Tigers Fall to BC in Overtime |
CLEMSON - Two weeks. Two overtime games. Two losses for Clemson.
Brian Toal's one-yard run in the first extra period erased a three-point deficit and gave visiting Boston College an important 16-13 victory over the Tigers Saturday at Death Valley. The play silenced Clemson's sellout crowd of 79,000, who watched in dismay as the Eagles celebrated the victory just outside the East end zone. Boston College is now 3-1 overall, 1-1 inside the ACC. The victory was especially meaningful because the Eagles' previous loss - 28-17 a week ago to Florida State - was also an Atlantic Division game. Clemson is now 2-2 overall (1-2 ACC), and 0-1 inside the division. "It's nice to have an ACC win," said BC head coach Tom O'Brien. "Hopefully, no one left on our schedule is better than Florida State...A lot of people think we shouldn't be in the ACC and don't think we can compete in this conference. "It may not have been pretty, but the results are beautiful. Not so much so from the Clemson standpoint, where another emotion was the order of the day. "Shock," said Tiger cornerback Tye Hill. "It looked like we had a chance to win and they took it away...But it's a long season and we still have a shot at Jacksonville (ACC Championship). That was our first loss in the division. Now we have to make sure to take care of everyone else." The Eagles took possession following Jad Dean's 24-yard field goal to open overtime, which put the Tigers up 13-10. Backup quarterback Matt Ryan - starting in place of injured Quinton Porter - threw incomplete as he was hit on BC's first play from the 25 yard line, then hit running back Andre Callendar for a four-yard gain. But on third-and-six, Ryan (24-of-42, 221 yards, 2 interceptions) was able to get another first down when he found Larry Lester open down the middle for 10 yards to the Clemson 11. Callendar (22 carries, 116 yards) followed with a run that nearly won the game, the tailback falling just inches short of the goal line. But after stopping a Ryan sneak on first and goal, Clemson's defense couldn't contain Toal running off right tackle for the game-winner. "We couldn't make a play down the stretch either on offense or defense to go ahead, to get a winning point, a winning run, a winning chance" said Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden. "We just couldn't make it. A lot of credit goes to BC. "We're two plays away from being 4-0." Toal's score capped off a frustrating afternoon for both teams, a day which saw the Eagles dominate in total yardage (385-251) and time of possession (35:42-24:18), but commit two turnovers and miss a field goal to help the Tigers stay close. In fact, the Eagles had two shots to win it in regulation, but came up empty both times. The first opportunity ended with sophomore kicker Ryan Ohliger misfiring from 48-yards away with 1:14 left in the game. After Clemson failed to move the ball and punted back the the Eagles, Ryan fired a 29-yard pass down the middle to tight end Chris Miller, which gave BC the ball at the Clemson 40 with :13 seconds to go. But the Tiger defense stiffened there, and Hill intercepted Ryan on a fourth-down play to end regulation. "Ninety plays is a lot for our defense to be out on the field, but we are well conditioned," Hill said. "I believed we were going to win. Now it's all about what you do next week." The Eagles dominated early stages of the game, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the early moments of the second quarter. Ohliger's 33-yard field goal at 9:35 of the first made it 3-0, and Ryan snuck in from a yard away at the 10:35 mark of the second quarter to go up 10-0. In between, Clemson shut down another potential touchdown drive when Jamaal Fudge intercepted Ryan in the end zone. The Tigers got rolling in the second quarter, driving 61 yards in 10 plays to set up Dean's 36-yard field goal with 6:51 left in the half. Clemson then drove 64 yards in nine plays for its only touchdown of the afternoon, a one-yard run by quarterback Charlie Whitehurst (19-of-28, 149 yards). The second period was Clemson's only consistent span of offense, most notably from a running game standpoint. After being held to just seven rushing yards in the first quarter, the Tigers rode the tandem of James Davis and Reggie Merriweather for 66 yards in the second. But Clemson would only gain 29 yards on the ground the rest of the game, a chief culprit in its 0-for-11 third down conversion rate. "We'll have to improve on that," Bowden said. "We won't win many games like that. It just goes to show you how close we are that we can be 0-11 on third down conversions and play a Top 25 team right down to overtime. "But if we're going to have any success we're going to have to convert third downs." Box Score
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 OT [ 5 ] Score
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now