• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Boston College extends perfect start with tight win over UMass

Sep 29, 2007 - 10:44 PM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor

CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Andre Callender rushed for two touchdowns and Matt Ryan threw for one as No. 12 Boston College managed to hold off Massachusetts, 24-14, on Saturday.

The Eagles improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1954 and for just the seventh time in the program's 107-year history.

UMass (4-1) was denied its first 5-0 start since 1975.

"I knew (the Minutemen) were going to play hard," Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski said. "That's a team that has a lot of (Football Bowl Subdivision) transfers in it. That have 17 of them.

"So to say that's a (FCS) team, they're a lot better than a (FCS) team, and they showed that today."

Callender rushed for 115 yards on 32 carries and also chipped in four receptions for 20 yards.

"I definitely didn't think I had that many (carries)," Callender said. "It was a game that was played more sloppily on our side."

Much of the sloppy play came from Ryan, who completed 24-of-42 attempts for 204 yards and an interception. His favorite target was Rich Gunnell, who had 97 yards on six catches.

"There's nothing else that matters besides winning," Ryan said. "We'll look at the tape tomorrow and learn from it."

Boston College took control of the game late in the second quarter with a 13-play, 96-yard drive that concluded when Ryan found Justin Jarvis from nine yards out to give the Eagles a 17-0 cushion.

"You can't go that long a drive without guys making plays and converting third downs," Jagodzinski said. "That says something about your offensive football team when you can control the game that way."

For the second straight week, B.C. dominated the opponent on the scoreboard and in the stat column in the first half. The Eagles had 17 first downs while holding UMass to just five, outgaining the Minutemen 196-66 in total yardage.

But unlike it's lopsided win over Army last week, Boston College could not put UMass away in this one.

"That was a four-quarter game we played," Jagodzinski said. "I talked to our kids all week about playing for four quarters."

"We just kept grinding, making plays," Ryan added. "It was four quarters worth of football that we played, and we played until the end."

The Minutemen took advantage of a poor punt from Johnny Ayers to put their first points on the board in the third. Starting at the Eagles 41-yard line, Liam Coen found a streaking Rasheed Rancher down the right sideline for a touchdown on the first play following the punt.

Later in the third, Coen found Jeremy Horne on a slant at the B.C. 20. Horne broke a tackle and sprinted into the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown, drawing UMass to within 17-14.

Boston College responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive and regained its 10-point lead when Callender ran up the middle for a four-yard score.

Coen went 12-for-21 for 151 yards and a pair of scores for UMass, which committed 17 penalties.

"We didn't execute as well as we needed in the first half," UMass coach Don Brown said. "We put ourselves in a huge hole."