Eliminated from postseason consideration by Saturday's 26-10 Atlantic Coast Conference setback to Virginia Tech before an Alumni Stadium crowd of 28,108, the Boston College football team saw the final month of its season reduced to a three-game passion play for pride.
That's about all the Eagles (3-6, 0-6) have at stake when they resume conference play next Saturday, facing North Carolina State in their home finale, in the hopes of snapping a five-game losing streak.
"We strained today and really competed and that's what I told them in the locker room,'' said BC coach Steve Addazio.
"They were battling right through to the end. I thought the offense showed some life and energy, especially in the second half.''
That was due in large part to Addazio's decision to replace redshirt freshman Troy Flutie at quarterback with freshman walk-on John Fadule of Wellesley.
Flutie proved ineffective on the Eagles' first two series, going three-and-out twice and generating minus-3 yards on six plays.
Fadule entered and wound up accounting for 196 of BC's 218 total yards, completing 8 of 20 passes to six receivers for 143 yards while rushing 15 times for 53 yards.
What gnawed at Fadule afterward were the turnovers (fumble and interception) he committed on BC's last two possessions. The Hokies (4-5, 2-3) converted Dadi Nicolas's forced fumble and recovery of Fadule's giveaway at the BC 16 into a 26-10 lead on Joey Slye's 32-yard field goal. It was Slye's fourth and final field goal of the game, following kicks of 47, 38, and 32 yards.
"I made a whole lot of mistakes today,'' Fadule said, when asked to assess his play. "Right now I'm just thinking about how I can't wait to get back into this building tomorrow, as we always do on Sundays, and get better.''
On his first play from scrimmage, Fadule energized the downtrodden Eagles when he ran 25 yards on a read-option, flattening a defender before running out of bounds in front of the visitors' bench for a first down at the Hokies' 45.
"I thought John Fadule came in and did a really good job,'' Addazio said. "For a guy who had been on the scout squad two weeks ago, now having to run an offense other than off of [cue] cards. He had toughness. He had confidence. He ran people over. He threw the ball. He ran the ball. It was nice to see and I think the energy rippled through the team a bit on both sides of the ball.''
Junior strong safety John Johnson came up with a huge turnover one play after BC muffed a punt at its 5. Johnson intercepted Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Brewer (15 of 21, 180 yards, 1 TD) on a pass intended for 6-foot-7-inch tight end Bucky Hodges.
Johnson, too, was inspired by Fadule.
"Just seeing a guy who probably thought he'd never have a chance of play, and seeing him out there definitely energized me,'' said Johnson.
Brewer gave Tech a 7-0 lead with his 27-yard pass to Cam Phillips with 6:44 left in the first quarter. Slye then converted from 47 yards to extend Tech's lead to 10-0 with 1:13 remaining in the period.
Two plays after Johnson's interception, Tech linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka stripped BC freshman running back Jordan Gowins and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown that gave the Hokies a 17-0 lead.
Virginia Tech capitalized on a roughing-the-punter call against BC that allowed the Hokies to retain possession during a nine-play, 55-yard drive that culminated with Slye's 38-yard field goal on the final play of the half for a 20-0 lead.
Slye converted a 32-yard field goal to give the Hokies a 23-0 lead with 7:40 left in the third, then Fadule finally put the Eagles on the board, directing an 11-play, 59-yard drive that culminated with Mike Knoll's 29-yard field goal with 3:26 left in the quarter.
Fadule rallied BC on a six-play, 76-yard drive in the fourth quarter by firing consecutive completions of 25, 20, and 15 yards. After the Eagles drew a pass interference call that placed the ball at the Tech 3, Richard Wilson scored on a 3-yard plunge to pull BC within 23-10 with 8:09 to go.
The Eagles, however, were unable to mount another threat, and were eliminated from postseason consideration.
"I mean, it's tough to be out of bowl contention,'' said junior running back Myles Willis. "But at the same time, if you have pride in this university or if you love your coaches and respect everything they do for us, then you're going to keep fighting.
"Even today's game was a microcosm of how we're going attack the rest of the season. No matter what we face, we're just going to fight to the end and play the game with a lot of respect, a lot of respect and pride.''
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.