For one half, the Virginia Tech defense stopped Boston College just in time. In the second, the Hokies never even let it get close.
Jayron Hosley intercepted Dave Shinskie in the end zone, and Davon Morgan stopped the BC quarterback at the goal line as time ran out in the first half on Saturday to help the Hokies shut out the Eagles 19-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Jeron Gouveia-Winslow also had an interception, and Steven Friday forced Shinskie’s fumble for Virginia Tech (2-2, 1-0 ACC). In the second half, BC had only 39 yards of total offense and did not cross midfield as the Hokies earned their first shutout since 2006 and the Eagles’ first at home since 1998.
“We’re playing Tech defense,” Hosley said. “That’s Tech defense.”
The Hokies opened the season as the No. 10 team in The Associated Press Top 25 before losses to Boise State and James Madison of the Football Championship Subdivision dropped them out of the rankings. Virginia Tech, which beat East Carolina last week, had little trouble with BC (2-0, 0-1).
Chris Hazley kicked four field goals and Tyrod Taylor also used his legs, scrambling out of the pocket for passes of 30 and 59 yards that set up the Hokies’ first two scores. Taylor completed 16 of 21 passes for 237 yards, and David Wilson combined with Darren Evans to run for 97 yards with star tailback Ryan Williams out.
“I think (Taylor’s) feet did kill us a lot today,” linebacker Luke Kuechly said. “We contained him, but weren’t able to get him on the ground early enough before he did make those big plays.”
Montel Harris ran the ball 19 times for 111 yards for BC — almost all of it in the first half — and Mark Herzlich had his first interception of the season since missing all of last year while being treated for cancer.
Shinskie completed 11 of 25 passes for 130 yards, and was replaced by Mike Marscovetra after turning the ball over on a fumble and an interception to start the second half. Shinskie also made a questionable decision at the end of the first that cost BC (2-1, 0-1) a field goal try.
“The drives mean nothing if you don’t put any points on the board,” said Shinskie, a 26-year-old sophomore and former minor-league baseball player. “That was our downfall there on offense.”
Shinskie drove the Eagles to the Hokies’ 10 yard-line in the first quarter before making an ill-advised pass that was brought down by Hosley in the end zone. On the ensuing possession, Taylor hit Evans for 30 yards to the BC 3, then Evans ran it in from there for give Tech a 7-0 lead.
BC missed a 47-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, and then lost a chance at an easier kick when Shinskie decided to go for the end zone at the end of the half.
On a drive that was already preserved by a roughing the punter penalty and a pass interference penalty, BC wound up with a second-and 7 from the Virginia Tech 12 when the Hokies called a timeout just before the snap. Friday, who didn’t appear to hear the whistle, blindsided Shinskie for a roughing the passer penalty.
With 15 seconds left, no timeouts and a false start backing BC up to the 11, Shinskie took the snap, couldn’t find anyone open and took off for the left corner. He reached out for the end zone but didn’t make it; he didn’t get out of bounds; time expired as BC lined up for the snap in the hope that the official review would put time back on the clock.
“It’s not chess,” BC coach Frank Spaziani said. “People do stuff and things start going and (it) didn’t happen the way it was supposed to happen. Decisions were made and we have to live with that.
“If he gets in, it’s one of those … you know in basketball where you go, ’No. No. No. Yes!.’ So if he gets in, he would have done a nice job.”
