On a rainy Thursday night in Blacksburg, Matt Ryan and #2 Boston College staged a surprising fourth-quarter rally to beat #8 Virgina Tech 14-10 and keep the Eagles’ undefeated season alive. The Hokies had shut out Boston College the entire game until Ryan threw two touchdown passes in the last 2:30 to break this year’s tradition of the second-ranked team losing in October.
On October 6th, Stanford recorded perhaps the biggest upset in college football history in beating #2 USC 24-23. On October 13th, Oregon State beat #2 California 31-28. And last Thursday, Cinderella story and then second-ranked USF was upset by Rutgers 30-27 in a hard-fought game in New Jersey. Last night, Matt Ryan wasn’t about to let his #2 Boston College team continue the tradition.
When Heisman-candidate Ryan finally stepped up, his Eagles (motto: “Seriously, ESPN, you don’t have to show that Flutie pass every game we play”) were down 10-0 with four minutes left in the game and possession of the ball on deep in their own territory. After a 92-yard touchdown drive and successful recovery of an onside kick, Ryan once again marched Boston College down the field on a 66-yard drive, capped by a 24-yard touchdown pass to Andre Callender on 3rd-and-20. The notoriously raucous Lane Stadium fell whisper-quiet when that second touchdown pass was caught, realizing that with the heartbreaking loss, their national championship hopes had just been dashed.
I’m not sure who deserved to win this game. I’ve been hearing a lot of talk that Matt “My Last Name Is A First Name” Ryan is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Tonight, for the first 56 minutes of the game, he looked more like a virgin thrown into bed with Paris Hilton: confused, disoriented, and more than a little scared for his personal well-being. The formidable Virginia Tech defense came after him all game long, manhandling his offensive line, batting his short passes away, and forcing two interceptions.
On the other bench, Tech’s Sean Glennon, sad as it is to say, was probably worse. His numbers, 15-25 passing with 149 yards, weren’t terrible, but he continuously made bad decisions that somehow didn’t come back to haunt him. He threw into triple-coverage, he didn’t protect the football while scrambling, and he placed his deep balls poorly.
I always root for the upset, just like I always root for Merideth and Izzie to hug and maybe rub fronts when I’m watching Grey’s Anatomy, but I’m usually pacified if I can honestly say, “The best team won.” I can’t say that about this game. I can say with confidence that neither of these teams should play on January 7 in New Orleans.
^ She can play doctor with me anytime.
