Cougars Drop Double-OT Thriller at Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL -- Missed opportunities plagued BYU (1-2) as the Cougars dropped a 30-23 decision in double overtime against No. 23 Boston College (3-0).

BYU amassed 547 total yards to Boston College's 471. John Beck was 38-for-59 for 436 yards and a touchdown. Curtis Brown had 54 yards rushing and 94 yards receiving.

For the second consecutive week, BYU got off to a hot start. The Cougars' McKay Jacobson retuned the ball to the BYU 34-yard line. Beck led the offense on an 11-play, 66-yard touchdown drive that consumed 4:11 off the play clock. Manase Tonga had a 16-yard completion on third-and-six to extend the drive for BYU. Beck punched the ball in from the one-yard line to score the touchdown for the Cougars.

BYU forced an early turnover on Boston College's first play from scrimmage, as Dustin Gabriel stripped the ball away from Kevin Challenger and Cameron Jensen pounced on the ball. Penalties hurt the Cougars as BYU was held without any points after Jared McLaughlin missed a 49-yard field goal.

The Cougars defense held the Eagles offense in check in the early going but had penalties kill drives offensively.

With the first quarter winding down, Matt Ryan went deep, hitting Brandon Robinson in stride for a 79-yard reception. Three plays later, Brian Toal ran the ball in from the one-yard line. BYU held to a 7-6 lead as the Eagles missed their extra point.

The Cougars cashed in on a pair of McLaughlin field goals, including a career-long, 50-yarder to extend BYU's lead to 13-6.

Boston College responded, putting together an 83-yard drive that was capped on a Ryan-to-Tony Gonzalez 18-yard touchdown pass.

The second half showcased more offense than the first. After the Cougars defense held Boston College to a three-and-out, BYU's offense gave the ball back on a fumbled snap. The Eagles made the Cougars pay, scoring on an 11-play, 62-yard touchdown drive. With a successful two-point conversion, Boston College took its first lead at 20-13.

BYU responded with a monster drive of its own. The Cougars traveled 96 yards on eight plays and scored on a seven-yard, Beck-to-Vakapuna connection. BYU got a huge completion from Manase Tonga to convert a third-and-six and keep the drive alive for the Cougars.

The teams traded field goals to tie the game at 23. The defense held strong for both teams, not allowing a score over the final 10 minutes. BYU came close to scoring, driving the ball deep into Boston College's territory midway through the fourth quarter. McLaughlin's 44-yard field goal attempt hit the left upright and the game remained knotted at 23.

With 24 seconds remaining, BYU's Kelly Poppinga intercepted a tipped pass to give the Cougars a last second drive with two time outs remaining. BYU's Jared McLaughlin had a 51-yard field goal attempt with eight seconds remaining sail wide left pushing the game to overtime.

The drama resumed in the overtime session. After the Cougars failed to score in their first overtime, the defense held strong and blocked Boston College's field goal attempt. Russell Tialavea extended the game for BYU blocking a field goal.

In the second overtime, the Eagles wasted no time getting the ball in the end zone. A scrambling Ryan hooked up with Gonzalez for a 25-yard TD connection to put the Eagles ahead 30-23.

The Cougars marched the ball to the 15-yard line before a tipped Beck pass fell into the arms of Jamie Silva to end the game. Originally ruled an incomplete pass, a replay ruled there was visible evidence to overrule the ruling on the field.

BYU will look to rebound on Saturday against in-state rival Utah State at Edwards Stadium.

