No. 23 Virginia Tech rolls over BC, 40-14

Boston College played giveaway on the road to the best rushing team in the ACC.

The Eagles committed five turnovers — three fumbles and two interceptions — and finished on the business end of a 40-14 decision against No. 23 Virginia Tech on Saturday night at Lane Stadium. BC fell to 3-2 overall, 2-2 in the ACC and will host Georgia Tech next Saturday.

“They showed me they can play with anybody but they turned the ball over five times,” said BC coach Jeff Hafley. “They scored 20 points off of turnovers and you can’t beat anybody when you turn the ball over five times.”

The Hokies rushing tandem of quarterback Hendon Hooker and tailback Khalil Herbert overwhelmed the BC defense. Hooker had 18 carries for 164 yards, the most by a Hokies quarterback since Michael Vick racked up 200 in 2000, and three touchdowns.

Hooker completed 11 of 15 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Herbert had 18 carries for 143 yards while the Hokies amassed 350 yards on the ground.

“They had two pretty good backs and we did not do a good job stopping the run and a lot of those plays turned into explosives which cost us the game,” said linebacker Max Richardson.

BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec continued to make program history despite the loss. The redshirt sophomore transfer from Notre Dame completed 21-of-58 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns with two picks and a lost fumble. Jurkovec is the only BC quarterback to throw for over 300 yards in four of his first five starts.

“I’m going to take it as motivation but also realizing how important the ball is with the turnovers,” said Jurkovec. “You can’t do that as a quarterback.”

BC appeared to atone for its haphazard play in the first half with a precision drive on its opening possession of the third quarter.

Jurkovec converted on a fourth-and-7 with a 16-yard pass to Jehlani Galloway to extend the drive. BC cut Tech’s lead to 17-14 on a pass down the middle to tight end Hunter Long for his third score of the season.

The Hokies responded with a 79-yard scoring drive. Herbert made the big gain with a 57-yard scamper down the left sideline to the BC 21. Hooker completed the trip with a five-yard run up the middle to make it 24-14.

BC’s failure to protect the football transitioned over into the second half when tailback Travis Levy was stripped on the Eagles’ 17 with 3:24 to play in the third.

The Eagles defense minimized the damage by holding the Hokies to a 28-yard field goal by Brian Johnson. The Hokies put the game out of reach on a 28-yard touchdown run by Raheem Blackshear that made it 33-14 with 13:44 remaining.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2T55rzS