Crane overcomes booing to lead BC, 34-7

With the boos barely faded away after Boston College headed to the locker room trailing at halftime, Eagles coach Jeff Jagodzinski decided to let quarterback Chris Crane throw his way out of his struggles in the second half.

Crane ran for a pair of third-quarter scores and threw a touchdown pass early in the fourth after being booed and benched to lead Boston College to a 34-7 win Saturday over Central Florida.

"We just let Chris go," Jagodzinski said. "That's what we do."

Crane, starting just his fourth game after backing up graduated QB Matt Ryan, went 16-for-34 for 207 yards with three interceptions for the Eagles (2-1).

"We told him we're going to leave it on your shoulders," Jagodzinski said. "I said, `Go out and play like you're in your backyard.'"

Montel Harris rushed 13 times for 112 yards and backup quarterback Dominique Davis threw a late TD pass for BC.

Davis, a redshirt freshman, took over for Crane with the Eagles at their own 46 midway into the opening quarter and marched them 47 yards in 12 plays before Steve Aponavicius hit the left upright with a 24-yard attempt.

When Crane returned on the next series, he was booed by many of the 41,267 fans. Davis, who was expected to play for a series, came back in for one more series before the Eagles went with Crane the rest of the game.

"We knew we could move the ball against these guys," Crane said of the team's halftime talk. "We said, `Let's just go out and do it.' I was glad to get back in the game. I was happy they had enough faith in me to get me in there."

Crane gave BC a 10-7 lead with a 1-yard touchdown run to end the Eagles' first possession of the second half.

Following Jeff Smith's 56-yard kickoff return, Crane hit his first two passes of the drive before closing it with his 2-yard run.

His 48-yard scoring toss to Brandon Robinson, the longest of Crane's career, made it 24-7.

"That's why you play 60 minutes," UCF coach George O'Leary said. "Obviously we had some opportunities today and we sure didn't take care of it. Give BC credit, they made some plays that we didn't make."

O'Leary didn't let any of his players talk to the media after the game.

Crane was just 6-of-14 for 45 yards with an interception in the first half.

"We had a rough first half," Jagodzinski said. "I think we found ourselves a little bit offensively of what we're going to be."

UCF's Daren Daley was wide left on a 25-yard attempt. He also hit the left upright on a 23-yard attempt in the fourth.

Michael Greco's 1-yard TD run on the final play of the opening half gave UCF (1-2) a 7-3 halftime edge.

Greco, replaced a few times in the game, went 12-for-24 for 92 yards and three interceptions.

UCF's TD was set up by Greco's 44-yard scramble. The Knights were stopped on a pair of runs from the 1 before Greco rolled out of the pocket and was hit as he barely crossed the goal line.