ATLANTA - In a showdown between two of the country's best players, Matt Ryan was the clear winner.
The Boston College quarterback threw for a career-best 435 yards and the No. 21 Eagles shut down Georgia Tech star Tashard Choice in a 24-10 victory over the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets on Saturday night.
Ryan was 30-of-44 in the third 400-yard passing game of his career, which included a 39-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Robinson. The senior surpassed his previous best from just two weeks ago, a 408-yard effort against defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest.
L.V. Whitworth had a pair of TD runs for Boston College (3-0), which has beaten three straight ACC opponents to take early control of the league race.
Georgia Tech (2-1, 0-1 ACC) reached the league championship game a year ago, but the Yellow Jackets will have to dig out of an early hole if they want to get back to Jacksonville. They were totally outclassed by the Eagles, who piled up a 527 yards and allowed 267.
Boston College proved that its stout run defense, ranked fourth nationally, was no fluke. The Eagles held Choice to just 31 yards on 15 carries, ending his streak of nine straight 100-yard games.
Choice had his best run late in the third quarter, breaking around left end for a 12-yard gain. Fittingly, the play was negated by a holding penalty, and Choice hobbled to the sideline with a hamstring injury. He did not return.
Robinson had five catches for 128 yards, while Kevin Challenger caught seven passes for 88 yards.
Georgia Tech, which averaged 51 points and 342 yards rushing in routs of Notre Dame and Samford, managed just 63 yards on the ground.
Ryan set the tone on Boston College's first possession, after Durant Brooks backed up the Eagles to their own 5 with a pooch punt.
On third-and-2 from the 13, Ryan fooled the Yellow Jackets with play action and flipped a pass to tight end Jon Loyte, who slipped behind the secondary for a 40-yard gain.
Ryan wasn't done. He connected with Challenger on passes of 16 and 25 yards before Whitworth rumbled over from the 1, capping an 11-play, 95-yard drive that took the raucous night crowd right out of the game.
The Eagles were threatening again when Ryan made his only real miscue of the night. After driving his team from its own 20 to first-and-goal at the Georgia Tech 6, he was hit from behind by Darrell Robertson and coughed the ball up. Philip Wheeler recovered for the Yellow Jackets.
But Ryan got it back early in the second quarter and carved up Georgia Tech again. First, he threw a deep pass that drew an interference penalty on cornerback Pat Clark. Then, Rich Gunnell slipped between zone coverage for a 17-yard completion. Finally, Ryan tossed a perfectly thrown ball toward the corner of the end zone, which Robinson caught over the shoulder with time to get both feet down for the touchdown.
At halftime, Boston College led 14-0 and it could have been much worse. The Eagles had a staggering lead in total yards: 318-86.
After Whitworth's second TD, a 16-yard run, Georgia Tech finally responded. Freshman Jonathan Dwyer scored on a 2-yard run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, and the Yellow Jackets thought they had recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.
But the replay clearly showed A.J. Brooks was down when he lost the ball, and the call was overturned. That turned out to be Georgia Tech's final gasp.
The home crowd grew increasingly frustrated, drawing several warnings in the second half for throwing cups and other debris on the field.
Monday
March 31st, 2025
2:08AM
