Ryan, No. 2 BC Rally Past No. 8 Virginia Tech

By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Put that comeback at the top of Matt Ryan's Heisman resume. Ryan threw a 24-yard touchdown pass on the run and across the field to Andre Callender with 11 seconds left and No. 2 Boston College remained undefeated with an improbable 14-10 victory over No. 8 Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

Ryan sealed his status as a serious Heisman Trophy contender with two touchdown passes in the final 2:11 after doing little for the first 55 minutes against the Hokies' swarming defense.

``Well, you know there's still time left on the clock,'' Ryan said. ``You know you still have a shot and you still got a chance. We've been in this situation so many times through the course of the year in practice and we've prepared ourselves really well.''

Boston College (4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) improved to 8-0 for the first time since 1942 and validated itself as a national title contender.

Ryan finished 25-for-52 for 285 yards with two interceptions, but the final numbers hardly told the story.

``I told our guys at halftime don't you dare look up until the end of the game and we'll go on to win this thing,'' Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski said.

With the Hokies (6-2, 3-1) leading 10-0 late in the fourth and the Eagles backed up against their own goal line, Ryan finally found a rhythm. He led a 91-yard scoring drive, capped by a 16-yard TD pass to Rich Gunnell with 2:11 left.

``We started making plays,'' Jagodzinski said. ``We started making plays.''

After BC recovered an onside kick, Ryan went back to work. Three times he scrambled away from pressure to complete passes. On the last play, Ryan slipped away from the rush, slid to the left, and spotted Callender drifting back into the end zone away from the defense. Ryan let loose, Callender cradled in the winning score and BC narrowly avoided becoming the fourth second-ranked team to lose in the last four weeks.

Sean Glennon, making his first start for the Hokies since being benched after the 48-7 loss to LSU early in the second week of the season, played steady on a soggy night at Lane Stadium. He was 15-for-25 for 149 yards with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Royal in the second quarter and a 41-yard hook up with Royal in the third that set up Jud Dunlevy's 44-yard field goal that made it 10-0.

Glennon was better than Ryan for most of the game and it looked as though Virginia Tech, eighth in the BCS standings, would get a second chance to sneak into the national title race after D.J. Parker picked off Ryan's pass in Eagles' territory late in the fourth quarter.

The Hokies couldn't convert the interception into points and Ryan went 9-for-15 on the final two drives.

For most of the night it looked as if all of BC's high hopes - a national title, a Heisman Trophy for its quarterback - would be washed away on a windy and rainy night.

The first half was played in a steady, soaking rain and neither team could get much going. The Hokies and Eagles combined for seven fumbles, though only one turnover.

The Eagles had a great opportunity to get on the board late in the second quarter, when they recovered a botched snap between Glennon and backup center Matt Welsh, who came in when starter Ryan Shuman went out with a leg injury.

The turnover set up BC at the Virginia Tech 19. The Eagles could only move backward and gave the ball back when Ryan threw incomplete under pressure on fourth-and-24.

Hokies defensive lineman Chris Ellis and Barry Booker harassed Ryan constantly and the Hokies sacked the BC passer three times, half as many as the Eagles had allowed in their first seven games.

Branden Ore rushed for 97 yards on 20 carries for the Hokies against BC's top-ranked run defense, which came in allowing 46 yards per game.

SOURCE: NCAAFOOTBALL.COM