Green Carries Boston College

NASHVILLE —  William Green’s next big run could be to the NFL.

The nation’s second-leading rusher led Boston College to a 20-16 victory over No. 16-ranked Georgia in the Music City Bowl on Friday, setting up one touchdown with a 75-yard run and powering seven yards for the go-ahead score with 4:43 left.

After gaining 149 yards in 35 carries in his final game as a junior, Green reiterated that he’ll decide whether to make himself available for the NFL draft after meeting with his coaches next month.

College opponents wouldn’t mind not looking at the back of Green’s No. 1 jersey.

“As long as you have a back like No. 1 here,” Boston College Coach Tom O’Brien said of the game’s most valuable player, “you have to give the ball to him, keep pounding away, and sooner or later he’ll break one.”

Georgia (8-4) helped Boston College (8-4) with four turnovers, nine penalties and curious play-calling.

With Georgia trailing, 20-16, with 1:32 left, Coach Mark Richt decided to punt on fourth and 17 at Georgia’s 43-yard line. The punt went into the end zone, Boston College took over at its 20, and Georgia got the ball back with 14 seconds and 52 yards to go.

“I thought we’d have about 30 or 40 seconds” left, Richt said. “I don’t know if that’s better odds than going for it on fourth down and making it.”

On Georgia’s last two plays, David Greene threw an incompletion, then was sacked by Doug Goodwin as the pro-Georgia crowd of 46,125 left disappointed.

Trailing by four, the Bulldogs couldn’t try for a field goal. They might have if they hadn’t been offside on an extra-point attempt after Verron Haynes, who rushed for 132 yards, scored on a one-yard run for a 16-13 lead with 5:26 left in the third quarter.

“That changed the dynamics of the game,” Richt said.

Billy Bennett missed the longer kick after making his other 34 attempts this season.

Boston College ended a 21-game losing streak against ranked teams.

“I told the team before the game, ‘We’ve had a good year. We can’t call ourselves a good team unless we beat one,’ and we beat a good team tonight,” O’Brien said.

Boston College also gave the Big East a clean sweep of its four-year Music Bowl series against the Southeastern Conference. A Big Ten team will move into the Big East slot next year

Boston College certainly was more opportunistic. Its two touchdowns and Sandro Sciortino’s field goals of 25 and 26 yards followed Georgia’s four turnovers.

The Bulldogs also committed an offensive pass interference penalty against Terrence Edwards inside the Eagles 10 with 2:09 remaining.

For Boston College, Green started the day averaging 155.9 yards per game. His 75-yard run ended when Jermaine Phillips caught him from behind and punched the ball out of bounds.

“I’m sure I’ll get a lot of jokes from my teammates for getting caught from behind,” Green said.

Three plays later, St. Pierre threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Dedrick Dewalt, giving Boston College a 10-7 lead with 9:09 left in the half.