Newton Citizen

BOSTON - After surviving three fumbles in the first half, Georgia Tech knew a big play of its own could quickly turn things around in the second.

'A couple of times when we called the play, we thought, 'This is going to be it,' quarterback Josh Nesbitt said after leading Georgia Tech to a 19-16 victory over Boston College on Saturday. 'It only takes one play to score.'

Jonathan Dwyer scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 43-yard, fourth-quarter run, rushing for 108 yards as the Yellow Jackets came back from a turnover-filled first half to beat BC. Nesbitt ran for 50 yards, including a 30-yard scramble for a first down that helped Tech run out the clock and a 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-inches to clinch it.

'Our quarterback played well for us, once we stopped turning the ball over,' said Paul Johnson, who is the first Georgia Tech coach ever to win in his first Atlantic Coast Conference game. 'I thought he made some great plays today. Some of our best plays were him scrambling, or taking it himself.'

BC took a 16-10 lead when Chris Crane hit Ifeanyi Momah on a tug-of-war touchdown pass with 3:03 left in the third. But Crane was sacked in the end zone by Vance Walker for a safety, and four plays after the free kick Dwyer broke free on a pitch around the right side for the touchdown.

'The problem with this team is, if you miss your assignment on one play, it could go to the house,' BC linebacker Mark Herzlich said. 'That's what happened.'

Nesbitt completed 6-of-13 passes for 73 yards, and he also ran it in from 1 yard out in the first quarter to give Tech a 7-3 lead.

BC (1-1, 0-1 ACC) gave up its first points and committed its first penalty of the season. The Eagles, who beat Kent State 21-0 last week, held a 9-7 halftime lead thanks to three fumbles by Georgia Tech (2-0, 1-0 ACC) and three field goals by Steve Aponavicius.

But BC, which also missed a field goal attempt in the first half, had three turnovers of its own in the second - two interceptions and a fumble, also by Crane, to go with the safety.