By Will Vandervort.
There was a time in the 2000s when Clemson fans dreaded playing Wake Forest and former Demon Deacons head coach Jim Grobe.
Crazy things happened in those games and though Clemson won most of the meetings, games were especially crazy when the Tigers visited Winston-Salem, N.C. – see the 2003, ‘05 and ‘06 Clemson-Wake games for examples.
But in the last 10 years that pattern has shifted away from Wake Forest and towards the Boston College Eagles.
“For whatever the reason, since they came into the league, it has become a pretty good rivalry,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.
Since the Eagles, who will host the 22nd-ranked Tigers on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., came into the ACC the Clemson-BC game is one of the more completive matchups in the conference. The Tigers have won 5 of the 9 meetings to this point and the average margin of victory has been 9.2 points.
Five of the first six meetings since BC (4-2, 1-1) joined in 2005 were decided by six points or less.
“There have been good players on both sides,” Swinney said. “You go back to when they had Matt Ryan, I mean man! We had some battles with those guys.”
Some of the toughest battles and the weirdest outcomes have taken place at Chestnut Hill, Mass. In 2006, Clemson safety Michael Hamlin came up with a late-game interception on Ryan that appeared to have sealed a Tigers’ victory, but when Hamlin came down with the ball with both hands on it, a BC wide receiver grabbed the ball and tried to create a tie-up. The official on the field saw that Hamlin had the football with two hands and ruled it an interception.
The television replays showed the same thing and that the Eagles’ player had only one hand on the ball when both players came down, yet the replay booth overturned the call and Ryan led Boston College on a game-tying drive that ultimately forced overtime.
In the second overtime, the Eagles blocked Jad Dean’s extra-point attempt and won the game 34-33.
In 2008, Clemson’s C.J. Spiller amassed 242 all-purpose yards as the Tigers opened up a 17-0 lead on BC. But the Eagles charged back to score three-fourth quarter touchdowns to grab the lead, but a 64-yard Spiller kickoff return put Clemson back on top as it won a crazy game, 27-21.
In 2010, the Tigers (4-2, 3-1 ACC) got a pick-six from Rashaad Hall and dominated the game from a statistical standpoint, but Chandler Catanzaro missed two field goals and quarterback Kyle Parker threw three interceptions—two in the red zone—as the Eagles stunned the Tigers, 16-10.
“I think there is great respect for both programs. There is a little bit of tradition and history,” Swinney said.
Maybe that’s the case.
Clemson was able to hold off BC at Boston College two years ago despite injuries and a stomach flu that struck several players, and again some missed opportunities and turnovers. Garry Peters’ late interception sealed the Tigers’ 45-31 victory.
“They are just a tough hard-nosed bunch that you have to beat. They usually don’t make a lot of mistakes,” Swinney said. “We had the big one last year where we caused the turnover and scored off of it. But, they are a very sound and fundamental team in what they do. They are well coached on both sides and they have big, strong physical guys.”
What the Eagles do this season is run the football. They lead the ACC and rank fourth nationally with 315.7 yards per game average. Quarterback Tyler Murphy—a graduate transfer from Florida—leads the team with 711 yards and eight touchdowns.
He has run for at least one score in every game this season.
“They are going to force the issue running the ball,” Swinney said. “Usually, they do a great job with their play-action packages and this year is no different. They have had some guys running wide open—a little like you see in the triple option—because they have been so committed to what they do.
“I think Coach (Steve) Addazio has really got them going. I think this is a team that is not going to go away.”
And that’s especially the case when they play Clemson at Boston College.