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NC State stuns Boston College on late touchdown pass

Sep 24, 2006 - 3:34 AM RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- After playing with fire the last two weeks, Boston College finally got burned.

Josh Dunlap made a sensational 34-yard touchdown reception with eight seconds left as North Carolina State rallied to stun the 20th-ranked Eagles, 17-15, in an Atlantic Coast Conference thriller.

Brian Toal rushed for a three-yard touchdown with 12:55 left in the fourth quarter to give Boston College a 15-10 lead. The conversion pass failed, meaning the Wolfpack could win it with a late touchdown - and that's exactly what they did.

After completing several passes to in the final minute to move the ball over midfield, Daniel Evans escaped the Eagles' pass rush and launched a heave into the back right corner of the end zone.

Dunlap outjumped DeJuan Tribble and juggled briefly before holding on despite a vicious pop from Paul Anderson. The remarkable play allowed NC State (2-2, 1-0 ACC Atlantic) to avoid a three-game losing streak and handed BC (3-1, 1-1 Atlantic) a defeat that it narrowly avoided each of the last two contests.

Two weeks ago, the Eagles edged Clemson, 34-33, in two overtimes in their league opener. Last weekend, Boston College again needed two extra sessions, this time to defeat BYU, 30-23.

Making his first career start, Evans completed 15-of-31 passes for 179 yards with one touchdown and one interception. But despite unspectacular stats for most of the game, the sophomore raised his performance to a new level in the final minute.

Boston College appeared to have the game in hand after intercepting Evans at the NC State 35 with 3:08 remaining. But the Wolfpack defense held its ground, stopping Toal on a fourth-down run to get the ball back at their own 28 with 46 seconds left.

Evans promptly found Anthony Hill for an 18-yard gain to midfield and then hooked up with Dunlap along the left sideline for a 20-yard pickup. Without a timeout, Evans calmly organized the offense and spiked the ball to set up the game-winning play.

Andre Brown rushed 13 times for 97 yards, including a 26-yard TD scamper in the third quarter, for the Wolfpack.

Boston College's Matt Ryan was 13-of-25 for 150 yards. He found Tony Gonzalez for a 22-yard TD pass in the first quarter, but kicker Ryan Ohliger - who has failed the Eagles on several occasions in recent weeks - missed the extra point, forcing his team to go for the conversion later on.

L.V. Whitworth carried 21 times for 107 yards for BC, which fell to 2-2 in the all-time series.