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No. 21 Boston College Upsets No. 13 West Virginia, 36-17
Nov. 13, 2004
By JOHN RABY MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Paul Peterson threw two first-half touchdown passes and No. 21 Boston College returned two punts for scores to beat No. 13 West Virginia 36-17 Saturday. Boston College (7-2, 3-1 Big East) won in Morgantown for the first time since 1990, bolstering its conference title hopes and a possible Bowl Championship Series berth. West Virginia (8-2, 5-1) lost in November for the first time under fourth-year coach Rich Rodriguez. It also had 10-game conference and home winning streaks broken. The Mountaineers squandered a chance to clinch their first BCS bid and a tie for a second straight conference title. It was supposed to be a battle between West Virginia's potent rushing attack and the Big East's top defense. Though West Virginia outgained Boston College 452-243, the contest was decided on special teams. Eagles freshman Ryan Ohliger kicked field goals of 44, 47 and 36 yards. DeJuan Tribble returned a first-quarter punt 41 yards for a score and Will Blackmon went 71 yards for a TD with a punt return in the fourth quarter. They were the first punt returns for scores by the Eagles in two years. Boston College also had several long kickoff returns and pinned West Virginia deep in its own territory on many punts and kickoffs. The Mountaineers fumbled away the second-half kickoff, leading to an Ohliger field goal for a 27-7 lead. West Virginia worked too methodically to mount a comeback. An 18-play drive ended with Marshall's 6-yard scoring pass to Chris Henry at the end of the third quarter. That gave Henry a school-record 12 TD catches this season, breaking the mark of 11 set by Reggie Rembert in 1989. Henry had catches of 41 and 20 yards on West Virginia's next drive, but the Eagles defense stopped the drive inside the BC 10. Brad Cooper kicked a short field goal, but the Mountaineers didn't score again.
Peterson was 18-of-30 for 162 yards, including a 10-yard TD pass to L.V. Whitworth on Boston College's first possession and a 1-yard scoring toss to David Kashetta just before halftime for a 24-7 lead. Marshall went 21-of-35 for 224 yards. Kay-Jay Harris rushed for 112 yards and Marshall had 100 on the ground. |
