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WINSTON-SALEM -- Kevin Patterson remembered the unfortunate tip, the possible interception it prevented and the game-winning Boston College touchdown it facilitated Saturday night. He didn't gripe, however.

In truth, the Wake Forest Deacons had as much right to lament bad bounces as Manny Ramirez has to cry poverty.

The scoreboard said Boston College beat the Deacs 24-21. The standings say Wake is out of the long and bizarre race for the ACC championship game. Anybody who saw it said it was too odd to describe. Wake compiled 191 yards of total offense -- its lowest total in Jim Grobe's eight years as coach -- and nearly escaped again.

"It hurts as an offensive player when the defense plays that great and you can't win it," quarterback Riley Skinner said.

Until the Eagles went on a nine-play, 70-yard, game-winning march in the final minutes, the only touchdown drive by either offense covered 1 yard and was only necessary because a blocked-punt return fell that short of the goal line.

If linebacker Aaron Curry hadn't done his job and gotten a hand on backup quarterback Dominique Davis' pass on the final drive, Patterson might have intercepted and Wake might have won while amassing no more than 14 yards of total offense on any one of its 13 possessions.

In the end, two fumble returns for touchdowns and a blocked put that set up a third weren't enough for Wake. Curry's deflection knocked the ball off line for Patterson and in position for the Eagles' Brandon Robinson, who took it to the Deacon 1 and set the table for Davis' sneak with 72 seconds left.

"It was a sense-of-urgency possession," Davis said. "I had to fit some threads through some needles."

In the context of Wake's season, it made some sense. The Deacs have won twice while allowing 28 or more points. They've won two other games while scoring fewer than 13.

And this was almost the grandest larceny of them all.

Wake's offensive line is more battered than the menu at IHOP. The Eagles, led by two tackles who weigh 647 pounds between them, have shut out three opponents on the year and held a fourth under 10. Over the past four contests, BC has gotten four touchdowns from its offense and four from other sources and is 3-1 in that time.

How many teams have athletes as large and nimble as the triumvirate of Ron Brace, B.J. Raji and Mark Herzlich, the linebacker who returned another interception for a score? Herzlich grabbed a ball that was perhaps three yards out of Skinner's hand and took it the distance for a 13-0 lead.

"When he extended, &ellipses;. That's a big boy," Skinner said. "That's the last thing I thought would happen on that play."

The Deacs even got kicker Sam Swank back for the first time since September, and he was healthy. His 47-yard attempt with 4:57 left had plenty of distance but was wide to the left. Asking him to connect from 57 might have been a bit much, which is why Grobe went for it on fourth down on the last drive.

The Eagles flushed Skinner out of the pocket for about the 4,568th time, and for the second week in a row, the junior improvised a throw into the end zone that briefly looked like a game-winner before falling incomplete.

Wake needed every conceivable break to win, and it almost got them -- including a broken collarbone suffered by Chris Crane, the Eagles' starting quarterback.

The ACC in 2008 is like an online dating site on which nobody posts a picture of himself or herself. But look at the Eagles. If they win at Maryland next week, they're going to the ACC title game for the second straight year.

"That's why BC is the way it is," coach Jeff Jagodzinski said. "We find a way to win."

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com

Boston College 3 13 0 8 -- 24

Wake Forest 0 7 7 7 -- 21

BC--FG Aponavicius 32

BC--FG Aponavicius 30

BC--Herzlich 34 interception return (Aponavicius kick)

Wake--Patterson 15 fumble return (Swank kick)

BC--FG Aponavicius 30

Wake--Wilber 2 fumble return (Swank kick)

Wake--Belton 1 pass from Skinner (Swank kick)

BC--D.Davis 1 run (Harris run)

A--30,373

Boston College Wake Forest

First downs 14 9

Rushes-yards 44-97 28-65

Passing 137 126

Comp-Att-Int 16-27-0 14-28-2

Return Yards 60 46

Punts-Avg. 8-32.0 9-35.6

Fumbles-Lost 4-3 0-0

Penalties-Yards 3-25 7-66

Time of Possession 34:40 25:20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Boston College, Haden 17-77, Harris 9-30, Crane 5-14, Team 1-(minus 2), D.Davis 12-(minus 22). Wake Forest, Pendergrass 13-67, Belton 2-10, Adams 3-1, Boldin 3-1, Skinner 7-(minus 14).

PASSING--Boston College, D.Davis 13-23-0-103, Crane 3-4-0-34. Wake Forest, Skinner 14-28-2-126.

RECEIVING--Boston College, Harris 5-18, Gunnell 4-52, Robinson 4-51, Jarvis 2-10, Purvis 1-6. Wake Forest, Boldin 6-87, Brinkman 2-19, Parker 1-6, Wooster 1-6, Pendergrass 1-5, J.Williams 1-3, Belton 1-1, Mars.Williams 1-(minus 1).