BLACKSBURG, Va. — For Travis Levy, the name of the game is patience.

It was only a matter of time before the sophomore running back broke out behind injured star A.J. Dillon. While redshirt junior Ben Glines and true freshman David Bailey have both surpassed 100 yards rushing in Dillon’s absence, Levy has remained fairly quiet.

Maybe he was just waiting for one of the loudest settings in college football.

“It’s definitely a scenery change, but I’m ready every game,” Levy said. “Next man-up-mentality, that’s what it is.”

Levy filled in flawlessly after Dillon once again went down in the third quarter, rushing 11 times (he had just six carries in the first three ACC games) for a career-high 75 yards and two touchdowns as Boston College’s second-half surge silenced a sold-out Lane Stadium in a 31-21 win. It also marked Virginia Tech’s first loss after leading at halftime under head coach Justin Fuente (20-1).

“Travis [Levy] played a wonderful game—very unselfish player,” quarterback Anthony Brown said. “He’s the sole reason why we picked up our game today.”

Levy’s second touchdown, an extra-effort extension that gave the Eagles (7-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) a two-score lead in the fourth quarter, sealed their best start in a decade entering next weekend’s primetime matchup against No. 2 Clemson.

“On the goal line, he got stopped, and re-surged and got the ball over for a touchdown,” head coach Steve Addazio said. “He stepped up and played one heck of a football game when we really needed it.”

With ESPN’s College Gameday on campus and ACC title implications on the line, it’s sure to be BC’s biggest home game in at least a decade. Buckle up.

Meat Left on the Bone

Like last week, the coaching staff attacked Virginia Tech’s defense with an aggressive game plan out of the gate. But the Eagles’ offense struggled to function as smoothly, missing a few big-play opportunities early.

“I didn’t execute well enough in the first half,” Brown said. “Simple as that.”

The most glaring example came in the second quarter, when Brown overthrew a wide-open Michael Walker behind the secondary. The second-year signal caller echoed Addazio’s postgame note that the headwind didn’t do any favors for that toss, which likely would have gone the distance if on target.

“Obviously in the first half we missed some opportunities,” Addazio said. “That happens, we’re in a tough environment. But I thought in the second half he played with great poise and confidence and really played fantastic. He was a really good field-general leader out there.”

After the Hokies cut the deficit to 28-21 with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Brown marched the offense back down the field. The first play of the series, a 37-yard dart to graduate Tommy Sweeney, moved the Eagles past midfield and a 15-yard run by Levy brought them into the red zone. Colton Lichtenberg put the cherry on top with a chip-shot field goal, and BC made a late, game-clinching drive look relatively easy thanks to the poise of Brown and Levy.

The fact that the Eagles came away with a road win despite Brown not playing his best game and Dillon missing a half is promising. But they certainly can’t afford to start so slow against the Tigers on Saturday.

“There’s a lot of meat left on our bone, and we’re gonna need it for this next week,” Brown said. “This team that we’re playing at home is probably the best team in the country and they’re ready against everything. They’re ready on all fronts. We need to play the most physical game we’ve played all year and I need to be on top of my game.”

Defensive Scheming

After Tech quarterback Ryan Willis began 10-for-12 passing with two touchdowns on the Hokies’ first four drives, defensive coordinator Jim Reid adjusted his packages accordingly. BC rushed just four men for the rest of the game, daring the Hokies to run while focusing its energy on the secondary.

“Boston College made a decision about maybe halfway through the second quarter, end of the second half, to stop moving, stop blitzing, and to play base defense two high,” Fuente said. “We came out in the second half and tried to run the ball into it and it did not bode well.”

The difference was night and day. The Eagles dominated the line of scrimmage the rest of the way, forcing four turnovers and holding Tech scoreless on its next nine drives. The Hokies managed a mere seven yards on 12 rushes in the second quarter and just 147 total yards in the second half.

“They had six or seven men protecting a four-man rush,” Addazio said. “We needed to put pressure on them but we didn’t want to put our back ends in harm’s way. Our guys did a great job in the second half of getting home with a four-man rush. Even at times when we couldn’t get home, we forced him out of the pocket and made him throw the ball away.”

The defensive line maintained pressure with a four-man rush not only because of the stars on the edge, but also thanks to stellar play on the interior line. Virginia native Tanner Karafa was the highest-graded player on the team with a career-high eight tackles and 2.5 TFLs, helping senior Ray Smith plug any running lanes in the middle of the field. Linebacker Isaiah McDuffie was also everywhere, matching a career-high with 13 tackles.

BC also benefited from some big hits that left Willis shaken up and appeared to affect his play in the second half. Will Harris got to him first on crushing safety blitz before Smith shoved him to the turf out of bounds, drawing a questionable late-hit penalty. After both injuries, the medical staff tended to Willis and took him to the sidelines, but he returned each time.

There’s little doubt the Eagles will come out and play with that same physicality against Clemson on Saturday. The tougher task will be applying similar four-man pressure against the Tigers’ offensive line and slowing down Travis Etienne & Co.

Tight End U

Perhaps the only other position group deeper than the running back corps is the tight ends. Frank Leonard has developed five or six guys who can navigate BC’s complex playbook as both solid blockers and route-runners.

Of course, it was the go-to graduate Sweeney who led the way with 61 yards on four catches. But Korab Idrizi also stepped up in a big way with a 22-yard touchdown catch, the longest reception and first score of his career. Brown saw some blown coverage and exploited it to perfection.

“I think I called a corner blitz and then I tried to change it,” Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. “I don’t think everyone got the call. There would usually be a certain coverage we would be in to cover that guy. They were running a zone read and I changed the call probably too late. That was probably my fault when it’s all said and done.”

Hunter Long, still a bit banged up, only played six snaps, but Sweeney and Idrizi made sure his absence wasn’t felt. The tight end duo represented two of BC’s three highest-graded players on offense, according to PFF.