Boston College doesn't have much choice. It's time to put on the happy face.
"I'll take a 10-win season," insisted Eagles coach Jeff Jagodzinski after Saturday's 30-16 loss to Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game.
"Any time you get double-digit wins in football, I don't care what level you're playing, I think that's a good year. I tell you I'm proud as I can be to be the football coach at Boston College and proud of our kids, the way they fought. We just came up a little short today, and we will just keep it going."
And 10 wins is a good year for BC. The problem is, the Eagles paid the price for being an alien in the college football world. The difference between winning and losing Saturday afternoon was significant, as BC will play in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., rather than strut off to the Orange Bowl. BC deserved better, but because it is not what is known as a good "traveling" team, the Eagles are not desirable in the eyes of, say, a Chick-Fil-A Bowl pooh-bah. It was ever thus, and is one reason Tom O'Brien is now coaching in Raleigh, N.C., as opposed to Chestnut Hill.
BC has no excuse for not beating Virginia Tech. It left far too many points on the field in the first half. The Eagles had a field goal and an extra point blocked, the PAT attempt with absolutely disastrous results. BC could not convert on key third downs in the second half and could not get the Hokies off the field in comparable situations. (Consider that Sean Glennon conjured up touchdown passes of 13 and 24 yards on third and 7 and third and 13, respectively). With a real chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, BC stalled after reaching the Virginia Tech 19, with a pressured Matt Ryan throwing a fourth-down interception on a pass he floated while backpedaling that had no chance of being completed.
BC has, in short, had better days.
So here's the deal: BC is a Top 20 team, not a Top 10 team and surely not a Top 5 or, God forbid, Top 2 team. There are worse lots in life.
"I'm disappointed, sure," said BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo. "It would be hard not to be. But I'm really proud of our guys. Who'd have thought when we came in with a new coaching staff except for Spaz [defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani] and Billy [McGovern, linebackers coach] that we'd win 10 games? We won our division. We [finally] beat Miami. We played for the ACC championship."
BC also beat Notre Dame - again. The thought of that puts a smile on a good Eagle's face at any hour of the day or night.
They just happened to play the wrong team at the wrong time. Since losing to BC back on Oct. 25, the Hokies have become a very dangerous squad. They got some injured people back, they decided to go with a two-quarterback setup that usually is a recipe for disaster, and they came roaring into this game as one of the nation's hottest clubs. Long forgotten was a 48-7 early season loss to Louisiana State. This was the Virginia Tech team of recent legend.
And the most special part of that legend is their almost incomprehensible ability to block kicks. They entered the ACC title game having blocked 115 punts, field goals, or extra points since 1990. The total escalated to 117 when Duane Brown first blocked a 37-yard first quarter Steve Aponavicius field goal attempt, then did something far more damaging when he blocked an Aponavicius second-quarter extra point try. It was picked up by Brandon Flowers and returned to the faraway end zone for 2 Virginia Tech points. So instead of BC having a 17-7 lead, the Eagles only had a 16-9 advantage, and that provided Virginia Tech with a tremendous emotional lift. The game changed right then and there.
"No team in my experience has ever done anything like it," marveled DeFilippo. "They block punts, they block field goals, and they block extra points. No one comes close to the destruction they cause with their special teams. You've got to take your hat off to them."
Jagodzinski wasn't in the mood to rhapsodize about the Hokies. He focused on the fact that BC has been playing without its regular long snapper and that the replacement wasn't getting the ball back to the holder quickly enough. "We had some operation problems from the center to the holder," Jagodzinski said. "You have to be flawless in that part of the game. I think that's what happened."
The fact is that BC might have gotten by against almost anyone else. You can't ever afford to be less than perfect in these matters against Virginia Tech.
Meanwhile, the season isn't over. BC does have another game.
"We're going to a bowl and we will win it," said DeFilippo. "We'll be 11-3 and that will be a heckuva season. We've got our bowl streak [a best-in-the-nation seven straight wins]. We've still got a lot to play for."
That's the BC story, and the Eagles are sticking to it.
Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.
