Boston College Athletics
Football Looks For Happy Day In Happy Valley
September 05, 2003 | Football
Sept. 5, 2003
The Boston College football team must re-group in a hurry from last Saturday's 32-28 loss to Wake Forest in order to face one of the toughest challenges of the season - a road trip to "Happy Valley" to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions. Kickoff time is noon EDT for Saturday's game, which will be televised to most of the country on ABC.
The Eagles are scheduled to fly to State College, PA, at 7 p.m. Friday.
LARGEST CROWD EVER FOR EAGLES?
Given Beaver Stadium's capacity of 107,282, the Eagles could play before the largest crowd ever to witness a Boston College football game on Saturday at Penn State. BC played at Michigan Stadium in 1994 before a crowd of 105,936 (the record) and in 1996 before a crowd of 105,291.
FLUTIE STILL HOLDS RECORD VS. PENN STATE
BC quarterback Doug Flutie threw for 520 yards against Penn State in 1982. The total is still the highest ever against the Nittany Lions.
THE MAROON & GOLD IS GREEN
A look at BC's starting lineup in last week's Wake Forest game reveals that these Eagles are still a youthful bunch. Five players on offense (LT Jeremy Trueblood, C Pat Ross, RT Keith Leavitt, WR Joel Hazard and QB Quinton Porter) and three on defense (LB Ray Henderson, FS T.J. Stancil, CB Will Blackmon) got their first starts ever at their respective positions; CB Jazzmen Williams will get his first start vs. Penn State. WR Grant Adams started for only the fourth game of his career, LE Mathias Kiwanuka the third, and CB Peter Shean the third. Five Eagle starters (Trueblood, Ross, Kiwanuka, Henderson and Blackmon) are sophomores. Junior punter Jeff Gomulinski also got his first start for the Eagles after transferring this past winter from Fairfield University, which dropped football after last season. Of the 44 players on the two-deep at offense and defense, only 12 are seniors, while 22 are underclassmen.
INJURY UPDATE
Defensive end Jim Unis is out permanently with a head injury; long snapper Francois Brochu is out for the season with a wrist injury; offensive tackle Anthony Crosson is out for the season with a knee injury; cornerback Peter Shean suffered a left quad injury in the Wake Forest game and is out for the Penn State game.
IF THE EAGLES WIN:
-It will mark BC's second consecutive victory over the Nittany Lions in Beaver Stadium...It will mark Tom O'Brien's first win ever against Joe Paterno...It technically will mark their first victory over a Big Ten opponent since 9/26/02, when they beat No. 25 Michigan State 14-0. The Eagles also defeated Northwestern that season, 49-0, and defeated No. 9 Penn State, 35-32, but Penn State was not yet a member of the Big Ten in 1992.
IF THE NITTANY LIONS WIN:
-It will mark the first time since 1994 BC has started the season 0-2...It will mark the first time since 1999 Penn State has started the season 2-0...They will have defeated a BIG EAST team for the second consecutive week.
