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BC responded to motivation

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - He has preached a different theme each week. Two weeks ago, it was, "You weren't good enough to be recruited by Notre Dame." Last week, it was, "Almost no one outside this locker room thinks you can beat Florida State."

In both instances, the Boston College football team responded to coach Jeff Jagodzinski's motivational ploys in posting a 17-0 victory over the Irish and a 27-17 triumph over FSU.

Now the Eagles are two wins away from a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game for the second consecutive season. Their first task is beating Wake Forest this afternoon.

Jagodzinski's message this week? "Not telling," he said with a smile. "That's for my team and I've been telling them all week."

Jagodzinski has switched to positive reinforcement, telling the Eagles only good teams play late in the year.

And with that, the Eagles can soar with teams such as Florida and Alabama, which will meet next month for the Southeastern Conference title with perhaps a shot at the BCS title game.

The Eagles can hobnob with Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Missouri, all in contention for the Big 12 championship and BCS berths.

They can be on equal footing with teams such as Southern Cal and Oregon State, Penn State, Michigan State, and Ohio State, all with designs on the Rose Bowl, and (in the case of USC) a spot in the BCS title game.

And the Eagles can certainly look at former Big East brethren Pittsburgh and West Virginia and newcomer Cincinnati with the thought they might see one of those teams in the Orange Bowl in January.

Make no mistake, the Eagles know the dream can end today with a loss to Wake Forest, which has arguably the most X's-and-O's-savvy coach in the ACC in Jim Grobe and a talented quarterback in Riley Skinner.

But BC has had its best two-game stretch of the season on offense, defense, and even in the kicking game.

Grobe sees a dangerous BC defense, which has 21 interceptions (tops in the nation) and has scored four touchdowns (three interception returns, one fumble recovery).

He sees a Chris Crane-led offense that has developed stability and toughness. After a three-game stretch (North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina) in which Crane threw seven interceptions and five TD passes, he has responded with one interception and three TD passes the last three games.

"They're a tough football team," said Grobe, who changed his offensive philosophy in midseason from a spread offense to a basic ground-oriented game. "We've had some great battles against them. Both of us have won games in the fourth quarter, so we expect a real challenge."

"This is a big game for us, especially for the seniors," said Skinner, a junior who has already passed for more than 6,000 yards in his career. "It's our last ACC game. We'd really like to send them out on a good note, but it's a really good team we are playing. They're No. 1 in the nation in interceptions right now. They have a really stingy defense and they have been playing well lately."

BC middle linebacker Mike McLaughlin threw the respect card right back at Wake Forest, especially Skinner. "He makes stuff happen," said McLaughlin, who had nine tackles against Florida State. "Whatever they need him to do, he is doing it."

But so is Crane, who sees something familiar in Wake Forest's defense. "I know they are an aggressive defense," he said. "They are a team that really rallies to the football, that plays with a lot of heart. They play smart, they play hard. They remind us a lot of ourselves."

Crane also understands the one advantage BC has.

"That helps a lot, not having to worry about anyone else subconsciously," he said. "When the two games are over, hopefully we can look up and have won both of them."

But Crane was quick to point out the Eagles are not making assumptions.

"We cannot allow ourselves a false sense of security or a sense of entitlement to creep into our thinking," he said. "It's going to be like the Super Bowl with the teams we are playing because everything is on the line. Each game the pressure is going to mount and we have to be able to answer the challenge."

And BC is ready for the challenge, on its own terms.

"Both teams have a lot of takeaways," Crane said. "You can't put the ball on the ground. They are opportunistic, just like we are."

"No help at all, that's the best thing," Jagodzinski said. "We don't have to count on anybody else."

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.