Nov. 6, 2004

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By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer

BOSTON - Paul Peterson scored on a 1-yard run and threw for a touchdown to lead No. 24 Boston College to a 21-10 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.

Peterson was 22-of-38 for 296 yards for BC (6-2, 2-1 Big East), but also fumbled once and threw two interceptions. The Eagles, who moved into the rankings for the first time since the 2001 season after beating Notre Dame on Oct. 23, are eligible for a bowl game for the sixth consecutive season.

Ryan Hart completed 29 of 43 passes for 302 yards - his fifth game of the year over 300 yards. But he also had three interceptions as Rutgers (4-5, 1-4) lost for the third consecutive week, and for the second week in a row to a ranked opponent.

The Scarlet Knights lost last week to No. 15 West Virginia, which hosts BC next Saturday. Since beating Boston College in the Big East's first game, Rutgers is 0-12-1 against the Eagles; BC is leaving the conference for the Atlantic Coast Conference next year.

On a day when BC wore throwback uniforms from 1984 - the year of Doug Flutie's last-second touchdown pass to Gerald Phelan to beat Miami - the Eagles didn't need any luck.

BC took the lead on the fifth play of the game when Mathias Kiwanuka intercepted Hart at the Rutgers 32 and ran it in, stretching to put the ball over the goal line. But the Eagles couldn't expand their lead in the first half despite plenty of chances.

On BC's first drive, Peterson scrambled and found Grant Adams at the 5, but he dropped the pass. Ryan Ohliger's 34-yard field-goal attempt was wide to the right.

In the second quarter, BC had a first-and-goal from the 3 but couldn't score. Peterson couldn't connect with Adams on first down; Andre Callender ran it to the 1 and then Callender couldn't punch it in on third or fourth down.

Joe Porter intercepted Peterson's pass on the first drive of the second half, but Rutgers could only get to the 37 before Jeremy Ito missed a 55-yard field-goal attempt, short and to the right.

On BC's next possession, Peterson tried to scramble free but lost the ball after an 18-yard sack, giving Rutgers the ball on the BC 32. Ito converted a 24-yard field goal to give the Scarlet Knights a 10-7 lead.

It was their only lead of the game and it only lasted 75 seconds.

On BC's next possession, Peterson hit Adams for 20 yards to the Rutgers 27 and then found Larry Lester at the 2, in the corner.

Lester fumbled when he was hit but, in reaching for the ball, he knocked it out of bounds at the 1. A misconduct penalty moved it even closer before Peterson took it in on a sneak to make it 14-10 with 3:42 left in the third quarter.

BC made it 21-10 when Peterson hit David Kashetta for a 13-yard touchdown with 13:31 left in the game. On the two drives after Rutgers took the lead, Peterson was 8-for-10 for 118 yards and two TDs - one running and one passing.