MOUNT PLEASANT - Dan LeFevour accounted for 293 yards of total offense and three touchdowns for Central Michigan University, but Boston College signal-caller Matt Ryan threw for 323 yards and three scores as the Eagles (1-0) held off CMU, 31-24, on Thursday night.

The Chippewas (0-1) trailed by 21 points in the fourth quarter, but LeFevour scored on runs of two yards and one yard to pull CMU within a touchdown with 3:55 remaining. Following a punt and a personal foul penalty, CMU took over at the BC 44-yard line with 2:05 left. On the third play, however, LeFevour was flushed to his right and threw an interception along the sideline that ended the Chippewas' final threat.

Brian Brunner started under center for CMU, but left the game for good after the second snap from scrimmage. Running to his left, Brunner was sandwiched between a pair of defenders and took a hit to his chin that knocked him out of the game.

Boston College's opening possession resulted in a 44-yard Ryan Ohliger field goal that put the visitors in front. CMU evened the score later in the quarter when Rick Albreski converted a 21-yard attempt. The key play of CMU's scoring drive was a 41-yard LeFevour run on third-and-four.

The Eagles scored twice in a three-minute span to take a 17-3 lead into the locker room. Brian Toal crossed the goal line from 1 yard out with 7:03 left, and Ryan Purvis scored after recovering a fumble at the 3-yard line and tumbling into the end zone. Purvis' score came after Ryan had completed a short pass to L.V. Whitworth over the middle at the 5-yard line. A Doug Kress hit forced Whitworth to fumble, and Purvis scooped the loose ball off the turf.

Tony Mikulec's 5-yard run on a fake field goal on fourth-and-two midway through the third quarter set up a 13-yard touchown pass from LeFevour to Sneed with 5:42 left in the period. The Chippewas had taken over on the BC 26-yard line following a fumble on a punt. The Eagles again fumbled the ball away on the possession following the CMU score, but the Chippewas returned the favor with a fumble of their own that led to a BC touchdown.

The Eagles found the end zone on both of their next two possessions, as Ryan tossed scoring pass to Kevin Challenger (24 yards) and Tony Gonzalez (19 yards) to build a 31-10 lead with 10:11 remaining.

LeFevour took over on the Chippewas' next two possessions, completing 7-of-10 passes for 106 yards and running for two touchdowns to pull CMU within seven points. The defense, meanwhile, forced a pair of punts and set the offense up just 44 yards from the game-tying score with 2:05 left.

LeFevour finished 22-of-37 for 221 yards through the air and ran 14 times for a game-high 72 yards. Sneed ran seven times for 47 yards and caught six passes for 51 yards and score, while Obed Cetoute hauled in six receptions for 102 yards.

Ryan completed 32-of-48 attempts to amass his career-high 323 yards. He spread his completions around to 11 different receivers; Challenger was his favorite target, catching six passes for 61 yards.

Defensively, CMU linebacker Red Keith compiled a game-high 15 tackles. Ike Brown added 11 stops and a forced fumble, while Pacino Horne and Doug Kress chipped in 10 tackles apiece. Jolonn Dunbar made eight tackles to lead Boston College.

CMU is on the road next Saturday, visiting No. 14 Michigan at noon. Boston College opens Atlantic Coast Conference play by hosting Clemson at 3:30 p.m.