Eagles Erased
November 08, 2003 04:38 PM | General
November 8, 2003
Defensive back Pac-Man Jones scored two touchdowns to help West Virginia to an important 35-28 victory at Boston College Saturday at Alumni Stadium.
 |
||
| Adam "Pac-Man" Jones returns this kick 84 yards for a touchdown to lead West Virginia to a 35-28 win over Boston College Saturday in Chestnut Hill. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Jones, a sophomore from College Park, Ga., turned the game around by picking off a pass and returning it 47 yards to tie the game at 14-all in the second quarter, and gave WVU the room it needed by returning a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown after Boston College had closed the gap to seven.
"I'm very proud of my teammates. We came back from being down 14 points, stayed together and came out with a victory," said Jones. "I don't think we've ever come back from 14 points that's big for the defense."
Still, West Virginia needed a pass breakup from linebacker Scott Gyorko on the game’s final play to preserve its first victory at Alumni Stadium since 1995.
"We kept battling and I give (Boston College) credit because they came to play," said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez.
At the game’s outset, it appeared BC was going to run away with the game on senior day. The Eagles scored on their opening possession when backup quarterback Paul Peterson found tight end Sean Ryan wide open in the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown.
Peterson was in the game for BC starter Quinton Porter, who injured his throwing hand on the game’s first play when he was hit out of bounds by WVU safety Mike Lorello.
The Eagles added their second score with 12:35 remaining in the second quarter when backup tailback Horace Dodd blasted over right tackle for two yards.
"We knew they were going to come out with a strong start and we were kind of sluggish which is something we feared coming into this game," said Rodriguez.
Up until that point, West Virginia had managed just two first two on its first two possessions and it appeared BC was taking control of the game.
Then, with BC driving on its fourth possession, WVU defensive back Lance Frazier came up with a momentum-swinging interception on a ball that was caught up in the wind. He was able to return the ball 31 yards to the Boston College 39 and give West Virginia new life.
Two plays later, backup quarterback Charles Hales, in for starter Rasheed Marshall who was sidelined with a concussion suffered last week against Central Florida, lofted a pretty deep pass down the far sideline that Chris Henry hauled in for a 37-yard touchdown.
"We hit the big pass play and that seemed to give us a little spark and from that point on we seemed to grab the momentum and get into the game more," said Rodriguez.
On BC’s next series with the ball sitting at the Eagle 44 yard line, Peterson attempted to throw a quick out on third and four that Pac-Man Jones stepped in front of and returned 49 yards for a touchdown. Brad Cooper’s extra point tied the game at 14-all.
Boston College couldn’t score on its final possession of the second quarter and the two teams went into the locker room tied.
In the third quarter, West Virginia took control of the game by driving 65 yards on eight plays to take its first lead of the game. On third and four at the WVU 41, Hales managed to elude the rush and pick up four yards for the first down at the 45. Tailback Quincy Wilson converted another third-down play when he rumbled for seven yards on third and three.
After a nine-yard carry by Wilson, Hales went back up top to wide receiver Chris Henry, who came up with a 32-yard TD catch in front of the BC defense.
After an exchange of possessions, West Virginia got the football once again at its own 15. After a short run by Wilson and a five-yard motion penalty moved the ball back to the WVU 11, Hales dialed up Henry’s number once again and found him wide open for 47 yards to the BC 42. Six plays later, Hales flipped a rare pass to tight end Tory Johnson, who was wide open in the back of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown. It was Johnson’s first TD catch of the season and only his second catch of the year.
West Virginia held its 14-point lead until midway through the fourth quarter when BC put together an 11-play 66-yard drive to close the gap to seven. Peterson, who subbed for Porter in the first half, came back into the game in the fourth quarter when Porter was ineffective and led the Eagles down field.
On fourth down at the WVU 11, Peterson eluded the Mountaineer rush and found Ryan open in the end zone for an 11-yard TD pass to close WVU’s lead to seven.
But once again Pac-Man came up big, taking backup kicker Mike Fassel’s line drive kick, hiding inside the wedge and breaking out to the near side of the field and out-racing the coverage for an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Cooper’s extra point gave WVU a 14-point lead with 8:25 left in the game.
The West Virginia defense came up with its fourth interception on BC’s next possession when safety Brian King stepped in front of a Peterson pass down the middle, but WVU was unable to put away the Eagles.
Three running attempts moved the ball to the Eagle 30 and on fourth down, kicker Brad Cooper hooked a 48-yard field goal attempt giving BC the ball at the 30 with 5:11 remaining.
