Caught by the tail

BC 16 Clemson 13 (OT)

CLEMSON, S.C.-Questions about the football team floated around campus leading up to this weekend's match-up with Clemson.

Would the Eagles be able to respond after a heartbreaking loss to Florida State? If Quinton Porter didn't play, would Matt Ryan be able to fill his shoes? Could the Eagles handle the scorching heat and high decibel levels in Death Valley?

After a nail-biting 16-13 overtime win against the Tigers, it's safe to say the answer to all those questions is an emphatic yes.

"It'd be an understatement to think that we're not elated," an ecstatic coach Tom O'Brien said after the game. "In some cases it may not have been pretty but I tell ya, the result was beautiful."

For Boston College (3-1, 1-1), all the pieces of a team that had been called big, but not fast enough for the ACC, came together to create what was a strong first trip down south - despite the too-close-for-comfort score.

Following a dominant first quarter in which the Eagles out-gained Clemson 97-10, the scariest moment came midway through the second quarter when Ryan lost his helmet thanks to a bone-crunching hit from Clemson linebacker David Durham.

Ryan, who was filling in for the injured Porter, lay anguished on the ground for several minutes before getting up and only missing one play.

"I was just trying to catch my breath at first, but once I got my breath I was good," Ryan said about the hit. "It's hard, that's part of football, you gotta deal with the hits and get up and go ... luckily I wasn't injured."

After Clemson changed up its offense and knotted the score at 10 heading into halftime, the defenses took over in the second half as the teams only crossed midfield once in the second half.

When BC won the toss in overtime and deferred the ball to Clemson, the Eagles defense came up big as it had throughout the game. On third and two, linebacker Brian Toal broke through the line to stop Clemson running back Reggie Merriweather for a loss, forcing Clemson to kick a field goal.

On BC's offensive turn, the play of the game may have been Ryan's third down pass to Larry Lester between three defenders that kept the drive alive. Running back Andre Callender broke several tackles on the next play, as he had done all game, to get down to the goal line.

"I thought I got in both times," Callender said about his two runs that ended just short of the goal line. "But we had more of a chip on our shoulder once we got on the goal line [after last week] and we got in anyway."

And after making the game's biggest stop on the last drive, Toal ran in the winning touchdown through a gaping hole created by linemen Josh Beekman and Gosder Cherilus.

"I knew that I needed to get in for the team and the offensive line did a great job," Toal said. "It was a little awkward 'cause [the crowd] was quiet and usually when you score a touchdown everyone's really excited."

It was Clemson - who lost in overtime last week against Miami, 36-30 - that was forced to endure yet another game it had a chance to win.

The Eagles are now in the best position of any team to challenge Florida State for the Atlantic division title.

After being put in a tough spot against Florida State, Ryan responded strongly and went 24 for 42 with 221 yards, including BC's lone touchdown drive in the second quarter when he completed all five of his passes for 42 yards.

Despite a few balls that floated on him and an errant interception in the end zone, Ryan was sharp for much of the game in helping BC convert 10 of 20 third downs.

As impressive as Ryan was, the running game did the most damage for BC as they helped the Eagles control the ball for over 50 minutes of the game.

Rushing for 116 yards on 22 carries, including two long runs that were stopped inches from the goal line, Callender routinely turned what looked to be short gains into longer runs with second, third, and even fourth efforts as he fought through tackles."

"That's the thing he and L.V. [Whitworth] do all the time," Ryan said. "They run the ball hard, make guys miss and fall for four more yards, spin for three more yards."

The entire game really started up front for the BC offense, as the linemen routinely gave Ryan plenty of time to make his reads and opened gaping holes for Callendar, and Toal on the game's final play.

Size was seen as the Eagles' biggest advantage heading into its first game at Death Valley in over 20 years and it proved true as the game went on.

The giants on the offensive line - one Clemson player asked O'Brien where he "got all these big guys" - toughed it out through the heat and noise.

On BC's touchdown drive, it was even the second-team offensive line that led the team all the way down the field.

"Our offensive line is big, but they can move for their size," Mathias Kiwanuka said. "They're unbelievably fast and you see a guy like Beekman running 20 yards downfield. I think the fact that how big we are has been overblown; people think we're this slow team coming down from the North, but that's not who we are."

But the dominant BC defense was the real story of the game. One stat sticks says it all: zero for 11. BC stuffed the Clemson offense on every third down attempt in the game.

Except for two long runs for the Tigers, the BC defense constantly hit Clemson running backs in the backfield and forced quarterback Charlie Whitehurst to dump off short passes rather than attack the secondary deep.

"We gave them a couple different looks to keep them guessing," Toal said. "Third downs are critical situations and any time you can get off the field you gotta do it."

Though some questions remain, it's pretty clear the Eagles answered one question Saturday afternoon: Does BC belong in the ACC?

"Some people don't believe in us, but we're confident in our abilities," Kiwanuka said. "We're here, and we can play."