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Davis replaces Crane, leads Boston College to win

Nov 23, 2008 - 2:20 AM WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Freshman quarterback Dominique Davis made Boston College fans forget about his early mistakes.

Davis powered into the end zone from 1 yard out with 72 seconds left to lift 25th-ranked Boston College to a 24-21 comeback victory over Wake Forest on Saturday.

Davis, who replaced injured starter Chris Crane early in the second quarter, completed 13-of-23 passes for 103 yards. Despite limited playing in just two games this season, Davis helped keep the Golden Eagles' hope of an ACC championship alive.

"It's just finding a way to win," Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski said. "We talked to our kids last night about that. That's why BC is the way it is, we find a way to win."

Safety Kevin Patterson and defensive end Kyle Wilber each had fumble returns for scores and a blocked punt set up Riley Skinner's 1-yard, go-ahead TD pass to Rich Belton for the Demon Deacons (6-5, 4-4 ACC Atlantic).

Davis was not deterred, orchestrating Boston College (8-3, 4-3) on a nine-play, 70-yard drive. He completed a 36-yard pass to Rich Gunnell on third-and-long before setting up his short rushing score with a 21-yard toss to Brandon Robinson.

"We called 'take off' at the end and made that really good play on third down," Jagodzinski said. "The conversion was huge. Then we went 'take off' two times in a row and then we made a play at the end."

"We're pretty down right now," Patterson said. "We expected to get off the field and give our offense a stop. We just have to keep our head up and get ready for Vanderbilt."

On the ensuing drive, Skinner failed to complete a fourth-down pass with 27 seconds, securing the win for the Golden Eagles.

"We were just too far out; we needed to get the first down, but we just couldn't do it," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. "Anytime Riley is in there, you feel pretty good about your chances, but we just couldn't make it happen."

Linebacker Mark Herzlich made two interceptions, including one that was returned 34 yards for a touchdown to give Boston College a 13-0 edge midway through the second quarter.

"They were doing a lot. They were probably the best defense we've played all year," Skinner said. "They brought a lot of heat and schemed us up pretty well."

Both offenses were largely ineffective for most of the contest, but the Golden Eagles suffered a huge blow when Crane was injured on a 13-yard rush.

"You are only in deep trouble if you don't play the full 60 minutes," Jagodzinski said. "That's what you have to do. You have to keep slugging even if it doesn't look good. You can't look at your circumstances."

With just over four minutes left in the half, Davis fumbled after trying to scramble, and the ball bounced right into the hands of Patterson, who raced 15 yards to the end zone to cut the deficit to 13-7.

The second half did not get off to a great start for Davis, who was sacked and fumbled on the first play from scrimmage. Wilbur chased the ball down, picked it up at the 2-yard-line and dove into the end zone to cut Boston College's lead to 16-14.

Another ineffective drive led to disaster early in the fourth quarter when Wake Forest blocked a punt that Alphonso Smith recovered and took down to the 1-yard line. The Demon Deacons scored on the next play.

Wake Forest senior Sam Swank missed a 47-yard field goal with 4:57 to play before Davis' heroics.

"The only thing we thought about was to go for it," Grobe said. "We felt like if we could get to three the points, we go up by eight and that's pretty comfortable. If we punt the thing, I was afraid about punting it into the end zone."