No. 19 Clemson outlasted Boston College on Saturday to avoid its first losing streak of the season. Here are four sequences that went a long way toward determining the outcome, a turning point and a telling stat from the Tigers’ 19-13 win.
- Clemson turned a Nolan Turner interception near midfield into a 40-yard field goal from B.T. Potter — his second of the game — midway through the second quarter for a 13-3 lead, and it looked like Clemson’s defense had Boston College facing third-and-6 from its own 29 on the Eagles’ ensuing possession after Xavier Thomas hurried Dennis Grosel on second down, forcing Boston College’s quarterback to throw the ball way. But Thomas extended his arms high on Grosel and was called for roughing the passer, setting the Eagles up with a fresh set of downs at their own 43. Boston College took advantage of the new life, using 13 more plays to reach Clemson’s 17. The Tigers’ defense again stiffened, but Connor Lytton’s 34-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the quarter got Boston College within a possession at the half.
- Boston College kept its momentum going coming out of the locker room with the Eagles ripping off chunks against Clemson through the air. First came Grosel’s 33-yard connection with Trae Barry over the middle. Boston College then sent tight end Joey Luchetti across the formation and down the sideline, and Clemson didn’t account for him. Grosel hit Luchetti in stride, and Luchetti rumbled 39 yards before Turner forced him out of bounds inside Clemson’s 5. The Eagles found paydirt again two plays later on Pat Garwo’s 3-yard touchdown run to make it a new game, 13-13, less than a minute into the third quarter.
- The Eagles looked primed to take their first lead when Neto Okpala broke through the line to block Will Spiers’ punt on Clemson’s side of midfield, setting Boston College’s offense up at the Tigers’ 35 with 9:21 left in the third quarter. But Clemson’s defense bowed up once again to keep Boston College off the scoreboard. Clemson got some help with Boston College’s Jack Conley getting flagged for a false start to start the drive, but Pat Garwo’s 3-yard run on first down was all the Eagles mustered on their first two snaps of the possession. Clemson then blitzed Grosel on third down, and James Skalski forced him out of the pocket and ultimately an incompletion. Boston College punted.
- Clemson drove to Boston College’s 38 on its ensuing possession before stalling. After briefly contemplating going on fourth-and-5, Dabo Swinney elected to take a delay of game penalty to give Spiers more room. Spiers pinned Boston College at its own 10 with a 34-yard punt, and two plays later, the defense set the offense up with its shortest field of the night when Barrett Carter pressured Grosel into a deep throw from his own end zone. Safety R.J. Mickens laid out to intercept the fluttering pass at the Eagles’ 33, ultimately leading to Potter’s go-ahead 35-yard field goal with 1:10 left in the third quarter. And after Boston College drove into Clemson territory on its next possession, Grosel couldn’t corral a snap and was sacked by Baylon Spector and Tre Williams to push Boston College out of field-goal range. Clemson’s offense, on the back of a 54-yard catch and run by Joseph Ngata on third-and-12, then moved the ball down the field to extend its lead to 19-13 on a 42-yard field goal from Potter with 4:12 left.
Turning point
Needing a touchdown to potentially take the lead, Boston College made its seventh trip into Clemson territory with less than 2 minutes left. The Eagles drove to Clemson’s 11 and looked like they might steal one at the end after Tyler Venables dropped what would’ve been an interception in the end zone. But the Tigers’ defense didn’t miss its next chance to turn the Eagles away on the next play. Grosel fumbled the second-down snap, and K.J Henry was Johnny on the spot for Clemson. The Tigers’ defensive end pounced on the loose ball to get the ball back to the offense, which ran out the final 47 seconds to extended Clemson’s home winning streak to 31 games in another white-knuckler.
Telling stat: 3
That’s how many turnovers Clemson forced. The Tigers finished plus-3 in the turnover battle by nearly matching their turnover total for the entire season (4) coming into the game. Clemson turned a pair of interceptions into six points, but none of the takeaways was bigger than K.J. Henry’s recovery of Grosel’s fumbled snap with the Eagles driving for the potential go-ahead score in the red zone with less than a minute remaining.