eight-yard touchdown pass. That made it 7-0 at 10:31.
Aside from that drive, Tech managed only two more first downs in the half. The Eagles, who had only ten yards rushing, managed six first downs.
Jud Dunleavy had a 44 yard field goal in the third quarter to make it 10-0. With six minutes left in the game, D.J. Parker intercepted a pass at the Eagle 31 and it looked like the game was over.
But Tech couldn’t take advantage and punted to the eight yard line. Then Eagles quarterback Matt Ryan took over, putting together a pair of drives that not only won the game, but may have tipped the Heisman Trophy to him.
Ryan completed three passes of over 20 yards, and on third and 10 from the 16, hit Rich Gunnell with a touchdown pass that cut it to 10-7 with 2:11 left in the game.
Boston College recovered the onside kick at the 34 and Ryan moved the Eagles to their 14. Ryan hit Gunnell in the end zone again, but a holding penalty wiped out the score.
Ryan came back with a scramble and found Andre Callender with a 24 yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left. The PAT gave Boston College the 14-10 final margin.
It was perhaps the most dramatic finish for Boston College since Doug Flutie beat Miami with the all-time Hail Mary pass a generation ago.
There may have been a subtle hint of what could happen early in the game when Boston College had an incompletion on a wide receiver pass. The guy who threw the ball on that trick play was freshman Billy Flutie.