Recap: Canes Stumble Against Eagles

Miami, FL (AP) — Luke Kuechly ran an interception back for a touchdown and became Boston College’s all-time tackles leader, and the Eagles picked Jacory Harris off four times in his final college game en route to beating Miami 24-17 on Friday.

For Miami, the biggest news wasn’t the outcome in the season finale for both teams. It announced during the fourth quarter that coach Al Golden has agreed to a four-year extension through Feb. 1, 2020.

Chase Rettig threw two touchdown passes to Chris Pantale for Boston College (4-8, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference). Kuechly also topped his single-season ACC record for tackles, passing the mark of 183 he set last year.

Lamar Miller had a 79-yard touchdown run for Miami (6-6, 3-5), the longest carry by a Hurricane since 2000.

Kuechly is widely considered to be a first-round lock if he decides to leave school early for the NFL draft, and he added to his impressive resume Friday.

He became Boston College’s all-time tackle leader in the first half with the 525th stop of his career. Kuechly’s 45-yard interception return with 14:48 remaining — he read Harris perfectly, jumping in front of the pass and sprinting down the right sideline to the end zone — essentially wrapped up the win for the Eagles.

Harris had thrown five interceptions all season entering the day. He matched a career-worst with the four on Friday, hardly the way the Miami Northwestern product wanted to see his career end.

Miami’s day was tinged with emotion, with a few players tearing up on the pregame “Hurricane Walk” through the crowd. JoJo Nicholas, whose son died shortly after being prematurely born earlier this season, walked particularly slowly to soak the scene in, while receiver Tommy Streeter shook hands with two well-wishers and tousled one boy’s hair.

Linebacker Sean Spence and Harris were the last two seniors to be introduced in a pregame ceremony, and once the game started the tributes continued. Harris found classmate Travis Benjamin for a 60-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage, and that drive ended with a 7-yard touchdown pass to LaRon Byrd, another senior who got into the end zone for the first time this season.

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Pantale caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Rettig on the ensuing Boston College drive, tying the score. Less than a minute later, Miller waited for a hole to open on the right side of the line, bounced through and sprinted free on a 79-yard touchdown run — Miami’s longest play of the year and the longest carry by a Hurricane since Clinton Portis’ 82-yard scamper against McNeese State on Aug. 31, 2000.

Eventually, the defenses settled down.

Kuechly was credited with his second tackle early in the second quarter, his 184th stop of the season — one more than the ACC single-season record he established in 2010, and one more than what had been the Boston College all-time record of 524 by Stephen Boyd from 1991-94.

Pantale put the Eagles on top for good with a 32-yard touchdown catch with 12:08 left in the third quarter. Jake Wieclaw’s field goal with 14 seconds left got the Hurricanes within seven, but Boston College took possession after the ensuing onside-kick attempt went out of bounds.

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Final Notes

TODAY’S LOSS…
-Lowers the Hurricanes record to 23-5 in the all-time head-to-head series against Boston College
-Moves Al Golden’s career record to 32-40 as a head coach

MEN OF THE HOUR
Twenty-five seniors played in their final game as Miami Hurricanes. Blake Ayles (TE), Travis Benjamin (WR), Ben Bruneau (WR), LaRon Byrd (WR), John Calhoun (FB), Lee Chambers (DB), Joel Figueroa (OL), Chase Ford (TE), Jordan Futch (LB), Nate Gholston (DB), Sean Goldstein (LB), Harland Gunn (OL), Jacory Harris (QB), Tyler Horn (C ), Chris Ivory (LS), Mile Levine (LB), Erik Lichter (LB), JoJo Nicolas (DB), Micanor Regis (DL), Marcus Robinson (LB), Andrew Smith (DL), Sean Spence (LB), David Thompson (RB), Spencer Whipple (QB) and Mike Williams (DB).

THE LONGEST RUN
Lamar Miller’s 79-yard touchdown run was the longest of the season for the Canes and a career-best for Miller. The last time a Miami running back had a longer run was an 82-yard sprint by Clinton Portis vs. McNeese State on Aug. 31, 2000. The 79-yard run was the longest by a Miami back against a BCS opponent since James Jackson had a 79-yarder vs. Boston College in 1998.

