Saturday, September 23
Clemson, S.C.
3:30 PM
Boston College
1-3 , 0-2
7
at
34
Clemson
4-0 , 2-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Boston College
0
0
7
0
7
Clemson
0
7
0
27
34
Photo by: Todd Drexler
Recap: No. 2 Clemson 34, Boston College 7
September 23, 2017 | Football
Eagles hold the defending national champions to just a TD through three quarters
CLEMSON, S.C. –  Boston College and No. 2 Clemson entered the fourth quarter tied 7-7, but the defending National Champion Tigers outscored the Eagles 27-0 in the final quarter to claim a 34-7 win at Memorial Stadium.
Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant converted 17-26 passes and rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns and Travis Etienne rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tigers to victory.
Freshman running back AJ Dillon recorded his first career touchdown and junior defensive back Lukas Denis had a team-high 13 tackles while catching his team-leading third interception of the season. Senior punter Mike Knoll placed six balls inside the 20-yard line to give the Eagles' defense strong field position throughout.
Today's game marked the first time that Clemson was tied or trailing entering the fourth quarter versus an unranked team since 2013. Boston College was the last time to achieve that feat.Â
GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 2 Clemson 34, Boston College 7
Records: Boston College (1-3, 0-2 ACC), Clemson (4-0, 2-0 ACC)
Location: Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C.
Attendance: 80,525
Time of Game: 3:08Â
Weather: 88 degrees, Mostly sunny, winds SE 8mph
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BC HIGHLIGHTS
KEY MOMENT
HOW IT HAPPENED
UP NEXT
The Eagles return to action against Central Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m in Chestnut Hill, Mass. ACC Network Extra will have the broadcast and it will be carried on radio by the Boston College IMG Sports Network.Â
Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant converted 17-26 passes and rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns and Travis Etienne rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tigers to victory.
Freshman running back AJ Dillon recorded his first career touchdown and junior defensive back Lukas Denis had a team-high 13 tackles while catching his team-leading third interception of the season. Senior punter Mike Knoll placed six balls inside the 20-yard line to give the Eagles' defense strong field position throughout.
Today's game marked the first time that Clemson was tied or trailing entering the fourth quarter versus an unranked team since 2013. Boston College was the last time to achieve that feat.Â
GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 2 Clemson 34, Boston College 7
Records: Boston College (1-3, 0-2 ACC), Clemson (4-0, 2-0 ACC)
Location: Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C.
Attendance: 80,525
Time of Game: 3:08Â
Weather: 88 degrees, Mostly sunny, winds SE 8mph
Â
BC HIGHLIGHTS
- Senior defensive back Isaac Yiadom intercepted his second career pass in the first quarter when senior defensive end Harold Landry forced pressure on Kelly Bryant.Â
- Senior punter Mike Knoll averaged 42.7 yards per punt and punted six balls inside the 20-yard line.Â
- Junior defensive back Lukas Denis recorded a team-high and career-high 13 tackles. He also recorded his team-leading third interception of the season in the third quarter and fourth interception of his career.Â
- Junior tight end Tommy Sweeney recorded a season high four catches for 52 receiving yards. Â
- Freshman running back AJ Dillon rushed for a team-leading 57 yards and recorded his first career touchdown.Â
- Junior wide receiver Jeff Smith converted four catches for a team-leading 58 yards.
- Senior linebacker Ty Schwab recorded a career-high 11 tackles and a career-high 1.5 sacks.Â
KEY MOMENT
- With BC and Clemson tied at 7-7 entering the fourth quarter, the Tigers completed a 67-yard touchdown drive down the field. Bryant rushed for 10 yards to set Clemson up at the BC 29-yard line. Bryant converted a 23-yard pass to Diondre Overton to give the Tigers the ball at the six-yard line. Adam Choice scored on a six-yard rush to give Clemson a 14-7 lead.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After a series of runs down the field that included a nine-yard rush by Travis Etienne and 10-yard rush by Kelly Bryant, the Tigers scored the first touchdown of the game off Bryant's 11-yard run to take a 7-0 lead at 7:16 in the second quarter.
- After converting on fourth-and-two, Hilliman had an 11-yard rush to set up the Eagles at the Clemson 18-yard line. Dillon rushed for 12 more yards to bring  BC to the 1-yard line. Dillon scampered into the end zone for a 1yard touchdown run to tie the score at 7-7 with 3:30 left to play in the third quarter.Â
- In the fourth quarter, Bryant converted a 23-yard pass to Diondre Overton to set the Tigers up at the Eagles' 6-yard line. Adam Choice rushed for six yards for the touchdown to give Clemson a 14-7 lead at 11:59.Â
- With the snap at the 50-yard line, Travis Etienne's second-and-7 50-yard touchdown rush pushed the score to 21-7 with 5:41 left to play.
- Ray-Ray McCloud had a 56-yard punt return to set up the Tigers at the BC 24-yard line. After converting a 13-yard pass to Cornell Powell, Bryant rushed for a 4-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 27-7 lead at 2:50.Â
- One second-and-2, A.J. Terrell intercepted Darius Wade to give the Tigers the ball at the Eagles 41-yard line with 2:22 left. Etienne rushed for 18 yards to the BC 17-yard line and two plays later, had a 10-yard touchdown run with 0:52 to play to give Clemson the 34-7 victory.
UP NEXT
The Eagles return to action against Central Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m in Chestnut Hill, Mass. ACC Network Extra will have the broadcast and it will be carried on radio by the Boston College IMG Sports Network.Â
Team Stats
BC
CU
Total Yards
238
482
Pass Yards
141
140
Rushing Yards
97
342
Penalty Yards
20
10
1st Downs
12
27
3rd Downs
4
8
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
25:04
34:56
2nd Quarter
BC 0, CU 7
CU - K. BRYANT 11 yd run (AL. SPENCE kick), 13 plays, 94 yards, TOP 5:56
3rd Quarter
BC 7, CU 7
BC - Dillon,A 1 yd run (Lichtenberg,C kick), 8 plays, 37 yards, TOP 3:05
4th Quarter
BC 7, CU 14
CU - CHOICE 6 yd run (AL. SPENCE kick), 10 plays, 67 yards, TOP 3:11
BC 7, CU 21
CU - ETIENNE 50 yd run (AL. SPENCE kick), 9 plays, 90 yards, TOP 4:15
BC 7, CU 27
CU - K. BRYANT 4 yd run (AL. SPENCE kickfailed), 5 plays, 24 yards, TOP 1:36
BC 7, CU 34
CU - ETIENNE 10 yd run (AL. SPENCE kick), 4 plays, 41 yards, TOP 1:30
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
14
TD
0
YDS
133
INT
1
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
8
INT
1
Players Mentioned
DB
/ Football
K/P
/ Football
DE
/ Football
WR
/ Football
TE
/ Football
QB
/ Football
DB
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