Megwa on road to recovery

Boston College wide receiver Clarence Megwa sat outside of the Eagles' locker room this afternoon with a wistful smile on his face. His teammates were going out to practice in preparation for their Atlantic Coast Conference title game Saturday against Virginia Tech.

Megwa, with a pair of crutches next to him, wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He is still recovering from a broken right leg suffered in the fourth quarter of BC's 27-21 loss to Clemson Nov. 1.

As gruesome as the injury appeared, the truly scary part for Megwa came two days later when surgery had to be postponed because of complications -- he had developed an embolism in his leg that traveled to his lungs. Instead of simply setting the fracture in his leg, doctors had to deal with the life-threatening embolism, including putting Megwa in a coma.
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"They did it the Monday before the Notre Dame game and I woke up on Saturday,'' said Megwa, who said he has lost 27 pounds from his 216-pound frame. "It was pretty scary stuff.''

Megwa , a 6-foot-1-inch junior from Binghamton, N.Y., says he feels fine now and is recovering. When and if his football career resumes is still an unsettled matter.

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BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski finished behind Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson in voting for ACC Coach of the Year. Johnson received 46 of 67 first-place votes. Jagodzinski received 12 votes. Duke's David Cutcliffe, North Carolina's Butch Davis, Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, and N.C. State's Tom O'Brien also received votes . . . The Eagles worked out on their grass practice field this afternoon without defensive tackle Ron Brace or tailback Josh Haden. Jagodzinski said that both players will be ready by Saturday. Brace injured his foot in Saturday's 28-21 win over Maryland and Haden injured his shoulder. "They say it's just going to take time,'' said Haden. "But I will probably play.'' . . . Eagles will wrap up practice Thursday and fly to Tampa late that afternoon.