THE LONG BALL
Jacory Harris’ 60-yard pass to Travis Benjamin on the first play from scrimmage of the game is the third-longest “big play” of the season. Harris connected with Benjamin at Virginia Tech on a 77-yard touchdown.

HE CATCHES, HE SCORES
Senior LaRon Byrd scored the first touchdown of the day for the Canes on a 7-yard pass from Jacory Harris. It was Byrd’s first touchdown since getting into the end zone against North Carolina on Oct. 23, 2010.

THE OPENING DRIVE
LaRon Byrd’s touchdown on the Canes’ opening drive marked the fifth time this season Miami has scored on its opening possession.

BACK-TO-BACK SCORES
The Canes scored on their first two possessions of the game, marking the fourth time this season that they have scored touchdowns on the first two possessions of a game.

MILLER TIME
Lamar Miller moved into third place in all-time single season rushing yards with his 114-yard output against Boston College. Miller, who finished the season with 1,272 yards, passed Ottis Anderson’s 1978 season of 1,266 yards.

PASSING A LEGEND
Senior quarterback Jacory Harris moved into first place all-time in the Hurricanes record book in pass attempts for a career in Friday’s game against Boston College. With 39 pass attempts against the Eagles defense, Harris moved up to 1,170 career attempts, surpassing Ken Dorsey’s previous record-high of 1,153.

FROM THE START
Senior John Calhoun made his first career start today. Calhoun saw action in 26 games as a Miami Hurricane. In addition, Calhoun caught his first pass of the 2011 season, a four-yard slant from Harris.

MIAMI’S STARTERS
Miami’s offensive starters today were: Jacory Harris (QB), Tommy Streeter (WR), John Calhoun (HB), Brandon Washington (LT), Harland Gunn (LG), Tyler Horn (C), Brandon Linder (RG), Jon Feliciano (RT), Lamar Miller (RB), LaRon Byrd (WR) and Travis Benjamin (WR)

Starting for Miami on defense was: Anthony Chickillo (LDE), Darius Smith (LT), Micanor Regis (RT), Olivier Vernon (RDE), Kelvin Cain (WLB), Sean Spence (MLB), Denzel Perryman (SLB), Mike Williams (CB), Vaughn Telemaque (FS), JoJo Nicolas (SS), Brandon McGee (CB).

MIAMI’S CAPTAINS
Seniors Jacory Harris, Tyler Horn, JoJo Nicolas, Sean Spence and Travis Benjamin are serving as Miami’s captains today.

WEATHER
Today’s weather at kick-off: Mostly cloudy; 76 degrees; Wind from the ENE at 14 mph; 56 percent humidity.

ATTENDANCE
Today’s distributed attendance was 43,952. The total marks the third-largest crowd

BC Quotes

Boston College Quarterback Chase Rettig

On his last game…
“I put in a lot of work this year and finally got to finish one although the first half wasn’t as good as the second half. I feel like we had a good third quarter, and in the fourth quarter it really comes down to third and short. So, we made a couple of rushes which were a change from the first quarter. I thought we did a good job in the first half and in third quarter. I just wish we converted some downs. It was a great way for the season to end.”

Third quarter touchdown drive…
“I felt like I stayed in the pocket a little longer than usual. Last week, we had some pressure and it made me lose my feet a little bit. I tried to avoid pressure and ended up experiencing more pressure. My mindset this week was to stay in the pocket and step into my throws.”

Boston College Cornerback Donnie Fletcher

On being a senior…
“I feel really good after just playing my final game as a senior. We made a lot of mistakes on defense earlier. So, we tried to get the guys to respond better in the second half. They ran the same play on me, but I came back and just dominated the play.”

On ending the season with a win…
“It feels really good to finally get a win, knowing all of the guys work hard every day in practice. We tried to keep the team focused and the energy up. We kept it positive for the guys coming and working hard every day in practice. That was the main goal for the receivers and captains of the team.”

Boston College Linebacker Luke Kuechly

On his touchdown…
“I was supposed to be on [Travis Benjamin] and then he motioned the cross, so we moved around a little bit. I was looking him down the whole time and I made a play on the ball. I had good blocks by the guys in front of me and that really helped me out.”

On getting into the end zone…
“I was just trying to get in. The last two times they picked them off and they got tackled by linemen. If there was any way to get in there, then I was trying to get in.”