After the exchange of possession, Peterson put Boston College in business with a 23-yard run that moved the ball to the West Virginia 46. A 10-yard pass to Joel Hazzard and a 15-yard personal foul on WVU defensive back Lance Frazier moved the ball to the Mountaineer 30. Five plays later, Peterson hit Grant Adams over the middle for eight yards to close BC to within a touchdown.
West Virginia assumed possession of the football at its own 30-yard line with 3:15 left, but was unable to move the yard sticks and was forced to punt the football back to Boston College with 1:34 left.
BC took over at its own 25 with only one time out left. Three unsuccessful pass plays and a penalty left the Eagles with fourth and 14 at its own 21. Peterson once again worked his magic on fourth down and hit Adams in the middle of WVU’s defense for 38 yards to the Mountaineer 41. A 15-yard scramble by Peterson gave the Eagles a first down at the WVU 26.
A Peterson pass to running back Derrick Knight moved the ball to the Mountaineer 15, and a penalty on the West Virginia defense moved the ball eight yards to the seven.
Two straight misfires by Peterson gave Boston College one last chance to tie the game on third and seven. This time Mountaineer linebacker Scott Gyorko broke up Peterson’s pass as time expired to preserve West Virginia’s 35-28 victory.
"Thankfully the clock ran out on them," said Rodriguez."
Boston College held a dramatic edge in first downs, producing a two-to-one advantage in first downs 30-15. The Eagles also managed 475 yards of total offense to West Virginia’s 311 but true to its pre-game plan, West Virginia was able to force Boston College to pass and that resulted in four BC interceptions. In all, BC quarterbacks Peterson and Porter combined to throw 55 passes, completing 30 for 317 yards. The Eagles managed 158 yards rushing on 36 attempts, though most of those yards came in the first quarter and a half.
Hales managed to complete 11 of 16 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns. Tailback Quincy Wilson gained 74 yards on 19 carries before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury.
WVU finished the day rushing for 144 yards on 39 carries for an average of 3.7 yards per rush. Boston College actually had a 91-55 advantage in plays Saturday.
Receiver Chris Henry was the star of the game offensively for WVU, catching five passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Henry now has seven TD catches for the season.
"I told you guys this kid was going to be something special," beamed wide receivers coach Steve Bird. "The thing about it is he keeps growing every week and he learns more and more every week about becoming the kind of receiver we want."
Bird says the first TD pass was a play Henry called for from the field.
"He came over to the sideline and he said, 'Coach I can get behind this kid,'" said Bird. "We sat there and I told Rich on the sideline what and he looked at him and he said, 'Let' go.' They switched the corners even and Chis ran right by them."
Nevertheless, West Virginia snaps a three-game losing streak to BC at Alumni Stadium in what could be the final game between these two long-time Eastern rivals. Boston College is leaving the Big East to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, though it hasn’t been determined if the Eagles will leave either next year or the following season.
The victory moves West Virginia one win closer to becoming bowl eligible at 5-4. The Mountaineers are also in the thick of the Big East race with a 3-1 conference mark. Boston College drops to 5-5 overall and 1-4 in Big East play. The Eagles have lost to remaining Big East schools Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia in addition to Miami, and have road games left against Rutgers and Virginia Tech.
West Virginia takes a four-game win streak into the Backyard Brawl against Pitt next Saturday at Mountaineer Field. That game time has been moved back to 7 pm to accommodate ESPN2. The game has already been announced as a sell-out.
Scoring Summary
BC – Ryan 9 pass from Peterson (Fassel kick)
BC – Dodd 1 run (Fassel kick)
WV – Henry 37 pass from Hales (Cooper kick)
WV – Jones 49 interception return (Cooper kick)
WV – Henry 32 pass from Hales (Cooper kick)
WV – Johnson 14 pass from Hales (Cooper kick)
BC – Ryan 11 pass from Peterson (Fassel kick)
WV – Jones 87 kickoff return (Cooper kick)
BC – Adams 8 pass from Peterson (Fassel kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: WV – Wilson 19-73, Garvin 1-28, Hales 6-19, Harris 8-15, Colson 3-9, Total 39-144; BC – Knight 21-79, Peterson 6-52, Porter 3-12, Dodd 5-11, Lester 1-4, Total 36-158.
Passing: WV – Hales 11-16-0-167-3; BC – Peterson 22-41-3-231-3, Porter 8-14-1-86-0, Total 30-55-4-317-3.
Receiving: WV – Henry 5-132, Colson 2-0, Alston 1-15, Johnson 1-14, Garvin 1-9, Harris 1-minus 3, Total 11-167; BC – Ryan 8-90, Adams 7-89, Hazard 5-59, Lester 4-43, Knight 4-27, Kashetta 1-7, Toal 1-2, Total 30-317.
Attendance: 39,723
