Dennis Grosel was almost the hero in Death Valley. Twice.

The redshirt senior Boston College quarterback is no stranger to big throws at Clemson. In last year's matchup, he came in for starter Phil Jurkovec after Jurkovec's helmet popped off. With less than 4:30 to go and BC trailing, 32-28, Grosel completed a 4th-and-3 pass to Hunter Long to keep the Eagles' upset hopes alive.

He did the same thing Saturday night—this time, as QB1—making throw after throw while operating the Eagles' late-game offense to near perfection. Near.

Despite hitting on 10-of-13 passes in the final five minutes of regulation, Grosel took his eye off center Alec Lindstrom with the play clock dwindling down, BC at the Clemson 11-yard line and 53 seconds to go.

The snap ricocheted off Grosel's left hand, and the stunned veteran couldn't hop on it before Tigers defensive end KJ Henry recovered the fumble.

It left a sour taste in the mouth of Grosel and everyone else tied to BC, which is still searching for its first win over an AP-ranked opponent since 2014.

"Just really unfortunate we didn't get a chance at the end there to even put a shot in the end zone," Grosel said postgame.

It was a roller coaster performance for Grosel, who became just the fourth quarterback in the last three years to throw for more than 300 yards against Clemson (the others being LSU's Joe Burrow, Ohio State's Justin Fields and Notre Dame's Ian Book) but ultimately lost the game for the Eagles.

Grosel made some bad decisions in Death Valley, however, he also made a number of incredible throws. Let's go through his best and worst passes at Clemson.

On BC's first scoring drive of the game, Grosel calmly completed a pass over the middle to tight end Joey Luchetti. That area of the field was working for Grosel all night. Of his 23 completions, 15 of them came between the numbers, according to Pro Football Focus. Grosel said that BC's tight ends are rarely his first read, but he was moving through his progressions and finding Luchetti and fellow tight end Trae Barry, who combined for nine catches and 140 receiving yards.

The last couple weeks, Grosel has been excellent managing the clock and helping head coach Jeff Hafley generate two-score swings between either side of intermission. He did it again at Clemson, thanks to a few huge throws before the end of the first half. His 2nd-and-17 completion to Travis Levy was one of the most impressive throws of his career. Grosel felt pressure off his left side, danced outside the pocket like Jurkovec, set his feet and delivered a strike to a wide-open Levy before getting leveled by a collection of Tigers. Levy took the pass and scampered for a gain of 19 yards.

Shortly after, Grosel connected with true freshman wide receiver Jaden Williams on an out route. Grosel timed it so that he was throwing right as Williams made his break. Great throw, great catch. First down.

Following a near pick on BC's first play from scrimmage to start the second half, Grosel waited patiently for Barry to streak across the middle, distancing himself from Clemson linebacker James Skalski. Grosel put enough touch on the ball to hook up with a striding Barry and pick up 33 yards.

It was back-to-back chunk plays by BC's tight ends. After evading a sack, Grosel dialed up a pass to Luchetti, who galloped 39 yards down the left sideline deep into Tigers territory.

Grosel had his hands full with a feisty Clemson defensive line that was still disruptive, even without reigning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year Bryan Bresee and fellow starter Tyler Davis. Grosel was pressured on 18 of his 40 pass attempts. He completed 50% of those throws, registering a meager 47.2 PFF passing grade under duress. But one of the nine completions dug BC out of a massive hole. Up against his own end zone on 3rd-and-11, Grosel—with a Clemson defender breathing down his neck—whipped a pass to Barry to move the chains and start what was a 10-play, 38-yard drive.

Before the first of two fumbled snaps, Grosel used a quick release to zip a pass to Jaelen Gill on a slant route for a 25-yard pickup. Grosel gathered the shotgun snap, took two steps and threw a dot to Gill, right where it needed to be.

Grosel was on the money for the greater portion of his final two drives. His last series, though, stuck out the most. BC got the ball back with under two minutes left and no timeouts remaining. Grosel was largely restricted to the sidelines. As noted earlier, he was enjoying significantly more success in the middle of the field. Still, Grosel made it work, completing the first five passes of this drive. Here, he puts a 14-yard pass to Zay Flowers on a rope, allowing his star wideout to make the grab and immediately get out of bounds.

A couple plays later, Grosel used the boundaries to his advantage again, connecting with Barry, who got both feet in before stepping out, for a big first down. Of course, that was the last pass Grosel completed. But it was a good one.

Jurkovec and Flowers had an unbeatable rapport. Flowers would take the top off the defense, and Jurkovec was there to get him the ball. Time after time. Spring game. Blowout game. Big game. It didn't matter. It's clear that Grosel is still working on developing a connection with his speedy wide receiver that can generate even half those results when it comes to the home run ball. The Willoughby, Ohio, native missed Flowers a handful of times downfield. Flowers typically had a half step on Clemson's defensive backs, but Grosel was putting too much juice on his passes.

Three of Grosel's passes were batted down at the line Saturday night. Safety Trenton Simpson got a hand on this one, which was intended for Barry. Given the pass's trajectory, not sure it would have resulted in a touchdown anyway. But this is where Grosel's 6-foot-1 frame pales in comparison to Jurkovec's 6-foot-5 stature.

Both of Grosel's interceptions occurred when he had a clean pocket. The first could have been caught by Flowers, an NFL prospect, but the throw was certainly high. It hit off Flowers' hands and landed in the arms of safety Nolan Turner.

Clemson cornerback Sheridan Jones should have had a pick-six. First play out of the half for Grosel and Co., and the redshirt senior hurled a pass in the direction of Flowers (who motioned pre-snap). Grosel threw off his back foot. The toss was wide of Flowers and almost ended up in the hands of Jones, who had nothing but green ahead of him.

Another missed opportunity downfield. Grosel had Flowers on another post route. The first few games this year, Grosel was underthrowing his receivers, namely Williams, on deep shots. This past weekend, maybe he was overcompensating. He could have put some more air underneath this pass and led Flowers to the other hashmark, giving him time to catch the ball and break further away from his defender.

Grosel's second interception of the game was by far his worst throw of the season. He had a clean pocket. And he just airmailed the ball over the head of CJ Lewis. Clemson safety RJ Mickens was there for the diving pick, gifting the Tigers with great field position. Play-action is usually a strength of BC, and Grosel specifically, but the redshirt senior was just 6-of-14 on the play fake in Death Valley, per PFF.

Now, this play is interesting. It's tricky to figure out why offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. didn't run the ball here on 3rd-and-9. If the Eagles knew they were going for it on fourth down, why not make that situation a bit more manageable—it's even easier to say that now, of course, after Flowers' catch on fourth down was about a half yard short. Even so, Grosel's 3rd-and-9 pass intended for who else but Flowers was off the mark. It was high and wide for the junior wideout, setting up 4th-and-9.

Grosel's infamous fumbled snap almost never happened because he was extremely close to throwing a game-ending interception in the end zone. Skalski got a piece of the pass, and Tyler Venables nearly came up with the pick. But the ball fell harmlessly into the paint. Throwing to Barry in the first place, though, was questionable with two Clemson defenders in coverage.