BLACKSBURG -- Talk about coming back from the dead.

In one of the greatest comebacks since Lazarus, Matt Ryan and second-ranked Boston College scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 2:11 to pull out an stunning 14-10 ACC victory over No. 8 Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

"I wish I could describe it in words," Hokies senior defensive Chris Ellis said in the team's quiet post-game quarters. "It hurts. You're almost on the verge of tears. If it don't hit you somewhere in your heart, then you don't take it seriously."

A water-logged sellout crowd of 66,000-plus has never gone from total euphoria to total silence so quickly.

Following D.J. Parker's interception with some 6 minutes, the Hokies looked like they had the hay in the barn with a 10-0 lead.

But Tech (6-2, 3-1 ACC) couldn't move the ball and had to give it back to BC (8-0, 4-0). After a Brent Bowden punt, the Eagles took over at their own 8-yard line with 4:16 left.

Harassed by Tech's defensive front four all night to that point, Ryan had thrown for only 128 yards on 12 BC possessions, with a pair of interceptions.

Then he found the magic that used to side with Tech in these Thursday night contests.

Able to finally find some time to pick out his receivers, Ryan hit Brandon Robinson for 23 yards, then again for 22 yards to quickly advance the ball to the Tech 47.

After Ryan scrambled 11 yards to the Tech 27, the 6-foot-5 Heisman Trophy candidate misfired on two straight passes, leaving the Eagles a third-and-10 at the Hokies' 16. Ryan, who threw for 167 yards on the Eagles' final two possessions, then hit Rich Gunnell with a 16-yard strike in the end zone to make it 10-7 with 2:11 left.

The Hokies, though, still appeared to be in good shape. All they had to was field an onside kick, get a first down, and run the clock out.

However. ...

Steve Aponavicius' onside kick went straight at Tech wide receiver Josh Morgan, one of the "good hands" guys inserted to field the kick, who went down to scoop up the ball, but it took a hop and bounced off his chest. The ball bounced about 5 yards away and was recovered by BC's Tyronne Pruitt at the Eagles' 34.

Ryan then came back on the on the field and started winging it again against a dead-tired Tech defense. He hit four passes in a row to quickly advance the ball to the Hokies' 26. He hit Gunnell for an apparent TD pass, but the play was called back for a holding penalty on BC tackle Gosder Cherilus on Tech's Kory Robertson.

After an incompletion, Ryan faced third-and-20 from the Tech 24. Looking for a receiver as the Hokies' front chased him, Ryan roamed left. Then, in an amazing sign of arm strength and field vision, he threw back across his body and lofted the ball towards the end zone. It spiraled straight into the awaiting arms of running back Andre Callender for the game-winning score with 11 seconds left.

"[The ball] was up in the air," Callender said. "I lost it in the lights for a second and then it came down and I got it."

The miraculous finish enabled first-year coach Jeff Jagodzinski's club to remain in contention for the national championship. Meanwhile, Tech saw its five-game winning streak end and any chance it had of a long-shot run in the BCS ruined. Moreover, the loss dropped the Hokies out of a first-place tie with Virginia in the ACC's Coastal Division.

"For 56 minutes we were in control. That's why they call it a 60-minute game," Ellis said. "It's hard to believe what happened. It was heartbreaking."

Sean Glennon, who started in place of the injured Tyrod Taylor at quarterback for Tech, was 15-for-25 passing for 149 yards. His 8-yard TD pass to Eddie Royal with 10:31 left in the second quarter capped a 16-play, 91-yard drive that put Tech ahead 7-0.

Tech, which had won 34 straight games in which it scored first, made it 10-0 on Jud Dunlevy's 44-yard field goal with 5:33 left in the third quarter.

"We just didn't get it done at the end," Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "The deal now is we're probably going to have to win the rest of our games, and if we do, we have a chance to play for the ACC title. But coming back from this one is going to be tough."

On Morgan's misplay of the critical onside kick, Beamer said: "They kicked it and it bounced off his chest. He needed to field the ball or, if its kicked hard enough, let [the ball] go through."

In the end, Ryan and the Eagles made all the big plays.

"It was one of those nights ...one of those 6 minutes that fell into place for them," Beamer said.