BC's Crane passes first test

Eagles' QB runs for two TDs

CLEVELAND -- Quarterback Chris Crane, who waited four years for his chance to run the offense, ran for two touchdowns to lead Boston College to a 21-0 season-opening football win over Kent State late Saturday.

Making just his second career start, Crane, a fifth-year senior who spent last season sitting behind former BC star and Atlanta Falcons starter Matt Ryan, completed 12 of 18 passes for 106 yards. He scored on a 10-yard run in the first quarter and a 6-yarder in the fourth to make it 21-0 and kept his mistakes to a minimum while directing BC's ground-heavy attack.

The Eagles, who climbed as high as No. 2 in the polls last season before finishing 10th in the AP Top 25, had little trouble with the Mid-American Conference's Golden Flashes.

Boston College took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and then turned things over to its veteran defense, which didn't allow the Golden Flashes inside its 45 until the fourth quarter and posted its first shutout since 2006.

The Eagles' chances of repeating as champions of the ACC's Atlantic Division will rest on the shoulders -- and perhaps legs -- of Crane, who has been jokingly called a "fifth-year freshman" by coach Jeff Jagodzinski. Crane completed two passes as Ryan's backup last season and came in having thrown just 40 passes since enrolling at BC.

But other than missing wide-open Rich Gunnell down the sideline on what would have been an easy touchdown in the third quarter, Crane made all the plays.

Jeff Smith scored on a 42-yard run in the first half for the Eagles, who will open ACC play this week against Georgia Tech.

Kent State's Eugene Jarvis, the nation's leading returning rusher, had with 51 yards on 11 carries. Julian Edelman went 10-for-14 yards for 123 yards, threw two interceptions and was scrambling from BC's rush all night.