CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Dave Shinskie admitted to being somewhat rattled, if only for a moment, after an interception he threw erased Boston College’s lead against Virginia.

Then he bounced back the way he knew he needed to, leading the Eagles on a 70-yard drive that ended with his 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down in their 14-10 victory on Saturday.

“That’s what good quarterbacks do,” the 25-year-old freshman said. “If you make a mistake, you’ve got to put it behind you and come back and play the next down.”

Because he did, and because the Eagles stopped Jameel Sewell inches shy of a first down on his fourth-down run in the final minute, Boston College remained in contention to win the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference by winning its last two ACC games.

The Eagles are a half-game behind Clemson in the division race with games against North Carolina and at Maryland remaining. Clemson finishes its ACC slate at Virginia next weekend, and would clinch a berth in the ACC championship against Georgia Tech with a victory.

But title or not, Eagles coach Frank Spaziani is loving his quarterback and the way he forgot quickly about Chris Cook’s 58-yard interception return TD and brought his team back.

“He got rattled there. He took a standing 8 count, but he came back,” Spaziani said.

Shinskie is no stranger to disappointment as an athlete. He spent six years in the minor leagues as a pitcher before returning to football and winning the Eagles’ starting job.

“People flying at you hitting you is a little different than the ball going over the centerfield fence and you have to pitch it again,” Spaziani said. “But he’s growing.”

It showed on the winning drive for the Eagles (7-3, 4-2), who were 0-3 on the road.

Facing a first-and-25 from his own 49 after back-to-back penalties, he hit Colin Larmond Jr. for 11 yards and Chris Pantale for 12, setting up a third-and-2. When Virginia stopped Montel Harris for a yard, the Eagles went for it on fourth down, and Harris gained 3 yards.

Shinskie later tried to connect with Rich Gunnell in the end zone, but Chris Cook was called for pass interference, moving the ball to the Cavaliers 7. Three Harris runs later, it was fourth down again, and this time the 6-foot-4 Shinskie kept it and pushed it in.

“That’s their play,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “He needed 12 inches. He got 13.”

Shinskie finished 12 for 26 for 147 yards, and could have had a lot more. He threw a beautiful deep ball that traveled about 60 yards in the air toward Larmond, who had gotten behind three defenders. But the sure touchdown went right through his hands.

Harris added 151 rushing yards on 38 bruising carries for the Eagles.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Cavaliers (3-7, 2-4), erased the possibility of a late surge to qualify for a bowl game and left the team hurting again at the finish.

“We had high spirits the entire game,” linebacker Bill Schautz said. “We were all playing together, coming together as one, playing hard for each other. For us to lose like that is heartbreaking. Everybody’s morale is down but … we’re trying to stay positive.”

Virginia had taken its first lead on Robert Randolph’s 38-yard field goal on the last play of the third quarter, but couldn’t stop the Eagles, or respond when it fell behind.

Nearly eight minutes remained after BC went ahead, but after Virginia was forced to punt, the Eagles took over at their 14 and ran the clock down almost to the 2-minute mark.

Sewell then drove the Cavaliers to the Eagles 12 with 26 seconds left, but they faced fourth-and-1 with no timeouts left. Sewell tried to run it, but was stopped just short.

Earlier, Virginia looked like it might end its losing skid, and in exciting fashion as Cook intercepted a Shinskie pass and returned it 58 yards for the tying touchdown.

The Cavaliers stopped the Eagles, then drove 60 yards to Randolph’s field goal.

The Eagles led 7-0 at halftime and could have been up by more. Shinskie led them to the Cavaliers 5 on their opening drive, then threw an interception in the end zone.