Hard feelings likely to linger

Parting with Syracuse and the Big East was such sweet sorrow for Boston College after the 17th-ranked Eagles, playing their final game as a Big East member, absorbed a ruinous 43-17 loss yesterday that prevented them from winning the conference title outright and clinching a Bowl Championship Series berth.

If BC coach Tom O'Brien has anything to do with it, however, when BC moves on to the Atlantic Coast Conference, never shall the twain meet again. Even as nonconference opponents.

"No, I'm not going to play anybody in the Big East, for what we went through," O'Brien said, when asked if he'd ever consider playing Syracuse in the future. "Absolutely not."

Would it make any difference that Syracuse was not a party to the lawsuit filed against BC by the other remaining Big East members?

"It doesn't matter," O'Brien said, flatly. "I'm just glad it's over . . . It's been a tough year and a half."

How tough? "Just everything we've had to put up with -- said and unsaid -- and the treatment," O'Brien said. "It didn't have to end this way with the Big East, but, for whatever reason, there was a lot of animosity toward Boston College and it wasn't a good thing."

BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo, who was vilified by many in the Big East as a behind-the-scenes architect of BC's move to the ACC, said the last year and a half was difficult.

"There's no question this has been an emotional issue," DeFilippo said.

"It's been a very, very long year and a half, and the thing is people who were friends are no longer friends."

DeFilippo sought out retiring Syracuse AD Jake Crouthamel before yesterday's game. Last year, despite the heightened tension between the schools, DeFilippo made it a point to offer a congratulatory hand to Crouthamel after Syracuse routed BC, 39-14, in the Carrier Dome.

"We saw each other before the game," DeFilippo said. "I went looking for him in the locker room after the game and he'd already gone out to the buses, and I congratulated Paul Pasqualoni and some of the other administrators. But we had a good talk before the game."

About? "I just told them that I wished him well in retirement and I told him we were losing a truly great individual in college athletics," DeFilippo said. "I just said I wished that he wasn't retiring and he said, `It's time.'

"Jake's a man of few words and he just said, `It's time.' He shook his head and that was the end of that part of the conversation."

A bad start
BC's league-leading rushing defense was under seige from the word go when Damien Rhodes broke a 69-yard TD run on the first play. It was the longest rushing play BC had allowed an opponent this season. The Eagles wound up giving up a season-high 309 yards on the ground. "Yeah, we were definitely shocked," said junior defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka. "It caught us off guard a little bit. We've been in situations like this in the past, and it hasn't ended up like this. We just didn't get it done." Rhodes rushed for 107 yards on eight carries while Diamond Ferri led all rushers with 28 carries for 141 yards. It marked the first time BC had allowed a pair of opposing ballcarriers to rush for 100 yards since West Virginia's Avon Cobourne (138) and Quincy Wilson (100) did it two years ago . . . Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Ryan was put in the situation of having to win the Big East title and a BCS berth in his first career start at BC. With the Eagles' rushing attack gaining just 71 yards, Ryan was forced to throw 51 times (completing 24) for 200 yards and an 11-yard TD to Joel Hazard. Ryan, however, was intercepted three times, the last of which Ferri scored on a 44-yard return. "I'll never say anything bad about Matt," Kiwanuka said. "He's one of those guys who shows up early and stays late. He works hard in practice and plays even harder in the games. His performance out there definitely wasn't characteristic of his ability." . . . Kiwanuka, who hinted he might consider leaving BC early for the NFL, said yesterday he had yet to make a decision.

Picking 'em apart
Junior linebacker Ray Henderson came up with his fifth and sixth interceptions of the season, a pair of first-half picks against Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson. The first set up a 31-yard field goal by freshman Ryan Ohliger while the second came one play after Syracuse free safety O'Neil Scott intercepted Ryan . . . Redshirt freshman cornerback DeJuan Tribble scored his second special-teams TD of the season, after returning Brian Toal's blocked punt 29 yards for a TD . . . Syracuse's victory snapped a 10-game conference road losing streak. The Orange's last road win came three years ago, 22-14, at No. 4 Virginia Tech . . . Safety T.J. Stancil wound up sitting out Senior Day after suffering a back injury at Temple. Senior tight end Dave Kashetta, who sat out the Temple game with a bruised left knee, suited up for the regular-season finale . . . Patty Bulman, mother of senior defensive end Tim Bulman, sang a beautiful rendition of the national anthem.