Wake Forest University
Boston College
Demon Deacon Rally Falls Short in Overtime
9/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 26, 2009
CHESTNUT HILL, MASS - Wake Forest rallied from a 24-10 fourth quarter deficit to force overtime but Boston College booted a 23-yard field goal and recovered a fumble to post a 27-24 win over the Deacons Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
The Deacons were down 24-10 with 5:07 to play in the game following Dave Shinskie's third touchdown pass of the game. The Boston College (3-1, 1-1 ACC) quarterback made his first career start and finished 18 of 29 for 227 yards with three touchdown passes.
Wake quarterback Riley Skinner threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final four minutes of regulation, including the game-tying score with just 11 seconds to play. Skinner completed 25 of 34 passes for a career-high 354 yards on the afternoon.
With BC holding a 24-10 lead with just over seven minutes remaining, Skinner led the Deacons on a six play, 67-yard drive and drew the Deacons to within seven with a 12-yard scoring pass to Chris Givens with 3:44 left to play.
The Wake Forest (2-2, 0-1 ACC) defense allowed the Eagles one first down on the ensuing possession but stiffened and forced a punt with 1:36 left in the game. Skinner then took the Deacons 80 yards in 10 plays, throwing the game-tying 16-yard touchdown pass to Marshall Williams with 11 seconds to play. Jimmy Newman's PAT sent the game into overtime.
Williams finished the game with career-highs of 12 catches for 180 yards.
Heading to overtime, Wake Forest won the toss and chose to play defense. Boston College was forced to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Steve Aponavicius and a 27-24 lead.
On Wake's possession, Brandon Pendergrass went to work, ripping off a pair of nine-yard runs to move the ball to the BC 6. On second and 1, Skinner drove straight ahead to the three. With a first and goal at the three, Skinner rolled to his left and looked to hand the ball off. But without a back in the area, Skinner kept the ball and had it stripped by Isaac Johnson. Wes Davis recovered the ball for BC at the eight to seal the Eagle win.
"It was (a) busted (play)," said head coach Jim Grobe. "We were going to run off tackle. When Riley came off of it, the worst thing that could happen (did). I told the team that it had very little to do with Brandon and Riley. We did that throughout the game. We could have been in a position where that didn't matter. We had plenty of opportunities where we didn't have to go to overtime."
The Deacons committed a season-high 10 penalties for 82 yards. It was the most times Wake Forest had been penalized in a game since 2007. The Deacons also committed three turnovers with Skinner throwing an interception and fumbling twice.
"I thought we played as undisciplined as we've (ever) played," said Grobe. "There were motion penalties, procedure penalties that took us out of drives. On the defensive side, there were times our kids had a hard time getting lined up. We didn't cover as well as we're capable of. If you go position by position, we just didn't show a lot of discipline."
Boston College jumped to an early 10-0 lead. Wake Forest punted on its first possession and BC was able to capitalize, driving to the Wake Forest 15 before Aponavicius connected on a 32-yard field goal with 7:13 to play in the first quarter for a 3-0 BC lead.
On the ensuing drive, the Deacons reached the BC 18 before being pushed into a fourth-and-25 from the BC 33. Going for it on fourth down, Skinner was sacked and his fumble gave the Eagles the ball at their own 38. Three plays later, Shinskie threw a 50-yard scoring pass to Jordon McMichael that put the Eagles ahead 10-0 with 1:50 to play in the first quarter.
Following the kickoff, Wake Forest was backed up at its own five before Skinner converted a third-and-14 with a 58-yard pass to Devon Brown that put the Deacons into BC territory. After the drive stalled at the 34, Jimmy Newman was called upon to try a 51-yard field goal that came up short.
After forcing the Eagles to punt, the Deacons took over at their own 24 and on the first play, Pendergrass sprinted 76 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 10-7. It was the longest run by a Deacon since Josh Adams scored on an 83-yard run against Florida State in 2007. It also ranks as the ninth-longest run in school history.
Mike Williams intercepted Shinskie's pass on the next possession. Wake Forest reached the BC six when Newman booted a 23-yard field goal with 5:43 to play in the half that tied the game at 10.
Boston College was able to tack on a late touchdown to take a 17-10 lead to the locker room. Shinskie drove the Eagles 80 yards in 12 plays before throwing a four-yard scoring pass to tight end Chris Pantale.
The two teams played a scoreless third quarter as both teams punted the ball away on each of their three possessions.
Boston College controlled the ball and held a 17-10 lead entering the fourth quarter. The Deacons appeared to have BC on the ropes. On a third-and-33, the Eagles were able to convert when the Deacons were called for pass interference. The Eagles went up 24-10 when Shinskie found a sliding Colin Larmond in the end zone for a 16-yard scoring pass with 9:42 to play in the game.
Skinner then started to work the magic that has helped him rally the Deacons to game-winning drives seven times during his storied career. Starting at their own 33, the Deacons needed just six plays and 1:23 to score when Skinner hit Chris Givens on a 12-yard scoring pass.
The defense forced BC to punt and Wake started its final drive on its own 20 with 1:46 to play in the game. Skinner hit Brown on a 15-yard gain and a first down but a holding penalty on the next play brought the ball back to the Wake 25. Skinner then found Williams open for a 31-yard gain to the BC 44. Williams was able to get out of bounds to stop the clock. An 11-yard pass to Danny Dembry moved the ball to the BC 33 before Cameron Ford tiptoed down the sideline with a three-yard gain to the 30.
Skinner hit Givens with a short pass for a first down at the BC 22 and followed that with a six-yard pass to Marshall Williams to put the Deacons at the BC 16. Skinner then hit a wide-open Williams in the end zone with 11 seconds left to tie the game.
"I thought our kids did everything but win the game," said Grobe. "The key for us, as coaches, we've got to figure out how to get our guys to play full speed and not beat ourselves. I don't want to take anything away from BC, but time after time we killed drives on offense with dumb mistakes. On defense, we had them stopped but let them off. We'll all accept the responsibility for the loss.
"The good news is the kids showed a lot of heart. As poorly as we played, we gave ourselves a chance to win in a hostile environment."
Wake Forest will return to BB&T Field for its next two games. The Deacons host NC State on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 3:30 p.m.
