One week after a stunning upset, the ACC delivered another one.
Tyler Murphy faked the handoff to Jon Hilliman and cut up field for a 66-yard touchdown run, the quarterback fueling Boston College a 38-24 win over No. 9 USC in Chestnut Hill on Saturday night. It came seven days after Virginia Tech's victory at No. 8 Ohio State.
The victory was by far the biggest in coach Steve Addazio's tenure and was the Eagles' first over a Top-10 team since beating No. 8 Virginia Tech on Oct. 25, 2007 and the only wins vs. a ranked opponent since 2008, when they beat the No. 17 Hokies and No. 20 Florida State.
Murphy stole the show as the Eagles racked up 452 yards on the ground, running for a career-high 191 yards on 13 carries as he fooled the Trojans time and time again with the option game. The former Florida QB also threw for 54 yards on 5 of 13 passing.
Heading into the game, the Eagles were getting plenty of national attention for their 'Red Bandana' uniforms -- which paid tribute to Welles Crowther, a former Boston College lacrosse player and volunteer firefighter that lost his life saving others during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City -- but weren't expected to be able to hang with the Trojans.
Coming off a 13-10 win at Stanford that put the Trojans squarely into the College Football Playoff conversation in this, their first season under Steve Sarkisian, USC jumped out to a 10-0 lead. But the Eagles took control behind their running game, going up 20-17 at halftime off a 4-yard TD run from Tyler Rouse, a 3-yarder via Hilliman and Sherman Alston's 54-yard scoring jaunt. The Eagles added another rushing score in the third, with Hilliman from one yard out.
USC managed to get within six at 30-24 as Cody Kessler hit Nelson Agholor for a 10-yard TD with 4:32 to play before Murphy responded, following a time out on the ensuing possession with his 66-yard TD run.
Boston College's offensive line, which came into the season as one of the ACC's most experienced with 105 combined starts among them, had its way with the Trojans defensive line, one that helped hold Stanford to just 128 rushing yards the week before.
Meanwhile, the Trojans managed just 20 yards on the ground on 29 attempts, a 0.7 average, against an Eagles D that was burned for 303 yards by Pitt in a 30-20 loss on Sept. 5.
It's difficult to say what this win means for Boston College. A year ago, they ended their bowl drought via Andre Williams and his 2,000-yard seasons and Saturday's performance showed how much of a change Murphy has meant to this offense. These are no longer the power rushing attack Eagles, this is a read-option attack that plays to Addazio's Florida roots.
Becoming a factor in the ACC Atlantic would be that much simpler if it didn't mean going through No. 23 Clemson, No. 17 Virginia Tech, No. 21 Louisville and No. 1 Florida State (even if two of those teams, the Hokies and Cardinals lost Saturday).
As for the Trojans, all that excitement that came from beating Stanford is gone, and they still have No. 16 Arizona State, No. 12 UCLA and No. 11 Notre Dame ahead of them. A playoff berth isn't out of the realm of possibility, but USC now faces an even more difficult task as it followed a win that harkened a resurgence with one that only exposed its lack of depth on the defensive line.
