CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Miami won one of its four national championships courtesy of “Wide Right.” Now it may win a fifth thanks to “Left Knee.”

The ‘Canes were clinging to a 12-7 lead with 38 seconds left and Boston College on the Miami 9. Eagles quarterback Brian St. Pierre tried to fire a slant pass to Ryan Read on the left hashmark.

Miami cornerback Mike Rumph jumped the route, and the ball careened off his left knee and into the hands of ‘Canes lineman Matt Walters. After rumbling a few yards, safety Edward Reed pried the ball out of Walters’ meaty hands and raced 80 yards for a touchdown.

Miami, ranked No. 1 by The Post, remained undefeated with an 18-7 win that kept alive the possibility of a fifth crown.

“I told our team you have to win some games like this if you want to win the national championship,” said Miami coach Larry Coker.

Boston College (6-3), despite playing without William Green, the nation’s leading rusher, who was suspended for missing practice last Sunday, kept it close by intercepting Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey a career-high four times and recoverying a Frank Gore fumble at its own 30 with 2:09 left.

In a late development, Green has decided to leave Boston College after this season and enter the NFL draft, The Boston Globe reported.

Green has had a stormy relationship with Eagles head coach Tom O’Brien, and is expected to be a first-round pick.

In the game yesterday, the Eagles seemingly had blown their last chance for a monumental upset when Kevin McMyler was wide right (what else?) on a 28-yard field goal. The ‘Canes were in position to run out the clock but starting running back Clinton Portis suffered a twisted knee and left the game. Gore, a true freshman, came in and fumbled.

“I felt hurt,” said Gore.

The pain was yet to come, and it belonged to the Eagles.

“I told the guys at the start of the drive that we were going to win this game,” said St. Pierre.

The Eagles drove to the Miami 30 where they faced a fourth and 10. St. Pierre found Dedrick Dewalt on a 21-yard slant. The Eagles were on the verge of their greatest upset since 1984 when Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary beat the ‘Canes 47-45 in Miami.

St. Pierre dropped and fired. Rumph jumped in front of Read.

“The first ‘Left Knee,’ ” acknowledged Rumph. “The ball got there so fast I couldn’t get my hands out.”

He got his knee out. What followed was 25 seconds of agony on both sides.

“Shock,” said Derrick Knight, who rushed for 78 yards on 27 carries in place of Green, who averages 145 yards per game, but watched this one from his dorm room.

Coker also was shocked to see Reed taking a handoff instead of allowing Walters run out of bounds. He could have fumbled.

“A lot of us were overconfident,” said Miami fullback Najeh Davenport. Maybe it will take something like this to wake us up. A lot of us asked coach after the game if he would push back practice so we could all go to church.”