Second Half Comeback Fuels BC Win in Blacksburg

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Second Half Comeback Fuels BC Win in Blacksburg

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Travis Levy rushed for two touchdowns and compiled 103 all-purpose yards as No. 22 Boston College beat Virginia Tech, 31-21, at a sold-out Lane Stadium.

Levy rushed 11 times for a career-high 75 yards and two touchdowns – the first two rushing scores of his collegiate career. The Olney, Md. native also hauled in three catches for 28 yards.

Anthony Brown was 15-for-26 for 177 yards and a TD pass. The sophomore signal caller connected with eight different receivers on the evening.

Boston College and Virginia Tech traded punts on their respective opening drives before the Eagles got on the scoreboard on their second drive. BC crossed midfield after Korab Idrizi hauled in a 27-yard pass, as Anthony Brown got the ball back after a reversal to Travis Levy and a toss back from Jeff Smith.

With a first-and-10 from the Hokies’ 26-yard line, BC used their ground attack with Brown and Dillon to make it 7-0 with 6:40 left in the first quarter. Dillon capped the 13-play, 75-yard drive with his eighth rushing TD of the season.

On its next possession, Virginia Tech responded with a touchdown drive of its own. The Hokies covered 65 yards in six plays, capped by a 26-yard TD strike from Ryan Willis to Damon Hazelton, making it 7-7 with 4:11 to go in the period.

Virginia Tech took a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter, coordinating a seven-play, 61-yard drive, capped by a four-yard jump ball toss to Eric Kumah with 10:44 left.

The BC defense came up with a big stop late in the quarter, turning VT over on downs deep in Eagles territory with 2:08 to play in the half. But Boston College was unable to convert on offense and went into the halftime break down by seven points.

Virginia Tech went three-and-out on its first two possessions to start the second half, as the Eagles’ D came up big on back-to-back third-and-yardage situations. BC tied the game on a quick five-play, 70-yard drive that took only 1:44 off the clock. Dillon rushed for 24 of the 70 yards, including a 13-yard scamper. Levy covered the final 29 yards on the next play from scrimmage, tying it at 14-14 with 7:31 remaining in the third.

The Eagles defensive corps held firm on the next two Hokie possessions, forcing another three-and-out and coming up with an interception deep in VT territory. Brandon Sebastian tallied his first career pick with just over four minutes left in the quarter. Two plays later, the Eagles took the lead back on another touchdown – this time in the air from Brown to Idrizi on a 22-yard connection, making it 21-14.

In the fourth quarter, the Hokies drove to midfield on their first possession but turned it over on downs as the Eagles’ forced four straight incompletions. On the ensuing drive, BC used five plays in just under two minutes to find the end zone, as Levy punched it in from a yard out. BC would lead, 28-14, with 8:42 left.

Virginia Tech trimmed it to 28-21 with 4:58 remaining in regulation, using 10 plays and 3:44 of clock time to put seven on the board. BC drove to the Virginia Tech 10-yard line, but could not convert on third-and-one. The Eagles’ Colton Lichtenberg connected from 28-yards out to keep it a two-score ballgame with 2:27 left.

BC went to victory formation to close it out after another fourth-down turnover by the Hokies.

HOW IT HAPPENED

AJ Dillon led the BC rushing attack on the evening. The All-American running back had 24 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown. Dillon has 897 rushing yards on the season.
Tommy Sweeney caught four passes from Anthony Brown for 61 yards. Travis Levy hauled in three balls for 28 yards.
Korab Idrizi made two catches for a career-best 49 yards, including his longest career catch of 27 yards. The junior from Fort Lee, N.J. connected with Brown for the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter.
Ben Glines made two catches for 17 yards, while Jeff Smith, Kobay White, Jake Burt, and Chris Garrison each caught one pass apiece.
The Eagles registered 19 first downs. They were 4-of-16 on 3rd down and 0-for-1 on 4th down on the night.
Colton Lichtenberg was 4-for-4 in point-after attempts and connected on his lone field goal attempt – a 28-yarder in the fourth quarter.
Isaiah McDuffie led the Eagles with 13 tackles, including seven solo stops. Connor Strachan (seven solo) made 11 tackles, while Brandon Sebastian (seven solo) logged 10 tackles and his first career interception.
Tanner Karafa made eight stops – including 2.5 tackles for a loss of five yards.
Taj-Amir Torres (five tackles) and Zach Allen (four) each logged two pass breakups.
Wyatt Ray (four tackles) tallied three quarterback hurries.

NOTABLES

Today’s win was the first by a ranked Boston College team in close to a decade. The last win as a ranked opponent was a 28-21 win over Maryland when the Eagles were ranked 20th on Nov. 29, 2008.
Boston College compiled 396 total yards. The Eagles are 7-0 this season when gaining at least 396 yards of offense.
BC gained just 20 yards of offense in the second quarter, but flipped the script in the third, holding Virginia Tech to 32 yards en route to taking the lead for good.
The Eagles moved to 9-18 all-time versus Virginia Tech – including a 6-10 mark in ACC play. BC is now 5-7 in games played at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg.

WHAT’S NEXT

Boston College hosts No. 2 Clemson on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Alumni Stadium. Kickoff time on GameDay and the network assignment has yet to be announced. The BC IMG Sports Network will air the game on 93.7 WEEI FM, beginning with the pregame show 30 minutes prior to kickoff.