BOSTON -- Saturday afternoon's 52-20 victory over NC State did not make or break Boston College's football season. It didn't secure a bowl bid or guarantee a winning record, and despite the lopsided score, it wasn't particularly pretty.
But in the aftermath of their whipping of the Wolfpack, none of that really mattered to head coach Frank Spaziani and the Eagles, because Saturday, there was so much more on the line.
For the Eagles, Saturday's game was about pride. It was their pride that had taken the biggest hit in the wake of last week's embarrassing loss to Virginia Tech. And it was their pride that they were determined to salvage on the field at Alumni Stadium. Montel Harris took that mission and ran with it.
Coming into the game, the story -- as it has been for most of the season -- was freshman quarterback David Shinskie. Was his job on the line? Was it time for a change? How would he react to the shellacking in Blacksburg? The answer was "just fine." But while Shinksie was solid, the truth is that on this afternoon, the Eagles could have gotten by with David Schwimmer behind center. As long as they gave the ball to Harris, everything was going to be all right.
"Montel sure made it easy on me," Shinskie said. "You've got to give credit to the line. They were creating pretty big holes. And Montel, I don't even know what to say about him. It was a career day. And I really loved watching him."
All told, the sophomore speedster rushed for 264 yards and five touchdowns -- both school records -- on 27 carries (on handoffs and out of the Wildcat). He didn't run through anyone -- that's not his way -- but instead meticulously picked apart holes in the Wolfpack defense while traveling at speeds that would've likely earned him a ticket out on Beacon Street.
"I had never done anything like that, in high school or college, so it was pretty fun to run freely," Harris said. "I think it was just read and react. We had seen that their secondary weren't very good tacklers so we felt that if we could get into that secondary, then we could make some plays."
The fireworks ignited on BC's second possession of the game, when Harris received a direct snap from his own 28 and took off down the sideline for a 70-yard gain. On the next play, he punched it in from 2 yards out. With three minutes left in the first half, he scored his second TD on a 17-yard scamper, and then came out after the break and busted out touchdown runs of 10, 1 and 29 yards. By that point, the score was 45-13 and pride was restored.
"It was a great bounce back," Shinskie said. "I was looking forward to it personally and the offense was too. You have to take it one game at a time and you have to bounce back. Luckily we came out and got it done."
When a team scores 52 points, it's only natural to focus on the offense, but after the game, coach Spaziani made it a point to commend his defensive unit. And why not? Despite BC's offensive struggles at Va. Tech, it was the defense that gave up 48 points. It was the defense that came in with the biggest chip on their shoulders, and it was the defense that held NC State -- which came in averaging 33.8 points a game -- to one touchdown over the first three quarters.
"I can't emphasize enough the job that those guys did over there on defense," Spaziani said. "The offensive guys helped them a little bit, but it looked to me like they were making some plays there against a very talented offense that had been moving the ball.
"These guys have a lot of character. There's a lot of substance to them. They believe they can do certain things, so it never surprises me what BC players can do."
So, just how much can these Eagles do?
We'll find out next week, when the team travels to South Bend for their annual tilt with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. But after today, the one thing we know for sure is that BC will do so with their heads held high, and their Virginia Tech nightmare planted firmly in the rearview mirror.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that Montel Harris is behind the wheel.