After what proved to be a disappointing summer for Boston College athletics, as they were denied a spot in the ACC, something interesting happened on Sunday: B.C. was offered an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference.
As a sidenote, less than 24 hours earlier, despite two weeks off from play, Quinton Porter and the Boston College Football team proved on the field why this invitation was most certainly deserved.
Porter threw for a season high 308 yards, while senior running back Derrick Knight ran for 158 yards, allowing B.C. to coast to a 38-13 win at Temple. For the Eagles, it was their second straight victory as they improve to 4-2 (1-1 Big East) so far during the 2003 campaign.
Entering Saturday, Tom O’Brien’s squad had outscored opponents 56-28 in the first quarter. Following the pattern of scoring early, the Eagles put 21 points on the board in the first 15 minutes, with help from Knight who started the Eagles’ first drive with a run of 34 yards. Just minutes later, senior running back Horace Dodd carried the ball and ran 13 yards into the Temple end zone giving B.C. the early 7-0 advantage.
With Temple threatening on their first possession on the Eagles’ 4 yard line, sophomore cornerback William Blackmon came up big with his third interception of the year, which not only kept Temple off the board, but set up the Eagles’ second offensive drive.
On offense, it was all Knight again, this time with a 42 yard run, setting up Porter’s 16 yard pass to junior wide receiver Grant Adams, and a quick 14-0 lead.
The BC receivers found themselves running the length of the field again in the 1st quarter, as Porter connected this time with sophomore cornerback/ wide receiver Larry Lester over the middle for a 65 yard touchdown strike.
Adding insurance was an 18 yard touchdown reception by senior tight-end Sean Ryan in the third quarter, in addition to a 50 yard touchdown scamper for Dodd in the fourth.
By the end of the day, an exhausted Temple squad had been routed at Lincoln Financial Field, giving up 38 points on the afternoon- the largest amount of points the Owls have allowed all season, as they dropped to a dismal 1-5 (0-1 Big East).
For the Eagles, they haven’t loss to Temple since 1999 and Saturday’s game was the last time these teams will meet for awhile. Temple has been voted out of the Big East for the 2004 season and B.C. looks to be playing its conference games withing the ACC by 2005 at the latest.
Orange Notes
For the second time this season Tom O’Brien’s squad is on the verge of a winning streak. They travel to the Carrier Dome to play Syracuse University on Saturday for a 12 p.m. kickoff. The Orangemen are coming off of a 51-7 loss to 4th ranked Virginia Tech and come into the week at 3-2 overall.
Derrick Knight may make headlines once again. Rushing for over 100 yards for the fifth time this season on Saturday, Knight leads the nation in rushing with 886 yards on the ground. Look for this to be a big day for him, as he is now only 114 shy of the 1,000 yard plateau. He would become the sixth consecutive BC rusher with over 1,000 yards in a season.