W2WF: Cotton Bowl vs. Houston (1985)

Massachusetts is too often a state divided along internal battle lines. A notorious parochialism splits the Commonwealth into separate parts, each with an attempt to subjugate another with geography, history, and identity. It's why there are clear definitions between the North Shore, the South Shore, the city, and Metrowest. It's why Worcester is in "Western Mass" to people from Boston, even though it's the central city to the state, and it's why people from anywhere near Route 128 don't think twice about the Berkshires.

Its sports landscape is no different, and sibling rivalries play out annually through ancient matchups. The Thanksgiving Day games feature match-ups dating back over a century, and dinner tables constantly celebrate Malden's victory over Medford, Waltham's win over Brockton, Needham's down-to-the-wire game with Wellesley, and Natick's win over Framingham.

Ah yes, Natick. The mystery town just west of Boston is more likely recognized for its Golden Triangle shopping district. It's where one of the oldest shopping plazas is located at Shoppers' World, though the original structure from the 1950s is about to be torn apart.

Nowadays, it's more of a high school football French Lick. It's the hometown of Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, a place where a hometown kid grew up and defied the odds to go to the only place that would have him. He silenced the doubters again when he inexplicably rose from the bottom rung of the depth chart to start at quarterback for a Division I college school.

He turned analysts into speechless, doe-eyed fans by turning Boston College, a school nobody every thought about, into a powerhouse. He did unthinkable things, and he created impossible moments. The mighty Flutie, once a forgotten afterthought of college football, is now its greatest player, a Heisman Trophy winner, and this week, he takes the field for the final time as his No. 8 Eagles gear up to play the Houston Cougars at the Cotton Bowl.

"This isn't a goal," Flutie said of the Heisman Trophy. "This is a dream. No one can plan to win the Heisman Trophy. You grow up and you watch all your idols, and they win the Heisman. You can never put yourself in their place, doing that. I don't think I'll ever be able to put myself in their category."

It will take years to quantify Flutie's impact on college football. He's turned the sport into our game and made Boston College our team because he grew up here. He's our son, our brother, and our legend who knows what it's like to be disappointed, time and time again, by the Boston Red Sox or the New England Patriots. He's celebrated the way we all celebrated those Thanksgiving Day victories, and that's why he transcends any of the parochialism. He's one of us, and BC is emblematic of our region.

It was never clearer than a month ago when Boston College made the trip west to play Holy Cross in its season finale. The week before, Flutie completed the greatest pass in college football history with a heave to Gerard Phelan as time expired at Miami's Orange Bowl. His knockout blow all but sealed his Heisman Trophy fate by defeating Bernie Kosar, the other frontrunning favorite, amidst a delirious maroon and gold sideline.

The next Saturday, the Eagles returned to the Top Ten for the third time this season and traveled to Worcester to play their archnemesis Crusaders. Overflowing cars stopped traffic on I-290, and a helicopter awaited Flutie to fly to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation. Holy Cross gave BC its best shot, but stumbled late as the hometown hero led his team to a 45-10 victory.

"It's crazy," BC publicity director Reid Oslin said. "We got to the Worcester Airport, and there was a large crowd at the airport, just waiting to wish him well. We needed police to get him through the crowd."

Not even Holy Cross could really hate Flutie or Boston College that day because his presence elevated Massachusetts to an unthinkable stratosphere. It turned our state and our cities and towns into a college football epicenter, and every sports media outlet needed to learn that Boston was more than a pro sports town.

Now Flutie, with the entire region on his back, takes the field for the final time in a Boston College uniform. He's arguably a more popular football player than either John Hannah or Steve Grogan, and I secretly wish he'd replace Tony Eason. This is our final time on the field with him, and it's against the Southwest Conference champion in one of the sport's most prestigious games.

Here's what else to watch for in this week's game:

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Weekly Storylines

The Last Hurrah

This Boston College football team accomplished everything it conceivably could, short of a national championship. The second half of the Holy Cross game felt like a coronation in comparison to the first half sleepwalk, and Doug Flutie smelted the last jewel into the crown when he accomplished, finally, his goal of throwing a touchdown pass to his brother Darren.

Now Flutie, trophy and all, walks into Texas and the venerable Cotton Bowl stadium to play Houston, a team layered with pride, in the Cougars' backyard.

"I never could have anticipated the type of career I've had," Flutie said. "I don't want to go out on a disappointment. For the team, I want to come out with a win, and if that means handing off to Troy Stradford, that's fine."

That likely won't happen. Houston's secondary is fast, but hasn't seen an offense capable of running four to five receivers deep. Flutie can throw to virtually anyone on the field, and both Phelan and Kelvin Martin can flip the switch from downfield speed threat to possession hands receivers.

Then there's Stradford and Steve Strachan. Both give BC a ground game to keep the defense honest, and Houston, for its part, can really struggle against teams. The Cougars won the SWC, but lost to Louisville, which went 2-9 in Division I-AA. Then there was the near-fiasco against Rice when a winless conference team dropped 26 points on the Cougars in the season finale.