Box Score (Final)
     Brigham Young vs BOSTON COLLEGE (Sep 16, 2006 at Chestnut Hill, Mass.)
  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4 OT [ 5 6 ]   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- -- -- [ - - ]   -----
  Brigham Young.......  7  6  0 10  0 [ 0 0 ]  - 23       Record: (1-2)
  BOSTON COLLEGE......  6  6  8  3  7 [ 0 7 ]  - 30       Record: (3-0,1-0)
  Scoring Summary:
  1st 10:49 BYU - BECK 1 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 11-66 4:11
      02:09 BC - Toal 1 yd run (Ohliger kick failed), 4-85 1:55
  2nd 11:15 BYU - MCLAUGHLIN 45 yd field goal, 5-10 0:54
      06:35 BYU - MCLAUGHLIN 50 yd field goal, 7-29 2:12
      03:22 BC - Gonzalez 18 yd pass from Ryan(Ohliger kick failed), 10-83 3:13
  3rd 08:12 BC - Ryan 1 yd run (Challenger pass from Ryan), 11-42 4:11
  4th 14:56 BYU - VAKAPUNA, 6 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 8-96 3:21
      10:07 BC - Ohliger 20 yd field goal, 11-82 4:49
      06:33 BYU - MCLAUGHLIN 25 yd field goal, 10-79 3:34
  OT  15:00 BC - Gonzalez 25 yd pass from Ryan (Ohliger kick), 1-25 0:00
                                      BYU       BC
  FIRST DOWNS...................       27       23
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   30-111   26-115
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      436      356
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  60-38-2  48-29-2
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   90-547   74-471
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............     3-39     3-20
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     5-97    5-123
  Interception Returns-Yards....      2-0      2-0
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   4-49.2   6-40.5
  Fumbles-Lost..................      2-1      4-2
  Penalties-Yards...............    10-67     2-10
  Possession Time...............    32:15    27:45
  Third-Down Conversions........  6 of 16  4 of 14
  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   1 of 1
  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      3-5      4-5
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     1-10      1-7
  RUSHING: Brigham Young-BROWN, Curtis 15-49; TONGA, Manase 5-47; VAKAPUNA, Fui
  5-31; HAGUE, Mike 1-minus 1; BECK, John 4-minus 15. BOSTON COLLEGE-Whitworth, L
  11-61; Callender, A 8-49; Ryan, M 5-3; Toal, B 2-2.
  PASSING: Brigham Young-BECK, John 38-59-2-436; MCLAUGHLIN, Jar 0-1-0-0. BOSTON
  COLLEGE-Ryan, M 29-48-2-356.
  RECEIVING: Brigham Young-BROWN, Curtis 11-94; ALLEN, Matt 6-108; HARLINE, Jonny
  6-71; TONGA, Manase 4-46; REED, Michael 3-26; MEIKLE, Nathan 3-24; COATS, Daniel
  2-26; JACOBSON, McKay 1-22; COLLIE, Zac 1-13; VAKAPUNA, Fui 1-6. BOSTON
  COLLEGE-Robinson, B 7-140; Gonzalez, T 6-70; Challenger, K 4-35; Callender, A
  3-40; Purvis, R 3-25; Whitworth, L 2-11; Koziol, T 1-20; Palmer, M 1-8; Gunnell,
  R 1-6; Smith, J 1-1.
  INTERCEPTIONS: Brigham Young-GOOCH, Quinn 1-0; POPPINGA, Kelly 1-0. BOSTON
  COLLEGE-Silva, J 1-0; Tribble, D 1-0.
  FUMBLES: Brigham Young-BECK, John 1-1; HARLINE, Jonny 1-0. BOSTON
  COLLEGE-Tribble, D 2-0; Whitworth, L 1-1; Challenger, K 1-1.
  Stadium: Alumni Stadium        Attendance: 40233
  Kickoff time: 12:05     End of Game: 3:55      Total elapsed time: 3:50
  Officials: Referee: Terry Leyden; Umpire: Gary Crum; Linesman: Bob Bahne;
  Line judge: Gary McNanna; Back judge: Craig Battaglia; Field judge: Judson Howard;
  Side judge: Kim Nelson; Scorer: Jack Dwyer;
  Temperature: 75        Wind: NNE15     Weather: Sunny
     Brigham Young vs BOSTON COLLEGE (Sep 16, 2006 at Chestnut Hill, Mass.)
  SACKS (UA-A): Brigham Young-PAONGO, Hala 1-0. BOSTON COLLEGE-Akins, K 1-0.
  TACKLES (UA-A): Brigham Young-GOOCH, Quinn 5-5; KEHL, Bryan 3-5; CRIDDLE, Ben
  6-1; JENSEN, Cameron 3-4; WAGNER, Aaron 5-1; GABRIEL, Dustin 3-3; NIXON, David
  3-2; POPPINGA, Kelly 2-2; ROBINSON, Justi 3-0; PAONGO, Hala 2-0; TONGA, Matangi
  2-0; MCLAUGHLIN, Jar 1-1; TIALAVEA, Russe 0-2; BOLDEN, Chris 1-0; BATES, Dan
  1-0; DOMAN, Shawn 1-0; ALLEN, Matt 1-0; HODGKISS, Corby 1-0; JORGENSEN, Jan 0-1;
  STAFFIERI, Mark 0-1. #23 Boston College-Francois, R 9-5; Dunbar, J 6-4; Silva, J
  6-2; Anam, L 5-3; Tribble, D 6-0; Morris, T 5-1; Akins, K 4-1; Pruitt, T 4-1;
  Anderson, P 2-3; Toal, B 1-2; Deska, B 2-0; Raji, B 1-1; Willis, K 0-2; Smith, B
  0-2; McLaughlin, M 1-0; Davis, W 1-0; Herzlich, M 1-0; Purvis, R 1-0; Giles, A
  1-0; Ross, J 0-1; Beekman, J 0-1; Larkin, N 0-1; Bowman, M 0-1.