BOSTON (AP) – Quinton Porter had one of the worst starts a quarterback can imagine. At the end of the game, though, Boston College was desperate for him to return.

Porter was intercepted for a touchdown on the first play of the game, then he threw another interception on the Eagles’ second drive to put them behind 14-0 against Florida State. But when BC had a chance to come back in the fourth quarter, Porter was on the bench with a sprained ankle.

“I just wanted back in, but the coaches took me out,” he said after the Eagles lost 28-17 to Florida State on Saturday night their first Atlantic Coast Conference game.

“I would have taken me out, too.”

Boston College (2-1) fell out of The Associated Press poll released Sunday after entering the game ranked 17th. The Seminoles (3-0, 2-0) moved up two spots to No. 6.

“That was an outstanding Boston College team and they’re going to win a lot of games this year,” said linebacker A.J. Nicholson, whose first-quarter interceptions helped spot the Seminoles to a 14-0 lead. “Fortunately, we were able to make enough big plays.”

Porter recovered from his slow start to complete 20 of 31 passes for 151 yards, leading BC to three consecutive scores to take a 17-14 lead with 10:36 left in the first half. But the Eagles couldn’t score again with Porter, and they had even less chance of a comeback after Porter got hurt.

Backup Matthew Ryan “was nervous to start, but I think as things went on he settled down,” coach Tom O’Brien said Sunday.

“If Quinton can’t make it to practice this week, I’m sure it’s something he can build on if he was to play this week in Clemson.”

Porter was walking around Sunday and hasn’t been ruled out of next Saturday’s game at Clemson.

“They were hanging on, then they lost their quarterback. I don’t know what would have happened if he had not gotten hurt,” Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. “They must have felt the loss.”

Porter was hurt when a lineman rolled over his right ankle in the third quarter. He stayed in the game, but O’Brien saw that it wasn’t working so he went to Ryan with 43 seconds left in the third.

“We kept him in there for a series or two, but he wasn’t right,” O’Brien said. “So there was a little blip in what we wanted to do.”

Porter, who described the injury as a sprain, had the ankle taped after the game and was on crutches.

“It wasn’t getting worse, it just wasn’t getting better,” he said.

Ryan presided over three consecutive three-and-outs, and on the third Darius McClure blocked a punt and recovered it at the BC 4-yard line. On the first play, Lorenzo Booker ran it in to make it 28-17.

Ryan was able to drive to the Florida State 2 in the final three minutes, accounting for almost all of his 7-for-11 passing for 89 yards. But the Eagles couldn’t score despite getting seven tries – including a defensive holding penalty – and they used up most of the clock while trying.

The game was the culmination of the ACC’s two-year expansion to 12 teams so it could play a lucrative championship game. Boston College dubbed Saturday “ACC Premier Day,” and commissioner John Swofford tossed the coin to start the game with both schools’ athletic directors looking on.

A heavy rain put an early damper on the enthusiasm, and then Nicholson nearly finished it off by intercepting the first play of the game and returning it 19 yards for a touchdown.

He picked off Porter again on BC’s second drive to set up a second score.

O’Brien did see some positives: a strong run defense, solid pass protection and a good ground game.

“We had to come out and play perfect football and we didn’t do it,” O’Brien said. “What we learned is Florida State is a very, very talented football team.”

Copy the Story Link