Texas Highway Patrol

That doesn't mean Houston won't give BC all it can handle. The Eagle defense is loaded with turnover capability, but the Cougars' offense can grind this game out of Flutie's hands. It's a veer option with a running back averaging almost five yards per carry, and a quarterback in Gerald Landry who knows when to get him the ball.

Landry is a diminutive five-feet, 11 inches and only weighs 183 pounds, so his ability to read defenses saves him from getting pummeled. He finished the year with numbers comparable to Don King, the quarterback of the more fabled Southern Methodist squad, and threw for 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns with an additional 384 yards rushing. He can take a lick, but he's shifty and brutal to take down.

The running game will primarily go through Raymond Tate, the aforementioned back who gained 864 yards on the ground, but Sloan Hood is more than capable as the second back in the veer option. He gained 526 yards on 138 carries, with Mal Pierson gaining four yards per carry on 64 touches.

Tight spots.

This is one of those rare matchups where both teams' personnel perfectly fit their respective game plan. Houston has a good option offense with a shifty quarterback, and its fast defense matches up well against BC's speedy receivers. BC's defense is physical and nasty against a stout running team, and its offense is one of the deadliest in the nation.

I think someone is really going to break out in this game, and, as weird as it sounds, I think it's going to be one team's tight end. Houston's Carl Hilton is a big target who can get open as the Cougars' leading receiver, and he isn't necessarily tasked with doing more than necessary in a run-heavy offense. That means an option play-fake could really dupe linebacker Bill Romanowski and leave the middle of the field open if he's attacking the line of scrimmage to spy a running back.

BC, meanwhile, should send Scott Gieselman anywhere he wants to go because I don't think Houston has enough in the secondary to cover a six foot, six inch weapon. Flutie will buy him time to get open, and Gieselman, who caught four touchdowns out of his 32 receptions, should really eat against the middle of Houston's defense.

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Scoreboard Watching

This year's Cotton Bowl projects to be a very different game than in recent years because Boston College's offensive wizardry piles up points. The last three games scored a combined 55 points, and the 1981 edition saw Baylor get pummeled by Bear Bryant's Alabama squad, 30-2.

The low scores are typical because the Southwest Conference is known for pound option football. SMU beat Pittsburgh two years ago, 7-3, with the Pony Express offense, and in 1980, Houston beat Nebraska. The last "shootout" happened in 1979, when Dan Devine's Notre Dame Fighting Irish won its second consecutive Cotton Bowl by beating these same Houston Cougars, 35-34.

Ironically enough, thinking of SMU's option under Bobby Collins invites one of the great "what if" discussions of the 1980s. The Mustangs finished the season with a 10-2 record and tied the Cougars for the SWC championship, but Houston beat SMU, 29-20, back in October. That meant the Cougars won the conference's auto-bid instead of the Mustangs, who beat Notre Dame in the Aloha Bowl a few days ago.

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All's Quiet on New Year's Day?

Figuring out the national championship could be a nightmare for voters after today is over. No. 1 Brigham Young beat Michigan in the Holiday Bowl before Christmas to cap a perfect season, but the weak schedule in the WAC leaves the door open for a team like Oklahoma to slide into a divided picture if it wins the Orange Bowl.

The No. 2 Sooners play No. 4 Washington, which isn't in the Rose Bowl because No. 18 USC beat the Huskies on November 10. It was Washington's only loss this year, but they finished a half-game behind the Trojans, who played an extra Pac-10 opponent (No. 14 UCLA). The Bruins, meanwhile, are playing No. 13 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Sooners are in the Orange Bowl because they beat Nebraska, but the Huskers, ranked No. 5, are in the Sugar Bowl against No. 11 LSU.

An Oklahoma win would likely cause some voters to flip from BYU because the Orange Bowl is against a considerably higher quality opponent. Conversely, Washington and Nebraska can't yet touch the Cougars, so an Oklahoma loss likely hands the national title over to an undefeated team from the WAC. It's a wild thought to consider this much is riding on it, and it begs the question of what would happen if the bowls could ever figure out a way to crown a true national champion.

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Pregame Quote and Prediction

If you want to be a champion, you've got to feel like one, you've got to act like one, and you've got to look like one. -Red Auerbach

Doug Flutie is unlike anything that's ever happened to college football. He turned Boston College into champions and led the Eagles to the Cotton Bowl for the first time since Frank Leahy patrolled the sidelines. He did it with his heart and his own personal belief that he could do anything on a football field.

Flutie acted the part and carried himself with that cockiness that comes from determination. He maybe didn't look the part, but there's no doubt Red Auerbach would've loved putting Flutie on the floor against teams that weren't as tough. He would've loved planting him in the backcourt with Dennis Johnson or Danny Ainge so he could wipe out James Worthy with a hard foul. Part of me thinks Doug wishes he was on the floor at the Forum last summer to take Kurt Rambis into the sixth row.

That's my kind of quarterback and my kind of football player. This is the last time Flutie will suit up for our state's top college football team. Wherever he goes in his pro career will never sever that tie. We will always root for him and, not so secretly, hope he can return one day to hoist a championship trophy again.

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