Eric Avidon: Better to recognize Boston College's accomplishments
After Boston College came back to win at Clemson late Saturday night to win the ACC's Atlantic Division, the temptation is to wonder what happened the two previous weeks.
The temptation is to ask how a team that can win at Virginia Tech and Clemson - easily the two toughest games on its schedule - can lose at home to unranked Florida State and then on the road against unranked Maryland.
The temptation is to wonder what might have been.
But now is the time to avoid that temptation and instead revel in the Eagles' accomplishment.
It was more than 11 months ago that Jeff Jagodzinski sat at a table in the Yawkey Center alongside BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo and was introduced as the new head coach of the Eagles. That night he talked about taking BC to the next level, about how for three years running the Eagles had been within one win of a potential spot in a BCS bowl, and his goal was to get that crucial extra win.
The team then adopted that as its goal - win the ACC and go to the Orange Bowl.
The national championship was not something Jagodzinski or the players ever spoke of, and when the Eagles were knocked out of the national title chase by their consecutive losses, they were undeterred. Their goal was still there for the taking.
With its win over Clemson, BC - now ranked 15th in the Associated Press poll and 16th in the USA Today poll - did not get what it wants. It is not yet in the Orange Bowl. But by beating Clemson the Eagles remained on course to get to Miami.
Late Saturday night they accomplished the first part of what is a two-part process. First, in order to get to the Orange Bowl, they had to get to the ACC title game. They did that. Now they have to win that. On Dec. 1 in Jacksonville they'll play Virginia or Virginia Tech, who play each other this Saturday.
"Our locker room was a lot like (after beating) Virginia Tech," Jagodzinski said during his weekly conference call yesterday. "There was so much energy in that locker room, and seeing those kids and the way they were interacting with each other, it was really a good deal."
While winning the Atlantic Division should be honored, so too should the effort it took to pull off the win. Beating Clemson was far from guaranteed.
While the Eagles had lost two straight, the Tigers had won four in a row, and by lopsided scores. But more than just overcoming momentum, BC had to overcome serious health issues on defense.
Tackle B.J. Raji and linebacker Brian Toal have been gone all year, Raji redshirting for academic reasons and Toal because of shoulder surgery. Linebackers Jo-Lonn Dunbar and Tyrone Pruitt each sprained ankles against Florida State, sat out against Maryland and played sparingly Saturday night. Cornerback DeJuan Tribble sprained his knee Tuesday in practice and didn't make the trip to Clemson.
Yet BC held the Tigers, who had scored 191 points during their four-game win streak, to 17 points.
And then of course there was Memorial Stadium, known as Death Valley because of the din of noise the fans there create and the effect the Tigers combined with their fans have on the opposition.
With all that working against the Eagles - momentum, injuries, one of the nastiest road venues in all of college football - they won.
"There was so much adversity, more than you know," Jagodzinski said. "But our guys didn't blink. I told them someone had to step up, and they did. I thought the linebackers played particularly well. (Freshman cornerback
DeLeon) Gause played well, and Paul Anderson made some plays. I thought guys stepped up.
"You have to be able to match intensity, I don't care what game you're in, and our guys did that. That's a tough place to play."
BC may have missed an opportunity to play for more than a conference championship by losing to Florida State and Maryland. But now isn't the time to lament those losses.
In just their third year in the ACC, the Eagles will play for the league's championship. After talking all season about winning the Atlantic Division, despite a significantly depleted defense, the Eagles did what they set out to do.
It's no time to think about what might have been, just time to recognize what is.
Eric Avidon is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at eavidon@cnc.com or 508-626-3809.