Clemson chokes, BC headed to ACC Championship

After being left for dead by many (myself included), the No. 17 Boston College Eagles came away with a stunning 20-17 win at No. 15 Clemson last night. Clemson (8-3) was up 17-13 late in the fourth quarter but couldn't hold on. Once again, BC (9-2) quarterback Matt Ryan saved the day with some late-game heroics while the Tigers also did everything they could do to give the game away: leaving a BC wide receiver wide open, dropping a sure-touchdown and losing a game they had under control. Ryan finished 31-for-47 for 315 yards with one touchdown and one pick. BC running back Andre Callender had 75 yards rushing and 92 yards receiving.

You have to give the Eagles a lot of credit. They survived a plethora of injuries to their defense (Tribble didn't play at all while Dunbar and Pruitt were limited plus a few others were hurt last night) yet still survived against a pretty good Clemson team. Clemson was up 7-3 at halftime and 10-3 after three quarters. The fourth quarter is when everything happened. BC got a touchdown run by its fullback James Mccluskey then a field goal to go up three. Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper ran for a touchdown, putting the Tigers up 17-13 with 5:28 left. Then Ryan led BC on an eight play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 43-yard bomb to receiver Rich Gunnell. The crazy thing about that pass was that Ryan scrambled and then just lobbed it up there. I have no idea what the Clemson defensive backs were doing as Gunnell was wide open by like five yards.

Clemson got the ball back and moved into BC territory while the clock wound down. They stalled before BC's red zone thanks to multiple drops by their receivers including one that would have given them the game. Clemson's kicker had to try a 54-yard prayer with time running out but it was a few yards short. Ironically, they put themselves back five yards with a penalty, without that infraction the kick probably would have been good.

Boston College moves on to the ACC Championship in two weeks in Jacksonville against the winner of next week's Virginia-Virginia Tech battle. BC closes with Miami visiting Chestnut Hill next weekend but luckily for them the game doesn't mean anything (other than padding their resume for a bowl).

Tommy Bowden, the head coach of Clemson should be fired. His team has never won the ACC. They seem to have a Cubs like history of choking. As BC came back last night, the rowdy Clemson crowd suddenly got silent. They knew their Tigers would lose another one they could have had. Will BC win the ACC Championship? I doubt it. They either have to beat a Hokies team they were fortunate enough to squeak by the first time or a Virginia team that they haven't seen this year. If they somehow won the ACC title, would they beat the next team in a BCS bowl? Not a chance. As topsy-turvy as this year is, I can say with confidence that BC will not win three more games this season. It simply cannot happen. They've had way too many things go their way thus far to see that continue against better teams. The ACC is garbage. It's a joke that BC is one of the two best teams in the conference this year. In the Pac-10, Big 12, SEC or even Big East they would have been middle of the pack.