Eagles stick together

BOISE, Idaho -- The team rose up in his defense earlier in the season when he was felled by a blindside chop block by Virginia tackle Brad Butler, angrily responding to a 14-7 deficit by rallying for a 28-14 victory over the Cavaliers. Then, when his family name was disparaged by insensitive remarks made at a bowl banquet Monday, the Boston College football team again was inspired to play its best for respected and admired cocaptain Mathias Kiwanuka.

The 19th-ranked Eagles (9-3) responded by posting a 27-21 victory Wednesday over Boise State in the MPC Computers Bowl before 30,493 at Bronco Stadium.

''Our captain, Mathias Kiwanuka, is a tremendous leader," said junior strong safety Ryan Glasper, who intercepted Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky twice, including in the end zone with 34 seconds left, clinching the Eagles' sixth consecutive bowl victory. ''He's a great leader and a role model. When you offended our leader and role model, you basically targeted our family."

Now that Kiwanuka and BC's 11 other departing seniors -- the winningest class (35-15) in the modern era of the program -- will no longer be there, the Eagles will have to learn to stand on their own when they return 12 starters (six offense, six defense) to next year's squad.

''I think, as a team, we play with a lot of emotion all year, and this game was no different," said sophomore quarterback Matt Ryan, who was named BC's most valuable player in the bowl after throwing for 256 yards and three first-half touchdowns, 24 and 13 yards to junior wideout Tony Gonzalez (four catches, 45 yards) and 35 yards to senior wideout Will Blackmon (five catches, 144 yards).

''Definitely, the situation that occurred at the banquet the other night fired us up," Ryan said. ''It was extremely disrespectful to Mathias. We were motivated before that, but that was the icing on the cake."

The remarks took place Monday night at the Beyond the Game dinner. The function, where neutrality was supposed to be observed, turned into an impromptu Boise State pep rally when each speaker who rose to the podium punctuated his remarks with ''Go Broncos!" The Eagles, however, took offense when one speaker, Mike Adkins, CEO of MPC Computers, poked fun at Kiwanuka's surname.

Problem was, no one in BC's entourage was laughing, especially Kiwanuka.

''I felt he purposely mispronounced my name and then went off to crack a joke on my family name, which is something I hold very dear to me," said Kiwanuka. ''There was no laughing it off."

Gary Beck, executive director of the MPC Computers Bowl, expressed regret over the speakers' remarks and vowed to ''correct the situation." Elissa Reid, a public relations director for MPC Computers, offered an apology. ''We were very happy to have Boston College here. We apologize for any misunderstanding."

The remarks, however, had the unintended consequence of galvanizing a BC team that felt it deserved to go to a better bowl after wrapping up its inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an 8-3 record and 5-3 conference mark, which tied Florida State for first place in the Atlantic Division.

''You know what? I'm thrilled because there was one thing we wanted to do in the bowl game and that was to win the game, and we did," said BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo. ''We won our ninth football game. We beat a team that hadn't lost at home in 31 games. Now that it's all said and done, everything worked out for the best."

Led by Ryan, who this season completed 121 of 195 passes for 1,613 yards, 8 TDs, and 4 INTs, and was 5-0 as a starter, BC roared to a 24-0 halftime lead that could have been a 31-0 lead had Blackmon not been tackled at the 1 after hauling in a 52-yard Hail Mary heave from Ryan as time expired in the half. Ryan Ohliger, who converted field goals of 30 and 27 yards, gave BC a 27-0 lead, which proved the buffer the Eagles needed to survive a wild second-half flurry by the Broncos, who pulled within 6 points on Quinton Jones's 92-yard punt return with 3:51 remaining.

With 1:56 left and no timeouts remaining, the Broncos threatened when they marched 42 yards to the BC 5. DeJuan Tribble, who was torched on a 32-yard reception by Vinny Perretta on fourth and 9 from the 46, got called for pass interference to give Boise State first and goal at the 5 with 1:03 to go.

At that point, Kiwanuka delivered an urgent message to his team: ''Somebody needed to step up and make a play, plain and simple," he said.

Nick Larkin responded when he sacked Zabransky for a 7-yard loss, forcing the quarterback to burn a down by spiking the ball. Then, on third and goal from the 12, Glasper responded with his second pick, no doubt BC's biggest of the season.

''One thing our team has done through this last five- or six-year period where we've got things going, they've just played football," said BC coach Tom O'Brien. ''We don't worry about the scoreboard, we don't worry about the clock, we just show up and play each play as hard as you can, each and every play. That's what you do.

''At the end of the game, you look up at the scoreboard and, hopefully, we've won."

When the clocked ticked away the final seconds of BC's season, the Eagles knew who they were likely to miss the most: Kiwanuka, the school's all-time sack leader.

''There's no doubt," Glasper said. ''He's the leader and he shows emotion and he plays the game with emotion. He preaches to us all the time that you've got to play every play and play every down because football may not last forever, as we all saw when he got chop-blocked. That's when reality hits, you know?"