The field will be neutral this time for the Boston College football team (although its fans still will be outnumbered), hopefully the weather will be better, and the Eagles once again will be underdogs.
It was business as usual for BC yesterday as it began preparation for its rematch against Virginia Tech in Saturday's Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Jacksonville, Fla.
But will the result be the same? In the first meeting, BC claimed a 14-10 win in the rain on the strength of quarterback Matt Ryan's two TD passes in the final 2:11.
"Sometimes you have to be careful of what you wish for," said Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer on a conference call yesterday. "After the game, we said we wished we might get them again. Now we have to figure out a way to beat them."
BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski knows his team will have to play better than it did in Blacksburg, Va., where it was outplayed for 56 minutes before Ryan waved his magic arm and turned a loss into a win - the springboard to BC's first-ever ACC title game appearance.
It always has been about Ryan this season. Without him, the Eagles would be back among the ACC pack, wondering whether they would be headed to Charlotte, Nashville, or Orlando on their annual postseason trip. But with Ryan, even the task of beating a team as good as Virginia Tech - which climbed to No. 6 in the Bowl Championship Series standings and the Associated Press poll yesterday after beating Virginia Saturday to win the ACC Coastal Division crown - seems easier to achieve.
Ryan, whose 28 touchdown passes this season set a school record, did his thing late against the Hokies Oct. 25. He did it Nov. 17 in a 20-17 win at Clemson, which clinched the Atlantic Division crown for the Eagles. And he did it in Saturday's 28-14 win over Miami in which the Eagles broke away from a 14-14 fourth-quarter tie to beat the Hurricanes for the first time in 23 years.
Now BC and Ryan must do it again, and they must do it against a Tech team that has another offensive weapon in quarterback Tyrod Taylor. He missed the first game because of an injury, Sean Glennon getting the start, but Taylor was very much a force (two rushing TDs) in the Hokies' 33-21 win over the Cavaliers.
"Rotation at QB gives you some problems," said Jagodzinski. "We're going to have our hands full coming up with a plan trying to contain both of those guys.
"Familiarity is a good thing and a bad thing. I don't think there will be any surprises."
With that in mind, the coach said it would be a matter of correcting the breakdowns that led to Tech's early lead in Blacksburg. In the win against Miami, the Eagles had to deal with their own mistakes as much as anything the Hurricanes did, as they had two interceptions and two fumbles.
"I don't think we can turn the ball over," said Jagodzinski, who said the game again might come down to the last play. And if that is the case, the edge would seem to be in favor of Ryan and the Eagles.
Jagodzinski dismissed the suggestion the Eagles sometimes wait for Ryan to make a play to spark them.
"Good players do that, they take the game over," he said. "With the best players, that's what happens."
The Eagles are seeking a title that has eluded them at least twice with this senior class. "They have been close the last couple of years," said Jagodzinski. "We felt that we could get to this game and compete for the championship."
The Eagles have done that. Now they must defeat a team they have beaten once this season and one that has no intention of letting it happen again.
