This matchup the one to watch
Twenty-two NFL scouts will be on hand for Boston College's Atlantic Coast Conference game against the University of Virginia tomorrow at Alumni Stadium. And most, if not all, will have come to see the expected showdown between BC senior defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, the conference's preseason player of the year, and Virginia left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, a preseason All-ACC selection and Outland Trophy candidate.
''That's what a couple of the scouts told me," said BC sports information director Chris Cameron.
''They came here for that matchup."
There's some question, however, if the matchup will actually occur.
Ferguson had a run of 42 consecutive starts snapped in last Saturday's 45-33 loss at Maryland when he sat out because of a sprained knee he suffered the week before in a 38-7 win over Duke. Ferguson, a dominating 6-foot-5-inch, 289-pound senior from Freeport, N.Y., is listed as questionable for tomorrow's game.
Still, Kiwanuka relishes the opportunity to face Ferguson.
''I've seen him on film and he's obviously a tremendous talent," Kiwanuka said. ''This is a game where you can set yourself apart. I'm looking forward to the challenge and I'm just happy to have the opportunity to play against teams like this."
Kiwanuka, a 6-7, 262-pounder from Indianapolis, helped BC record its first shutout in three years in last Saturday's 38-0 drubbing of Ball State. Kiwanuka led a six-sack attack of Ball State quarterback Joey Lynch, ringing up a career-high three sacks to give him 31 1/2 for his career. It enabled him to surpass Mike Ruth (29 sacks, 1982-85), BC's only Outland Trophy winner, as the school's all-time sack leader.
''He's kind of a defensive version of our guy, D'Brickashaw Ferguson," Virginia coach Al Groh said of Kiwanuka. ''That is, he's very tall. He's rangy. He's a little lean for his position. But he runs way beyond the norm for his position.
''I'm sure that if they were standing next to each other that they would look quite similar."
Nothing special
BC coach Tom O'Brien, who served as an assistant (1982-96) to former Virginia coach George Welsh, said he didn't intend to assign any special significance to the game. ''If we were going to Charlottesville [Va.] to play Coach Welsh, it might be different," O'Brien said. ''But I'm nine years removed from there, so I'm pretty well entrenched here." . . . O'Brien indicated that two defensive starters who sat out the Ball State game -- junior strong safety Ryan Glasper (ankle) and sophomore cornerback DeJuan Tribble (hamstring) -- would be ready to go against Virginia. The coach, however, reported that junior wide receiver Jason Lilly (ankle) would sit out another week . . . Scouts from the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., and the Orange Bowl in Miami are expected to attend the game . . . O'Brien's 57th birthday was Wednesday. It was observed, he said, with little fanfare. ''Once you've had 57 of 'em, they're all the same," he said . . . Former Patriot Chris Slade, who played for the Cavaliers during O'Brien's time in Charlottesville, was a visitor to BC's practice yesterday at Alumni Stadium.
