Wake Forest

Nov. 22, 2008

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Boston College (8-3, 4-3 ACC) quarterback Dominique Davis snuck the ball into the end zone with 1:12 left in the game to give the Eagles a 24-21 victory over Wake Forest (6-5, 4-4 ACC) at BB&T Field.

The game was dominated by both defenses as neither team managed 250 yards of total offense. The Eagles had 234 yards of total offense, while Wake Forest managed 191 yards, the lowest total yard output for Wake Forest under head coach Jim Grobe. The teams combined for 17 punts in the game and three of the five touchdowns in the game were scored by the defense.

Davis, who came in when Crane was injured in the second quarter, engineered a late fourth quarter drive to give the Eagles the win. On 3rd-and-13, Davis completed a pass to Rich Gunnell for 36 yards down to the Wake Forest 22-yard line. Two plays later, Davis found Brandon Robinson over the middle on a 21-yard pass to the 1-yard line. Davis snuck the ball into the endzone from 1-yard out to give the Eagles a 22-21 lead. Montel Harris ran the ball into the endzone on the 2-point conversion play to make the BC lead 24-21 with 1:12 left in the game.

Wake Forest attempted a comeback on its last offensive drive of the game. On the first play of the possession, Skinner found Boldin on a 24-yard completion to the Boston College 44-yard line. Skinner advanced the ball down the 39-yard line on the next play. However, Skinner's next three passes were incomplete and Boston College took over on downs with 29 seconds left and ran out the remainder of the clock.

After Wake Forest was forced to punt on its opening possession, Boston College drove the ball down the field 30 yards on nine plays. The Eagles picked up two first downs on the possession, but Matt Robinson was able to stop the drive on 3rd-and-3 at the Wake Forest 8-yard line by sacking Chris Crane. Steve Aponavicius completed the possession with a 32 yard field goal to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead with 8:21 left in the first quarter.

On the next Boston College offensive possession, the Wake Forest defense forced its first turnover of the contest. On a 2nd-and-6 at the Deacon 28-yard line, Alphonso Smith hit Crane, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Aaron Curry to give the Deacs the ball at their own 30-yard line. Wake Forest was unable to convert on the turnover as the Deacs went 3-and-out on the ensuing possession.

The Eagles extended their lead to 6-0 with 8:13 remaining in the second quarter. Boston College picked up four first downs on the drive, but the Wake Forest defense again stiffened up in the red zone, forcing a 30-yard field goal. Aponavicius converted for the second time today to extend the lead to six.

Wake Forest committed its first turnover on its next drive as Riley Skinner threw an interception to Matt Herzlich. Herzlich returned the pick 34 yards to the end zone to give Boston College a 13-0 lead with 7:33 left in the second quarter.

After Wake Forest was forced to punt for the fourth time in the game, the Deacon defense again stepped up to make a play. On a 2nd-and-10 at the Boston College 15-yard line, Smith forced his second fumble of the game, hitting quarterback Dominique Davis. Kevin Patterson recovered the fumble at the 15-yard line and returned it to the endzone for a touchdown to cut the lead to 13-7 with 4:10 left in the second quarter.

Herzlich again made a play for the Boston College defense near the end of the second quarter as he recorded his second interception of the day. Herzlich returned the ball 26 yards to the Wake Forest 16-yard line setting up the Eagles with quality field position. The Eagles were unable to get anything going offensively as Aponavicius made his third field goal of the game to give Boston College a 16-7 lead with 29 seconds remaining in the half.

Boston College controlled the game statistically in the first half, out-gaining Wake Forest 148-46 in the first 30 minutes. The Eagles had nine first downs in the opening half, while the Deacs had just three.

Wake Forest trimmed the lead to two on BC's first offensive play of the second half. Brandon Ghee sacked Davis, forcing a fumble. Kyle Wilber recovered the ball at the 2-yard line and dove into the endzone to make the score 16-14 with 14:46 left in the third quarter.

Neither team was able to generate much offense in the third quarter as the two teams combined for five punts in the quarter.

The Wake Forest special teams made a play on BC's first punt of the fourth quarter. Gelo Orange blocked Ryan Quigley's punt and Alphonso Smith recovered the punt at the Boston College 1-yard line.

The Deacons turned the block punt into seven points a play later when Skinner found Rich Belton wide open on a play action pass to the right side of the endzone to give Wake Forest its first lead of the game, 21-16 with 12:33 left in the fourth quarter.

Wake Forest was able to drive the ball into scoring position again midway through the fourth quarter. The Deacons drove the ball down to the BC 30-yard line where Sam Swank, who had missed the previous six weeks, missed a field goal wide left to keep the score 21-16 with 4:57 to play in the game.

Wake Forest closes out the regular season at home next week against Vanderbilt. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) and the game will be shown live on ESPNU.