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| Murphy had a night to remember for BC. Photo Credit: Stephan Savoia/ AP |
Boston College used a strong run game and physical, tough defense to over whelm USC at times en route to a 37-31 win over the 9th ranked Trojans on Saturday night.
By: Michael Hanley
It was BC's first win against an AP Top 10 team since 2004 when they defeated at the time, 10th ranked West Virginia.
BC's quarterback Tyler Murphy used his legs early and often as he shredded the Trojan defense to the tune of 190 yards rushing. He was very sharp when it came to his decision making with the ball. Murphy knew when to keep the ball and take off and gain what he could yardage wise and also when to hand it off to his talented running backs in Jon Hilliman and Myles Willis who got large chunks of yards all game long as USC defense could not find an answer to slow down Boston College's running game.
The Eagles would amass 464 yards of rushing in total, doing it with some old fashion smash mouth football. They ran right into the teeth of the Trojans defense and had all sort so success against them. There was no tricks to what BC was trying to do and yet USC could not make any adjustments to counter it and force the Eagles to throw the ball more and make them more of a one dimensional offense.
You could see the Trojans were feeling the effect of the physical battle that they had to go through against Stanford the previous week to win that game did have an effect on them in this one. This is not to take away anything that Boston College accomplished against them tonight but the lack of depth at many key positions, especially on the defensive side of the ball, certainly cropped up and became an issue as the game wore on. They are not equipped to role out fresh bodies whenever they please, because of the scholarship restrictions they can only work with so many players.
The Trojans did not lack for effort though as they continued to battle throughout the game, actually gaining a lead as they raced out to an early 10-0 lead. Cody Kessler put together a great game as he was sharp completing 31/41 passes for 317 yards and four touchdown passes. The problem for him was the BC pass rush.
The Eagles were able to sack Kessler five times and disrupt many other players for the quarterback who was on the run and not able to set and throw the ball allot. The run game did not get on track at all for USC as they only gained 20 yards, that is right, 20 yards on the ground total.
Boston College will look to build on this win while USC goes back to the drawing board and regroups going into their bye week.
Follow me on Twitter: @Magic20099
