RALEIGH, N.C. - It was about five minutes into the third quarter. Boston College, which once held a 21-7 lead over conference rival North Carolina State, saw the margin whittled down to a measly four points. The Wolfpack lured them into penalties, ran over them with their special teams, and was starting to learn how to combat an Eagles offense that was finally clicking.
It was fourth down from the Eagles 41-yard line. BC was about to send the ball back into the hands of Tom O'Brien's squad to give them their first chance to take the lead, Ryan Purvis had just gone down with an injury, and what had once looked like a slaughter was turning into an uphill battle for BC.
The Eagles needed a big play, and they got one.
The punting unit came on the field, but the snap went directly into the hands of fullback James McCluskey, who handed off to Brain Toal - and Toal carried the ball right up the middle of the field, all the way to the NC State 20-yard line, while a befuddled Wolfpack could do little more than watch.
"I've been waiting to call that play for two years," Eagles head coach Jeff Jagodzinski said after the game. "I thought we needed a momentum changer, and if you're going to do it, that's where you have to."
The Eagles (4-1) would eventually seize the momentum for good en route to a 38-31 defeat of NC State, but it wasn't easy. Fortunately for BC, though, quarterback Chris Crane picked the perfect time to show everyone what he's got. The fifth-year senior spent his Saturday afternoon methodically picking apart the NC State secondary, which gave up 428 yards to a quarterback whose previous season-high was 207. Crane finished with five touchdowns - three rushing and two passing - and his first-career ACC win as a starter.
"I knew our offense was capable of scoring a lot of points, and I knew I was capable of getting yards ands winning the game instead of the defense winning the game for us," Crane said after the game. "The receivers and I were all on the same page all day, and the offensive line was phenomenal. When the offense gets confident, that can be dangerous."
2008 Woodie Awards
