Sep 16, 2007, 4:41 GMT
Atlanta, GA - Matt Ryan threw for a career-best 435 yards and one touchdown on 30-of-44 passing as 21st-ranked Boston College topped 15th- ranked Georgia Tech, 24-10, in an ACC tussle at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
L.V. Whitworth rushed 12 times for 48 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Eagles (3-0, 3-0 ACC), who began a season 3-0 for the second straight season and for the third time in four years. Brandon Robinson caught five balls for 128 yards and a score.
'I don't know if this was a statement game or not, but I told the kids that to come on the road, at night, to play a top-ranked football team, they played hard,' BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski said. 'I told them from the beginning that this is a special group.'
Taylor Bennett completed 20-of-39 passes for 204 yards for the Yellow Jackets (2-1, 0-1), who were held to just 63 yards rushing. Jonathan Dwyer added a touchdown run and Demaryius Thomas added five catches for 68 yards in defeat. Tashard Choice was held in check by a tough BC defense, rushing for 31 yards on 15 carries before leaving the game late with a hamstring injury.
'I thought he got better,' Georgia Tech head coach Chan Gailey said of Bennett. 'He's not arrived, but I thought he did a lot of things, throwing the ball than he did in previous games. We will gain something from this game in that respect. But we've got a lot of work to do in some other areas to get where we'd like to be at the end.'
Down by three touchdowns, Georgia Tech finally got on track late in the third on a 10-play, 47-yard drive which spanned the third and fourth stanzas. Dwyer rolled in for a two-yard TD and Tech was within 21-7. The drive was helped by a pass interference call which put the ball on the Eagles' two-yard- line.
After holding BC on their ensuing possession, the Yellow Jackets came within 21-10 on a 32-yard field goal by Travis Bell. Thomas' 43-yard catch over Dajuan Tribble helped set up the score and was Tech's longest play from scrimmage to that point.
Steve Aponavicius hit a 22-yard field goal with just over six minutes to play and BC restored its 14-point lead. The Eagles then shut down their hosts and protected the ball down the stretch to ice the win.
BC was successful on its first drive of the game, an 11-play, 95-yard march ending when Whitworth plunged in from one yard out for a 7-0 lead.
It was 14-0 for the Eagles 4:41 into the second quarter when Robinson made a great over-the-shoulder catch for a 39-yard touchdown.
The Eagles went up 21-0 with 6:03 left in the third quarter on Whitworth's 16-yard touchdown run. BC sliced through the Tech defense on a five-play, 82- yard drive.
Game Notes
BC rolled up 527 yards of total offense...It was Ryan's third 400-yard passing performance, and eclipsed his previous best set against Wake Forest last Saturday...Choice had recorded nine straight 100-yard games...The teams had not met since a 41-31 Boston College win in Atlanta in September, 1998...Tech still leads the all-time series, 4-2...BC hosts Army next Saturday, and Georgia Tech travels to Virginia also next Saturday.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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