Clemson left guard Taylor Hearn lived every lineman’s dream on Saturday.

In the second quarter of second-ranked Clemson’s 34-7 win over Boston College, the junior happened to be in the right place at the right time when quarterback Kelly Bryant fumbled the ball after taking a hard hit from Boston College safety Lukas Denis.

Hearn immediately ran to the loose ball, scooped it up like a running back and rumbled down the far sideline for a 12-yard gain to the Clemson 40-yard line. On the same drive, Bryant later went on to score on an 11-yard run to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead at the time.

“I saw the ball in the air and it just game right to me,” Hearn said after the game. “I looked up field and saw a lot of green grass so I just took off to try and get as many yards as I could. It was just a blur because as an offensive lineman you don’t think about running with the ball.”

Hearn’s 12-yard run was the longest by a Clemson offensive lineman since 1966 when All-American Clemson guard Harry Olszewski had a 12-yard run for a touchdown against South Carolina in the final game of the season.

The Tigers won that game 35-10 to clinch the ACC championship.

“Of the ten things I thought I might see in today’s game, Taylor Hearn running for a 12-yard gain was not one of them,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

Hearn was eventually chased down and tackled by BC safety Will Harris.

“I actually thought about whether I should try to juke the defender, but I just decided to go straight ahead and get what I could. I didn’t want to fumble.” Hearn said. “It was not the first time I carried the ball in a football game. I was the kicker in high school and one time the center snapped it over the head of the holder and it went right to me. I caught it and ran for a couple of yards, but that was it.”

Fourth-quarter ride. Clemson outscored Boston College 27-0 in the fourth period. It was the most points scored in the fourth quarter by the Tigers since October 31, 2009 when the Tigers scored 28 points in the fourth period in a 49-3 Clemson win over Coastal Carolina.

Saturday’s win was the most points scored by the Tigers in the fourth period of a conference game since 1988 when the Tigers scored 28 in the fourth period at Maryland in a 49-25 win that clinched the ACC championship. It was just the sixth time Clemson scored 27 points or more in the fourth period in Clemson history.

Clemson’s fourth quarter featured 11 first downs, 21 rushes for 164 yards and 4-of-6 passing for 49 yards. Clemson ran 27 plays for 213 yards in the fourth.

Seven straight. Clemson won its seventh consecutive game versus Boston College, dating back to a 2010 loss in Boston, Mass. The seven-game win streak is Clemson’s second-longest active win streak against an ACC team, as the Tigers have won eight in a row over Wake Forest.

Overall, Clemson has now won nine straight games dating, back to last year’s loss to Pittsburgh.

4-0. Clemson improved to 4-0 in 2017. It is the third straight year and the fifth time in the last seven years that Clemson has started a season 4-0. The Tigers started 8-0 in 2011, 6-0 in 2013, 14-0 in 2015 and 9-0 in 2016.

Run the ball. Dabo Swinney improved to 42-1 in games in which the Tigers amassed at least 200 rushing yards in a game.

—Photo credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports