Jeff Jagodzinski promised that Boston College's offense would be "a lot of fun to watch" shortly after he took the head coaching position in Chestnut Hill last December.
Thirty-eight points and 408 passing yards later against the defending ACC champions, it's safe to say the new coach delivered on his promise.
"I'm real proud of these kids," Jagodzinski said. "I think the coaches did an outstanding job with the game plan. I couldn't be happier."
Led by a career-high five touchdown passes from quarterback Matt Ryan, the league's preseason player of the year, and three interceptions by cornerback DeJuan Tribble, the Eagles defeated Wake Forest 38-28 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
"I'm at Boston College at this particular time with these particular kids for a reason," said Jagodzinski.
The Eagles seized the momentum of the game early in the third quarter with the game tied 21-21 and Wake Forest on the verge of taking the lead.
On third-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner had tight end Chip Brinkman seemingly open on the left side of the end zone, but Tribble jumped inside the route to make his second interception of the day.
The BC aerial attack took over from there. Ryan engineered a nine-play, 71-yard drive capped off by a tough 10-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Robinson in between two defenders to give BC its first lead of the day, 28-21, at 7:01 of the third quarter.
With Wake in BC territory on their next possession, Skinner was forced out of bounds on a third-and-three, short of the first down on the BC 46-yard line. Skinner suffered a separated right shoulder on the play but came back on the field after the Demon Deacons were flagged for holding.
His throw on third-and-13, intended for Demir Boldin, was slow enough for Tribble to make a quick break inside the route for his third interception.
"I hugged [Skinner] and I said, 'When you get hurt that bad, you have to let us know,'" said Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe. "You can't go back in. You can't throw the interception, come off and then say, 'My shoulder is separated.'"
The Eagles used 1:47 to cover 45 yards and Ryan found sophomore wide receiver Rich Gunnell for the second time in the end zone to make it 35-21 at 2:39 of the fourth quarter.
Spring Break
