Boston College Falls to Pittsburgh, 30-20

Friday, September 5

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

7:00 PM

Boston College

1-1 , 0-1

Pittsburgh

2-0 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Pittsburgh

Boston College

Boston College Falls to Pittsburgh, 30-20

September 05, 2014 | Football

Box Score

Sept. 05, 2014

Chestnut Hill, Mass. - The Boston College football team lost, 30-20, to Pittsburgh to open the Atlantic Coast Conference slate on Friday night in the first game of the season at Alumni Stadium. The Eagles (1-1, 0-1 ACC) scored the first touchdown, but the Panthers (2-0, 1-0 ACC) fired back with four straight scores and did not look back.

Pitt running back James Conner carried the ball 35 times for 213 yards to lead the offensive attack. It was the most yards the BC defense allowed on the ground since Notre Dame's Tony Fisher recorded 196 in a 28-16 Irish win on Nov. 11, 2000.

Graduate quarterback Tyler Murphy rushed for 93 rushing yards and threw for 134. He was 10-for-28 on the night and logged a rushing and passing TD for the second straight game. He threw two picks, including a one into the end zone with six seconds left in the game and BC down 10.

Graduate wide receiver Shakim Phillips caught four passes for 78 yards and scored his first touchdown in a BC uniform on a 48-yard reception from Murphy. Sophomore running back Tyler Rouse scored the Eagles' other rushing TD.

After Pittsburgh took an early 3-0 lead on the opening drive of the game, Murphy set BC up for a one-yard touchdown run to take a 7-3 lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the first quarter. Rouse ran back the kickoff 25 yards before Murphy completed a 12-yard run. Phillips caught a three-yard pass for his first catch of the year before Murphy took off down the field for a career-long 51-yard rush. He dove for the end zone, but his foot was out of bounds at the one-yard line. Rouse ran the ball in for his first score of the year, putting the Eagles up by four.

On third-and-four, junior linebacker Steven Daniels intercepted Chad Voytik's pass and returned it 23 yards to the Pittsburgh 29-yard line. It marked Daniels first career interception. Murphy threw three incomplete passes and senior kicker Alex Howell missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt, pushing it wide to the right, to keep it a 7-3 game.

Pitt pulled back ahead, 10-7, on the next possession with 13:08 to play in the half. Conner ran the ball five times for 42 yards in the nine-play, 71-yard scoring drive that ended in a 15-yard TD pass to Tyler Boyd from Voytik.

Voytik was 10-for-20 with 111 passing yards, two touchdowns to Boyd and the one interception. Boyd had 72 receiving yards on five catches.

The Panthers pulled ahead, 13-7, with 6:20 to play in the half on an eight-play, 44-yard drive. Conner carried the ball four times for 38 yards but a third-down offensive holding call backed Pitt up to the BC 24. An incomplete pass set up a 42-yard field goal for Chris Blewitt, who hit it after connecting on a career-long 49-yarder to start the game.

Pitt scored seven more with 18 seconds left in the half after the Eagles were forced to punt at the Panthers' 34-yard line, resulting in a touchback. It took the Panthers 57 seconds to drive down the field after a BC personal foul added 15 yards to the first play of the drive. Voylik threw four times for 46 yards, including a five-yard TD pass to Boyd to go up 20-7 going into halftime.

Conner scored on his 21st carry of the game on a nine-yard run with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. Voytik connected with Boyd on a 41-yard pass on first-and-10 at the Pitt 45 to bring it inside the 20. Conner ran it five yards and then scored to make it a 27-7.

Phillips tallied his first score as an Eagle on a 48-yard pass from Murphy on the next drive to bring it to 27-14 with 3:28 left in the third quarter. Rouse caught a 23-yard pass on the play before to set the Murphy-Phillips connection.

After Blewitt hit a 41-yarder to make it 30-14 with just under 10 minutes to go but Murphy rushed five times for 49 yards, including a 19-yard run to put the Eagles at the two-yard line. He took it in himself but BC failed on the two-point conversion to let the game stand at 30-20.

The Eagles were successful with an on-sides kick attempt, but on first-and-10 at the Pittsburgh 40 with time running out, Murphy threw to the end zone, where Terrish Webb caught the jump ball.

The Eagles host 14th-ranked Southern California on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ABC.