BC surrenders 18-point lead, but still wins

CHESTNUT HILL – Two weeks ago, the Boston College football team went to Clemson’s Death Valley and, to put it nicely, had no answer for the Tigers speedy defense.What a difference 14 days and two games can make.After seeing an 18-point first half lead disappear at the hands of Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder, the Eagles, playing in front of a sellout crowd and a national TV audience, took a big step in their maturation process.The Eagle defense came up with a huge goal line stand, stuffing Florida State four times from the one-yard line late in the first half, but sophomore running back Montel Harris’ 42-yard touchdown run with 4:07 to play was the difference. The Eagles improved to 4-1 and 2-1 in ACC play with a 28-21 win over the Seminoles.”This is a very nice win to put it mildly,” BC coach Frank Spaziani said. “There’s something special brewing down there and we’ve come a long way from the Clemson performance.”After being lit up like a Christmas tree in December by Ponder (28-of-45, 345 yards) and the ‘Noles passing attack in the second half, the Eagles watched as freshman kicker Dustin Hopkins was wide right on a 37-yard field goal attempt with 7:02 left.Freshman quarterback Dave Shinskie hit Rich Gunnell for a 10-yard gain and then converted on a third-and-one with a four-yard pass to Colin Larmond. One play later, FSU cornerback Greg Reid had the game in his hands, but dropped a sure interception.A pass interference penalty on the next play gave the Eagles the ball at the FSU 42. Harris did the rest, bursting through a hole in the right side of the line, juking a safety at the 20 and winning the race to the end zone from there.”I just wanted to get to that pylon as fast as I could,” Harris said afterwards.The Eagles weren’t quite out of hot water yet though as Reid returned the ensuing kickoff to the FSU 41. Ponder then hit Bert Reid for 19 yards to the BC 40. Two plays later, Taiwan Easterling made a toe-tapping catch at the BC 27 and it looked like FSU was on its way to spoiling the Eagles party on a “Gold Out” day.But the BC defense stepped up its pressure, making the junior quarterback hurry two throws and miss a wide open Reid on third down. On fourth-and-10 Ponder had to scramble for his life and saw his pass batted down at the 15.”Jimbo Fisher is an excellent offensive coordinator and anytime you go against a group like that, you know they’re going to make plays,” BC linebacker Mike McLaughlin said. “They’re going to figure out what your doing on defense, but we made the stop when we needed it.”Harris ripped off a 38-yard gain on the next play before nearly giving Florida State one more chance when he fumbled at the 25. Lineman Anthony Castonzo was able to pounce on the loose ball for the Eagles to save the game.”I thought I was going for a touchdown there and then I looked back and had forgot something,” Harris joked. “Anthony definitely saved me there.”Harris carried 24 times for 182 yards in the game as the Eagles put up 399 yards of offense against one of the ACC’s toughest defenses.”We’re still a work in progress,” Spaziani said. “And as this team grows, we have to build on these games.”