Few mistakes earn BC critical acclaim

Jeff Smith's shoulder injury will be evaluated this week. (Mark Duncan/Associated Press)

A day later, Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski still was marveling at the cleanliness of his team's 21-0 win over Kent State Saturday night at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

When asked if he ever had coached a game in which his team did not commit a penalty or a turnover, Jagodzinski paused for an instant.

"I don't believe I have," said Jagodzinski. "That's right up there with winning the game."

Jagodzinski wants to keep the Eagles humble heading into Saturday's Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Georgia Tech at Alumni Stadium, mixing praise with a touch of reality.

On quarterback Chris Crane: "He needs to get playing time. He did some things that were really good and he did some things we need to work on."

On the defense, which fashioned its first shutout since Oct. 28, 2006, against Buffalo: "We missed some opportunities on third down and let the QB get out of the pocket. Staying with our assignments will be real big this week."

On kicker Billy Bennett, who boomed a pair of kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, giving Jagodzinski encouragement to potentially use him on long field goal attempts: "I want to see him do it more consistently in practice. He's got plenty of leg."

Jagodzinski knows Crane is the key to offensive success. Coordinator Steve Logan limited the game plan against Kent State to what he felt Crane was comfortable doing.

"Each game we're going to give him a little more," said Jagodzinski. "Steve Logan says it was like keeping the accelerator at steady 55. But we need to push a little more.

"You can only go so far as your QB can take you."

* * *

Jagodzinski reported that injuries to running back Jeff Smith (shoulder) and defensive back DeLeon Gause (ankle) weren't serious, and they will be evaluated this week. If Gause can't play Saturday, the Eagles will be forced to start true freshman Donnie Fletcher against Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson's option offense . . . Jagodzinski elected not to award a game ball to emphasize the team's all-around excellence . . . The Eagles gained 336 total yards to Kent State's 260 . . . The announced crowd of 10,788 was the smallest for a BC road game since the Eagles played before 14,081 against Temple Nov. 20, 2004, in Philadelphia.