ORLANDO, Fla. - In a few days, they will scatter. Some, such as Matt Ryan, Jamie Silva, and Jo-Lonn Dunbar, will go to various all-star games. Some will take off a football uniform for the last time and prepare for the next phase of life. All of it will have a sense of finality for Boston College's 17 fifth-year seniors as they finish their college careers in tomorrow's Champs Sports Bowl against Michigan State.
Twelve of the 17 started for the Eagles, comprising the bulk of a senior class that compiled a 38-12 record, the best in school history. The group has never lost a bowl game, part of an NCAA-best seven straight bowl victories.
Critics would argue that the bowls - including the Continental Tire, MPC Computers, and Meineke Car Care the last three years - did not provide the highest competition. And that tomorrow's opponent, Michigan State (7-5), which finished tied for seventh in the Big Ten, is another example.
None of that is important now to the Eagles as they finish up a season in which they won their first eight games, climbing to No. 2 in the country.
"There were a lot more people around when we were national championship contenders," said Silva, a safety who earned first-team All-America honors and will play in the East-West Shrine Game in Houston next month. "Coming into the season unranked and to get to No. 2 is a great achievement. It would have been nice to stay up there."
But the Eagles lost back-to-back games to Florida State and Maryland that dropped them out of the top 10, and out of most people's minds. They bounced back by winning the Atlantic Division to earn a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game against Virginia Tech, which they had beaten in the regular season.
But the Hokies earned the automatic Orange Bowl berth with a 30-16 victory, and the Eagles were left looking for motivation to end their season with a bang rather than a whimper.
Winning 11 games, something no BC team has done in 67 years, and winning an eighth straight bowl game have been the driving forces for the Eagles this week as they have combined business with pleasure.
BC had its fun in the Florida sun, but now it is time for business for coach Jeff Jagodzinski's Eagles.
"I think everybody was not trying to bring it up," said Ryan of the seniors' final game.
So, tomorrow's game will be different for offensive lineman Gosder Cherilus, a fifth-year senior who chose to bypass the NFL draft for one more go-around with the Eagles, as well offensive linemen Ryan Poles, Kevin Sheridan, Tom Anevski, and Ty Hall. It will be different for wide receiver Kevin Challenger and running back Andre Callender, both seniors. And it will be different for senior linebackers Tyrone Pruitt and Dunbar, who dealt with injuries during the season, as did senior defensive end Nick Larkin.
"I'm going to miss a lot of these guys," said Ryan, who figures to be a high-first-round pick in the NFL draft April, and like many of the fifth-year seniors left BC for the final time before Christmas.
BC held its final full-scale practice of the season yesterday. Today, there will be a walkthrough at the stadium. The Eagles are as healthy as they have been for a month, although Silva missed practice because of a stomach virus.
BC vs. Michigan St.
What: Champs Sports Bowl
When: Tomorrow, 5 p.m.
Where: Orlando, Fla.
TV/radio: ESPN, WEEI (850)
Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.
