Eagles Fly By ASU At Aloha
Don't pack those bags just yet for Tom O'Brien.
The Boston College coach has been prominently mentioned for the vacancy at Virginia, but O'Brien doesn't want to rush things.
"There is a future for this program, a great future," he said after the Eagles beat Arizona State 31-17 in the Aloha Bowl on Monday.
When asked if there was a future for him at BC, O'Brien succinctly answered, "Yes, absolutely."
Tim Hasselbeck threw two long second-half touchdown passes and Cedric Washington scored on an 11-yard run, all in the second half, for the Eagles (7-5).
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"I just got through speaking to the players," Snyder said. "This is really an important team to me, a real special team. It's not one of those teams that wins every game.
"They're really loyal and together and I wish them well for their future."
With the teams playing to a 10-10 tie at the half, Boston College scored twice in a two-minute span of the third quarter to break the game open.
The scores came on Hasselbeck's passes of 58 yards to Dedrick Dewalt and 40 yards to Ryan Read. Two series later, Washington put the game out of reach with his 11-yard run.
Hasselbeck did not post impressive numbers, going only 8-of-21, but the long-gainers more than offset the low passing percentage. The Eagles also got strong performance out of Washington, who picked up 109 yards on 22 carries while filling in for suspended starter William Green.
The first half was one of missed opportunities.
Arizona State (6-6) got on the board on its first possession with Tom Pace capping a 46-yard drive with a 14-yard run.
The Eagles moved ahead Washington's 10-yard run and Mike Sutphin's career-best 50-yard field goal, but Mike Barth countered with a 28-yard field goal to tie it.
But both teams failed to take advantage of good field position.
The Sun Devils got to the BC 19, but Willie Poole picked off Jeff Krohn's pass in the end zone. They got to the Eagles' 1 in the second quarter, but Griffin Goodman fumbled and Paul Cook pounced on it for Boston College. It was one of five Arizona State turnovers in the game.
Goodman was inserted into the lineup after Krohn dislocated his right shoulder in the second quarter.
The Eagles got to the Arizona State 7 in the first half, but a fake field goal went awry.
Arizona State's final score came with 51 seconds left, with Matt Cooper hitting Ryan Dennard.
The Sun Devils had better game numbers 81 plays to 56 and 35:33 to 24:27 in time of possession but they were hampered by five turnovers that led to two field goals and a touchdown.
"We tried to make this a four-quarter game because we knew we couldn't match up with their speed," O'Brien said. "We knew their speed would have to come back to us in the fourth quarter.
"It came back a little sooner than that. We knew we would get stronger as the game went on and we were able to do that."
That's when Hasselbeck hit for his two scores and Washington ran in his second TD.
For Arizona State, the coaching situation made for a difficult week.
"It was a real distraction having to be loyal to this coaching staff knowing another coaching staff was coming in," center Scott Peters said. "It wasn't a distraction for me, but I think it was for some of the guys."
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