For about 56 minutes, the defense was the only unit that showed up on a soggy Boston Saturday. The Eagles’ defense kept them within striking distance until Coach Tom O’Brien pulled the plug on senior quarterback Quinton Porter for the day with only 3:36 remaining in the game.
Porter struggled for much of the day in the wet conditions. He certainly was not helped by his receiving corps which dropped eight passes on the day, led by Larry Lester with four. Porter looked frustrated all day which was best exemplified on his touchdown pass to Chris Miller. Porter actually threw the ball right into the arms of Wake Forest linebacker Jon Abbate. He got a very lucky bounce as the ball deflected off of Abbate’s arms and into the hands of Miller.
Although Porter was responsible for four of the five BC turnovers, he was asked to carry the load in the sub-par conditions. The running game never got going and was abandoned early and the Eagles threw the ball a stunning 50 times in the rain.
The turnovers put the defense up against it all day. They did a nice job limiting Wake Forest to a few field goals when they had the short field. Wake Forest only had one scoring drive of over 28 yards. They drove 61 yards in seven plays in the second quarter, but that was the only drive you could hang on the defense. The other scoring drives for Wake consisted of 28 yards, one yard, one yard, nine yards and a 29-yard interception return for touchdown.
Even with all of the sloppy play, starting with the opening kickoff fumble by Andre Callender, the Eagles still had a shot to win with three minutes to play. Sophomore Matt Ryan, known as "Matty Ice," came into the game and gave his team an instant spark, living up to his nickname. Ryan moved his team right down the field with calm and composure; he capped the drive with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was flagged for a debatable excessive celebration call after the touchdown which cost the Eagles 15 yards on the kickoff. The defense did their job and got Ryan and the offense the ball back with 1:50 remaining on the clock. The offense only needed 38 seconds to drive 80 yards and go in for the go-ahead touchdown.
Kevin Challenger reeled in the 26-yard pass from Ryan and worked some magic along the sideline to make the catch. The field judge originally called it incomplete but changed his call after meeting with the back judge. The ruling was upheld by the video replay.
The game was not over for the Eagles as the defense still had more work to do. Wake started their drive with a 22-yard completion, but the defense clamped down after that. Ricky Brown was the leader on the final drive, fighting off blockers and making two huge tackles to prevent further damage. Wake dropped back for a prayer on the last play, but Cory Randolph was unable to get a pass off as he was wrapped up by sophomore Nick Larkin.
The underclassmen stepped it up on a day when they were sorely needed. Both Gonzalez and Challenger stepped in and made up for the ineffectiveness of Larry Lester and William Blackmon. The defensive line played a great game without their two senior leaders and in the midst of a rash of injuries. Ryan’s relief effort of Porter is one that will be remembered for awhile, and it creates a bit of a quarterback controversy heading into Blacksburg.
There are several questions for the Eagles heading into a showdown with Virginia Tech though, none more alarming than the play of the special teams. Johnny Ayers had yet another punt blocked as he continues to take an agonizing amount of time to get punts away. Callender as mentioned fumbled the opening kickoff and Blackmon has not been the returner he was last year. Blackmon has made some questionable decisions on the punt returns as he sometimes looks lost and unable to make a quick decision back there. He has not been helped as the Eagle’s other punt returner Dejuan Tribble has been slowed by injury over the past couple of weeks and is not healthy enough to return punts yet. As the Eagles head in to face one of the most vaunted special teams units in the country, they will have to make many adjustments if they want to have a chance to beat Virginia Tech.
Roughly about 56 minutes of this game is something most fans will not want to remember. The last 3:36 showed just how explosive this team can be when they are allowed to be turned loose. That is something they are going to have to carry down to Blacksburg if they want to continue their quest for an ACC championship.
The Eagles will be in action on Thursday October 27th against #3 Virginia Tech on ESPN.