Callender leads No. 12 BC over UMass

Andre Callender ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Ryan threw for one TD to lead No. 12 Boston College past feisty cross-state rival Massachusetts 24-14 on Saturday and give the Eagles their best start in more than 50 years.

Ryan was 24-for-42 for 204 yards, helping BC (5-0) open a 17-0 lead before slumping in the third quarter as UMass (4-1) closed within a field goal at 17-14. But Ryan answered with a 61-yard drive, completing 5-of-7 passes and adding a 14-yard scramble before Callender scored from the 4 to make it 24-14.

BC has not opened a season with five straight wins since 1954.

UMass hadn't lost since falling to Appalachian State in the Division I-AA championship game last season; Appalachian State is better known as the team that beat then-No. 5 Michigan 34-32 in the season opener _ one of the biggest upsets in college football history.

But UMass, ranked No. 2 in the division formerly known as I-AA, couldn't pull off an upset to match its Football Championship Subdivision rival.

Liam Coen went 12-for-21 for 151 yards and two touchdowns for the Minutemen before leaving the game with a "tweaked" knee early in the fourth quarter. Scott Woodward led UMass from its own 6 yard-line _ scrambling for a key first down on a third-and-7 from the BC 41 _ before Chris Koepplin missed a 46-yard field goal that would have pulled the Minutemen within one score.

Rich Gunnell caught six passes for 97 yards for BC, which plays Bowling Green next week and once-proud Notre Dame after that. Rasheed Rancher caught four passes for 84 yards and a touchdown for UMass.

BC opened a 17-0 halftime lead on a 37-yard field goal, Callender's 1-yard run and a 9-yard pass to Justin Jarvis. But the Eagles' lackluster play began to cost them in the second half.

BC went three-and-out on its first possessions of the third quarter, then UMass made it 17-7 on its first play when Coen found Rancher streaking down the right sideline for a 41-yard touchdown. The Eagles also failed to make a first down on their next two possessions.

The Minutemen took over at the BC 38 with 6:45 left in the third quarter, and on their second play Coen hit Jeremy Horne on a short slant pattern. He broke free and raced into the end zone to cut BC's lead to 17-14.