In his second year at Boston College, football coach Jeff Jagodzinski already is becoming an old hand at preparing for games like the one his team will play today. Trees are barren and the winter chill is moving in, and winning will mean the next game carries even more significance. "Playoff mode," he calls it. That urgency is, in his mind, the mark of a successful program.
"If you're a good football team," Jagodzinski said, "you're playing for something in November."
No. 23 Boston College may be young, but the Eagles possess experience in games like today's at Alumni Stadium at 3:30 p.m. against Maryland. They can secure a second consecutive Atlantic Division title and the berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game that comes with it, which would put the Eagles one victory away from a first Bowl Championship Series appearance that has just eluded them twice in four years.
Blocking their path is Maryland, a team that is 4-0 against ranked teams and re bounding from a 37-3 pasting by Florida State last week. The Terrapins stunned the Eagles, then ranked No. 8, 42-35, last season. A BC loss today would send Florida State to the ACC title game Dec. 6 instead of BC.
The Eagles have controlled their fate for a month, playing with the pressure of knowing a loss could knock them out of contention for the conference title. The pressure remains, but today presents a more satisfying immediacy: one victory - in a game that linebacker Mark Herzlich called, with perhaps a touch of hyperbole, "probably the biggest game of all our lives" - and BC can book its travel to Tampa.
"It's a sense of urgency," said sophomore safety Wes Davis. "We all know what's at stake. The letdown if we lose this game will be a lot greater than other games. That's definitely a motivation. It's do or die. There's no other option except for winning."
BC first felt that in 2004, when a victory over Syracuse would have clinched the Big East championship. With a freshman named Matt Ryan making his first start at quarterback and a local kid named Diamond Ferri turning from little-known Syracuse safety to unstoppable running back, the Eagles flailed under the pressure and suffered a disastrous 43-17 defeat.
Several current BC seniors watched from the sideline as the Big East title slipped away. "That wasn't fun," said guard Clif Ramsey. The Eagles then had never experienced standing one victory from a championship. Their nerves, Ramsey recalled, showed all week and carried over to Saturday.
"Preparing against those guys, it was a little different, because they hadn't really been around those games before," Ramsey said. "They hadn't been preparing for a championship. We've been around the block. We've been in this situation before. We know how to prepare for it. It feels different than it did then."
The Eagles played a game with similar stakes last season, when they beat Clemson in their final regular-season division game and clinched first place in the Atlantic. "There is the same feel," said wide receiver Brandon Robinson, but there are also stark differences.
Then, BC played on the road; this game is at Alumni Stadium. Ryan was making his 30th college start, redshirt freshman Dominique Davis will be making his first, in lieu of injured senior Chris Crane. (Billy Flutie, a wide receiver who hadn't taken a snap at quarterback since 2007 spring practice, will back up Davis.)
BC can draw on recent weeks to cope with today's nerves. The Eagles needed to win at Florida State and at Wake Forest to stay alive in the Atlantic Division race. Jagodzinski told his players, "Every week is a playoff game." The Eagles responded with two victories, carrying over momentum from a 17-0 romp over Notre Dame Nov. 8.
"Every week has been, 'We have to win this game if we want to do what we set out to do at the beginning of the season in August,' " Robinson said. "Now we need this win even more. It's all in our hands."
They will have to beat an opponent capable of anything. The Terrapins have lost to Middle Tennessee State by 10 points and to Virginia by 31. They also beat North Carolina and Wake Forest, both of which appeared to be ACC favorites at the time.
The Eagles will also have to contend with a player capable of almost anything. Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey has caught 38 passes for 561 yards and five touchdowns, including an 80-yarder.
"He's the best receiver in the conference," Herzlich said.
So the Eagles know winning will not be easy, but they can be assured by their comfort with today's stage. BC is where it wants to be and has what it wants: a simple means for advancing to the next big game.
"If we have more points than they do at the end of the game," Herzlich said, "we get to go to Tampa."
"If you're a good football team," Jagodzinski said, "you're playing for something in November."
No. 23 Boston College may be young, but the Eagles possess experience in games like today's at Alumni Stadium at 3:30 p.m. against Maryland. They can secure a second consecutive Atlantic Division title and the berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game that comes with it, which would put the Eagles one victory away from a first Bowl Championship Series appearance that has just eluded them twice in four years.
Blocking their path is Maryland, a team that is 4-0 against ranked teams and re bounding from a 37-3 pasting by Florida State last week. The Terrapins stunned the Eagles, then ranked No. 8, 42-35, last season. A BC loss today would send Florida State to the ACC title game Dec. 6 instead of BC.
The Eagles have controlled their fate for a month, playing with the pressure of knowing a loss could knock them out of contention for the conference title. The pressure remains, but today presents a more satisfying immediacy: one victory - in a game that linebacker Mark Herzlich called, with perhaps a touch of hyperbole, "probably the biggest game of all our lives" - and BC can book its travel to Tampa.
"It's a sense of urgency," said sophomore safety Wes Davis. "We all know what's at stake. The letdown if we lose this game will be a lot greater than other games. That's definitely a motivation. It's do or die. There's no other option except for winning."
BC first felt that in 2004, when a victory over Syracuse would have clinched the Big East championship. With a freshman named Matt Ryan making his first start at quarterback and a local kid named Diamond Ferri turning from little-known Syracuse safety to unstoppable running back, the Eagles flailed under the pressure and suffered a disastrous 43-17 defeat.
Several current BC seniors watched from the sideline as the Big East title slipped away. "That wasn't fun," said guard Clif Ramsey. The Eagles then had never experienced standing one victory from a championship. Their nerves, Ramsey recalled, showed all week and carried over to Saturday.
"Preparing against those guys, it was a little different, because they hadn't really been around those games before," Ramsey said. "They hadn't been preparing for a championship. We've been around the block. We've been in this situation before. We know how to prepare for it. It feels different than it did then."
The Eagles played a game with similar stakes last season, when they beat Clemson in their final regular-season division game and clinched first place in the Atlantic. "There is the same feel," said wide receiver Brandon Robinson, but there are also stark differences.
Then, BC played on the road; this game is at Alumni Stadium. Ryan was making his 30th college start, redshirt freshman Dominique Davis will be making his first, in lieu of injured senior Chris Crane. (Billy Flutie, a wide receiver who hadn't taken a snap at quarterback since 2007 spring practice, will back up Davis.)
BC can draw on recent weeks to cope with today's nerves. The Eagles needed to win at Florida State and at Wake Forest to stay alive in the Atlantic Division race. Jagodzinski told his players, "Every week is a playoff game." The Eagles responded with two victories, carrying over momentum from a 17-0 romp over Notre Dame Nov. 8.
"Every week has been, 'We have to win this game if we want to do what we set out to do at the beginning of the season in August,' " Robinson said. "Now we need this win even more. It's all in our hands."
They will have to beat an opponent capable of anything. The Terrapins have lost to Middle Tennessee State by 10 points and to Virginia by 31. They also beat North Carolina and Wake Forest, both of which appeared to be ACC favorites at the time.
The Eagles will also have to contend with a player capable of almost anything. Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey has caught 38 passes for 561 yards and five touchdowns, including an 80-yarder.
"He's the best receiver in the conference," Herzlich said.
So the Eagles know winning will not be easy, but they can be assured by their comfort with today's stage. BC is where it wants to be and has what it wants: a simple means for advancing to the next big game.
"If we have more points than they do at the end of the game," Herzlich said, "we get to go to Tampa."
