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SAN
FRANCISCO - When Derrick Knight thinks of his place in Boston College
history, his rushing records are only part of what thrills him. He also
treasures his place in a class of seniors who changed the program.
Knight ran for 122 yards and three touchdowns and Larry Lester caught
two scoring passes in Boston College's fourth straight bowl victory,
35-21 over Colorado State in the San Francisco Bowl on Wednesday night
Paul Peterson passed for 224 yards and T.J. Stancil had three
interceptions for the Eagles (8-5), who finished their season on a
three-game winning streak by shutting down the Rams and senior
quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt.
Knight, an easy choice as the offensive MVP, secured the victory on a
winding 27-yard TD scamper with 9:29 to play. The Eagles' school rushing
leader and his teammates finished their careers without a loss in a bowl
game.
Knight finished a few yards shy of the school's single-season rushing
record, but that didn't matter while his teammates handed him the bowl
trophy at Pacific Bell Park.
"When we came in here and we were 4-7 (in 1998), we had a belief that
something good was going to happen," Knight said. "We made it happen.
It's been a phenomenal ride. The whole experience for me is mostly about
the friendships I've developed. These guys are going to continue what we
started here."
He'll have plenty of time to celebrate: He plans to stay in San
Francisco for the East-West Shrine Game next weekend.
Boston College, the Big East representative in the second edition of
this bowl, also won the Aloha, Music City and Motor City bowls during
Knight's career under coach Tom O'Brien, who has led the Eagles to five
straight winning seasons.
"I guess we finally matured at the end of the year," O'Brien said. "I
guess right now we're the only team with four bowl wins in a row - until
Oklahoma plays."
Van Pelt passed for 163 yards and ran for 65 and a score despite sitting
out the first quarter for the Mountain West representative Rams (7-6),
who fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter and never recovered.
"You don't mind if you're down seven, maybe 14 in the first quarter -
but 21, that's on me," coach Sonny Lubick said. "We weren't ready to
play. Their running back just came out of there with a well-deserved
trophy. He's a tough young guy who runs hard, and I felt all along the
offensive line was the strength of their football team."
Van Pelt, the Rams' hard-running quarterback, played his final college
game with a 2�-inch titanium rod in his broken throwing hand, but his
aggressive style was mostly ineffective against BC's sturdy defense. He
threw three interceptions, and backup Jesse Holland threw two more.
David Anderson had a career-high 10 catches for 134 yards, setting
Colorado State's single-season records for receptions and yards. He also
made a 40-yard TD catch midway through the third quarter, briefly
pulling the Rams to 21-14.
Stancil, a junior safety, had just one interception in his college
career before tying the school single-game record with three. His third
pick set up Lester's second TD catch with 12:31 left.
The game matched the top offenses from the schools' respective
conferences, but Colorado State had difficulty making big plays. Boston
College made enough big plays in the first and fourth quarters to secure
an easy victory.
The Eagles scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, with
Knight rushing for two short scores. Lester also caught a 50-yard TD
pass from Peterson.
Van Pelt's hand, broken in the regular-season finale, apparently swelled
up enough to convince coach Sonny Lubick to sit out his star - and Van
Pelt hurt his other hand during the game. The Rams were in trouble by
the time Lubick put Van Pelt in, even though Holland completed six of
his seven passes.
Van Pelt immediately engineered a 68-yard scoring drive, with Green
rushing for a 7-yard score.
Dexter Wynn, the Rams' feared kick return specialist, made his first
reception of the season during a later drive, but it ended with
Stancil's second interception in the end zone.
Boston College had several thousand vocal supporters in the stands at
Pacific Bell Park on a surprisingly warm night on San Francisco's
waterfront. The Eagles gathered in front of the school band afterward,
raising their helmets to wild cheers.
The
San Francisco Bowl is sponsored by Diamond Walnut.
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Attendance-
25,621
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
BC- Knight 5 run (Sciortino kick)
BC- Lester 50 yard pass from Peterson (Sciortino kick)
BC- Knight 3 run (Sciortino kick)
Second Quarter
CSU- Green 7 run (Babcock kick)
Third Quarter
CSU- Anderson 40 yard pass from Van Pelt (Babcock kick)
Fourth Quarter
BC- Lester 20 yard pass from Peterson (Sciortino kick)
BC-Knight 27 run (Sciortino kick)
CSU-Van Pelt 1 run (Babcock kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
CSU- Green 20-74, Van Pelt 11-65
BC- Knight 30-122, Peterson 6-14
Passing
CSU- Van Pelt 14-25-163, Holland
8-12-79
BC- Peterson 16-25-224.
Receiving
CSU- Anderson 10-134, Dreessen
5-28, Wynn 3-32, Bartz 2-37
BC- Adams 5-47, Ryan 3-38, Lester
2-69, Kashetta 2-30, Hazard 2-23, Gonzalez 1-14
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