BOSTON (AP) – Time is running out for Boston College.

The Eagles are down to their final chance to beat Miami in a Big East game. Close calls, moral victories and fluky finishes aside, Boston College hasn’t beaten the Hurricanes since the “Hail Flutie” game in 1984 – seven years before Big East football began.

With the second-ranked Hurricanes (3-0) bolting for the Atlantic Coast Conference next season, Boston College (2-1) has one final chance.

“I’m sad to see them go,” Eagles running back Derrick Knight said. “It’s the last time any of us are going to face them. It’s another chance to step it up and go against a team we haven’t beat.”

Despite losing the last 13 meetings between the teams, the Eagles have come oh-so-close in recent years to knocking off Miami, with their last four losses at home coming down to the end.

“Maybe it’s the chowder up there or something,” Miami center Joel Rodriguez said. “They always seem to play us tougher in Boston. I don’t know what it is. Hopefully we can change that this time around and get out with an easy victory.”

The last meeting in Boston provided perhaps the most unusual finish as the Eagles almost derailed Miami’s national championship run in 2001.

Trailing 12-7 in the final minute, the Eagles had a first down at Miami’s 9 after driving 61 yards to get in position for the win.

Brian St. Pierre dropped back to pass and his throw hit off defensive back Mike Rumph’s knee. Instead of harmlessly bouncing to the turf, the ball ended up in defensive lineman Matt Walters’ hands and he began running it back. After Walters ran 10 yards, defensive back Ed Reed grabbed the ball away and went the remaining 80 yards for the clinching touchdown in an 18-7 win.

“It was a crazy ending to a crazy game,” Miami linebacker Jonathan Vilma said.

It’s far from the only unusual game between these teams. In 1999, the Hurricanes mounted the largest comeback in school history, coming from 28 points down in the second half to win 31-28 on Andy Crosland’s 30-yard field goal with three seconds remaining.

Two years before that, Miami won 45-44 in double overtime.

when Boston College coach Tom O’Brien thought he had to go for 2 after scoring a touchdown to open the second overtime. The Eagles missed and Miami won with its touchdown and extra point.

And in 1995, Dan McGuire’s 46-yard field goal fell just short of the crossbar as time expired in Miami’s 17-14 win.

Miami won easily in 1993 but struggled in the first Big East meeting in 1991, winning 19-14. That close call cost the Hurricanes the No. 1 spot in the coaches poll and they ended up sharing the national title with Washington.

“Hopefully we’ll be in that situation again, in the fourth quarter with an opportunity to win the football game,” O’Brien said.

To do that, the Eagles will rely heavily on Knight, who is fourth in the nation with 155.7 yards rushing per game. Boston College wants to keep the ball away from Miami’s high-powered offense, led by quarterback Brock Berlin, tight end Kellen Winslow and running back Frank Gore.

The Hurricanes have gained at least 10 yards on almost one quarter of their plays from scrimmage.

“They can score from any point on the field, on any down, from any distance,” O’Brien said.

The game features some juicy subplots. It is Miami’s first game against one of the Big East teams it is leaving behind next year when it goes to join the ACC.

The defections by Miami and Virginia Tech have left the future of the remaining Big East teams in flux, with the conference deciding whether to split in two. Even though the Eagles hoped to join the Hurricanes in the ACC, there is some bitterness over the defections at Boston College.

That prompted O’Brien to write an open letter to the campus newspaper this week, asking fans to behave.

“We’re going to act with class,” he said. “There should not be any animosity at all over what went on in the summer.”

While fans at other Big East schools might be pulling even harder than usual for Boston College, the Eagles players are going to miss their showdowns with Miami.

“You always want to play the best,” linebacker Josh Ott said. “The tougher teams you play, the better you play. I think we schedule enough good teams.”

AP-ES-09-19-03 1413EDT