Boston College’s Halloran Does It With Flutie Style

Boston College quarterback Shawn Halloran, in a Doug Flutie-like performance, lofted a 51-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass to Kelvin Martin with 1:21 to play as the Eagles recovered from a frantic second-half Pittsburgh rally to defeat the Panthers, 29-22, Saturday at Pittsburgh.

Halloran completed 25 of 33 passes for 400 yards and two touchdowns. Martin caught both touchdown passes.

After the Eagles built a 21-3 lead, Pitt rallied for three touchdowns in a span of 13 minutes to take a 22-21 lead with 4:11 remaining when John Congemi threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Chuck Scales.

Boston College was down to what appeared its final offensive play when Halloran found Martin open near the Panthers’ 15-yard line. Martin, a junior wide receiver, easily outraced Pitt defender Teryl Austin into the end zone.

Halloran then ran for the two-point conversion as the Eagles evened their record at 2-2 and dropped Pitt to 1-2.

Halloran, in his best performance since replacing Flutie, the 1984 Heisman Trophy winner, gave the Eagles a 7-3 lead when he threw an 18-yard touchdown to Martin early in the second quarter. Martin finished with seven catches for 172 yards.

Jim Bell ran eight yards for another Boston College touchdown about three minutes later after Halloran passed 26 and 24 yards to Martin. Bell made it 21-3 with a three-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter.

But then freshman Brian Davis, last year’s national high school co-player of the year from Washington, Pa., replaced an injured Charles Gladman and helped the Panthers rally, gaining 100 yards in 14 carries in a little more than a quarter and scoring on a 26-yard run late in the third quarter. Gladman finished with 121 rushing yards.

The Panthers, seemingly pumped up by Davis’ running, closed to 21-16 when Congemi ran a yard to cap a 66-yard touchdown drive highlighted by Davis’ 43 yards in nine carries. The Panthers took their second short-lived lead of the game when Scales jumped over Eagle cornerback Gerrick McPhearson in the end zone with 4:11 to play to grab Congemi’s hurried pass.