Pick and roll

Eagles clinch spot in ACC title game

Division champs.

Again.

When the 2008 season began in August for Boston College, few people outside of BC's inner circle mentioned "repeat" in the lexicon of expectations for coach Jeff Jagodzinski's team.

BC had lost quarterback Matt Ryan and a core group of fifth-year seniors who carried the Eagles to their first Atlantic Coast Conference division title.

Questions abounded at quarterback, where senior Chris Crane was handed the keys with hardly a driving lesson, and at running back, where Jagodzinski said he would use a trio of untested backs from freshmen Montel Harris and Josh Haden to the injury-plagued, lightly played Jeff Smith.

More questions than answers, even with a defense that still had a foundation of a front seven to offset the inexpe rienced secondary, which was going to rely on untested freshmen.

But BC, which had been picked fourth in its division, turned its dreams into reality yesterday with a 28-21 victory over Maryland before an appreciative Thanksgiving weekend crowd of 42,767.

The Eagles clinched the Atlantic Division crown and a berth in the ACC title game against Virginia Tech for the second consecutive season.

"That was a great team win for our kids," said Jagodzinski, who should merit strong consideration for ACC Coach of the Year. "Way back at the ACC media day [in July], they asked our kids, 'Where are you going to be,' and our kids said, 'We're going to be in the championship.' Everything we do, every way we do it, is geared to winning a championship.

"These kids believed, the coaches believed that they had a chance. We didn't have to count on anybody this year to help us get into the championship game. They kept earning their way into the championship game by winning."

As has been the case in a season that has produced a 9-3 record and a four-game winning streak, the Eagles earned their spot in the title game the old-fashioned way: with hard work and sound fundamentals.

And they did it despite being depleted by injuries, which presented new challenges week after week.

The latest came last Saturday, when Crane went down with a fractured right collarbone in a 24-21 come-from-behind victory over Wake Forest, which was orchestrated by redshirt sophomore Dominique Davis, who made his first career start yesterday.

How did Davis do? All he did was throw a pair of touchdown passes and lead the Eagles on an opening-quarter, 88-yard drive that gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead and set the tone for the game.

BC built a 21-7 lead, then had to fight off challenge after challenge by a Maryland team led by quarterback Chris Turner, who gave the Eagles' stretch-but-don't-snap defense trouble by completing 33 of 57 passes for 360 yards and 2 TDs.

But the BC defense - led by a monster linebacking corps of Mark Herzlich, Robert Francois, and Mike McLaughlin, each of whom had highlight-film moments - did not allow game-breaking or game-changing moments.

Each defensive highlight - Herzlich's interception set up the Eagles' second touchdown; McLaughlin had an eye-popping sack by leaping over a Maryland player for one of five BC had on the day; and Francois had a game-clinching interception return for a touchdown - was countered by the offense and special teams.

Harris, the new workhorse, ran for a game-high 116 yards, setting a record for BC freshmen for yards in a season (798).

And even the Flutie name came into play as Billy Flutie, the nephew of Doug Flutie, turned from holder to quarterback on a fake field goal attempt that the sophomore from Natick converted into a 9-yard touchdown pass and a 21-7 third-quarter lead.

Still, the Terps (7-5) kept coming with Turner doing his best to generate offense through the air.

In the first six seconds of the fourth quarter, he completed a 13-yard TD pass to Danny Oquendo that made it 21-14.

The Eagles' defense led the way again, however, coming up with stop after stop, highlighted by Francois's 36-yard interception return that gave BC a 28-14 lead.

The Eagles' have scored non-offensive touchdowns in seven straight games.

Although Turner threw another TD pass with 14 seconds left, there would be no comeback against the Eagles on this day.

The Eagles are division champs and hungry for more.

"Last year was awesome," said Herzlich, who leads the team with six picks, part of a defense that leads the country with 25 interceptions. "But we didn't win the ACC championship and we didn't go to the Orange Bowl and all the negatives that happened really got us driving back."

Now the Eagles are back as division champs.

Again.