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Boston College Takes Down Rival in Overtime Instant Classic
Rettig was the Hero and the Goat in the BC Victory
Chestnut Hills, Massachusetts--The Boston College Eagle were looking for a win in their final non-conference game of the season against their biggest rival, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This game turned into just what you would expect from a rivalry game. The BC offense set several records, but despite the dominating offensive performance, some key mistakes by BC kept Notre Dame in the game. Chase Rettig threw for a career high 447 yards as the offense amassed over 600 yards of offense, but when it mattered most the defense came though with the biggest plays of the game. The game wouldn't be decided until overtime when a rare defensive TD won the game.
Luke Kuechly has been the Leader of the Defense All Year
Based on how the game went early on it looked like it was going to be a defensive struggle but it quickly turned into something else. Notre Dame got the ball first and was forced to punt the ball but the Eagles could do nothing with it and were forced to punt it back. Notre Dame would get on the board first when Tommy Rees would hit Michael Floyd who would show his strength breaking a couple tackles and taking it in for a 64 yard TD and 7-0 lead. BC would put together a nice drive and move down to the ND 30 at the start of the second quarter. Rettig was rushed into a bad decision and his short pass was intercepted Darius Fleming who returned the ball 70 yards for the Irish touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Things were looking bad for Boston College and they needed a score desperately on their next drive. A long pass to TE Pantale set up BC in good position and eventually Chase Rettig would run it in from 2 yards our for his first rushing touchdown of the season.
Pantale's Big Catch Set BC up in Good Positon
The Eagles would start to take control of the game at this point. Their defense would step up and hold Notre Dame to a 3-and-out giving the ball back to their offense. The drive would start on their 26 yard line. On the first play Rettig would stand in the pocket and find an open Swigert running past the ND defense. Rettig put the ball right on the money and Swigert raced to the endzone tying the game at 14.
Swigert Scores on the Deep Ball
The Boston College defense was looking to get another stop and give the ball back to their offense again. They got two quick stops of the ND offense and were faced with a big third down. Rees dropped back in the pocket but the protection broke down and he was hit in the backfield. The ball came free from Rees' grasp, DT Ramsey scooped it up and ran it in from 13 yards out. For the second week in a row Ramsey came up with a timely fumble recovery and touchdown. With the defensive TD Boston College had its first lead of the game 21-14.
Ramsey has been a Fumble Magnet in the Last Two Games
Notre Dame would try to answer as the clock ran down towards the end of the half. On a big third down play it appeared the Boston College had stopped the Irish but a questionable roughing the passer call kept the drive alive. A couple more third down conversions had ND in striking distance and a pass to HB Wood tied the game up at 21 with one minute left in the half. BC would run out of time on their next drive and we would be in for quite an exciting second half.
Boston College would get the ball to start the half and put together a great drive moving into Notre Dame territory. Rettig would connect with Ifeanyi Momah for a 27 yard touchdown giving the Eagles the lead back at 28-21. The BC defense would come up with another big stop as they had done several times previously in the game. After moving the ball nearly to midfield Montel Harris took a sweep off the left side and out ran the Irish defense for a 53 yard touchdown. Just like that BC had a 35-21 lead and was taking control.
Harris Showed Off his Speed on his Way to the Endzone
Notre Dame was now in a hole and had to have a scoring drive. ND drove to about midfield but the Boston College defense stepped up and held them to a fourth-and-two. The Irish coaching staff had a big decision to make and they decided to go for it to try and take back some momentum. Cierre Wood tried to run the ball to the right but the Boston College defensive stud, Luke Kuechly, ran through the hole and dropped Wood in the backfield for the biggest defensive play of the game so far.
Kuechly Drops Wood in the Backfield
Now Boston College had a chance to put the nail in the coffin and really put Notre Dame in a huge hole. After a quick first down Rettig dropped back to pass and saw an open receiver break across the middle. He fired the pass but it was deflected at the line and fluttered right into the hands of an Irish linebacker who returned the ball all the way to the BC 8 giving the Irish a ray of hope. Notre Dame scored on the next play and suddenly the lead was cut to 7 heading into the fourth quarter. On the very first play of the BC drive Rettig would make a very poor decision and the ND safety would pick it off setting up another Irish touchdown and suddenly it was a tie ball game. BC would need to strike quickly to regain some of the lost momentum and the did just that. Rettig went up top to Momah for a 89 yard TD, Momah's second of the game and Rettig's third.
BC Regains the Lead on this Long TD Pass
The rest of the fourth quarter would continue to be an offensive slugfest as Notre Dame would score twice and Boston College would score once on a Harris touchdown run. The last ND touchdown would tie the game at 49 with about 3 minutes left in the game. After trading punts Boston College would have one last chance at the end of the game. They drove the ball down into position for a 45 yard field goal with three seconds left on the clock. The Freese kick would be up and it had plenty of distance but it drifted to the right towards the end and went off the upright. We would have overtime.
The Final Harris Rushing TD
A distraught Boston College team would have to pull it together quickly after they thought they had a chance to win the game. BC won the toss and would go on defense to start overtime. After a two yard Irish run, a second-and-eight would set up the biggest play of the game and one of the craziest endings to an overtime game you will ever witness. Rees dropped back to pass and saw all his wide outs blanketed so he took off up the middle. After gaining 3 yards FS Jim Noel would step up and deliver a huge blow to Rees knocking the ball free. A BC defender would scoop it up and have found nothing but grass in front of him as he ran it all the way back for the victory. BC would win another thriller and move their record to 7-0. Next they will face another big test when the head to Blacksburg and play the Virginia Tech Hokies. Final: 55-49
Game Winning Fumble Return for a TD
Stats
C. Rettig: 19-32, 447 Yds, 3 TDs
M. Harris: 24 Car, 160 Yds, 2 TDs
I. Momah: 5 Rec, 143 Yds, 2 TDs
B. Swigert: 4 Rec, 127 Yds, 1 TD
