Quarterback leads Eagles to victory

CHARLOTTE — Paul Peterson spent the entire afternoon picking apart the defense in front of him, employing play-action fakes and roll-outs to find open receivers all over the field.

But take solace, North Carolina. The Tar Heels are far from the first team to fall victim to a Boston College quarterback throwing on the run.

Twenty years after Doug Flutie threw perhaps the most famous pass in the history of college football, Peterson threw two touchdown passes to lead the Eagles to victory in the Continental Tire Bowl on Dec. 30.

Both scores — and most of his other pass attempts — came on play fakes in which he scrambled to his right and found an open receiver along the sideline.

“That’s what he does best,” said Boston College coach Tom O’Brien. “That’s our offense, and I don’t think that should have surprised North Carolina at all. That’s what he does best.”

In the weeks leading up to the game, it wasn’t clear Peterson would be able to do anything at all against the Tar Heels.

He fractured the second metacarpal bone in his throwing hand against Temple on Nov. 20, and he missed the team’s final game — a devastating 43-17 loss to Syracuse that eliminated the Eagles from BCS contention.

But Peterson received clearance from doctors to resume practice on Dec. 13, and he made the most of his opportunity in the Continental Tire Bowl.

And by the time a broken leg forced him from the game in the fourth quarter, he had completed 24 of 33 passes for 236 yards and earned Most Valuable Player honors in the game.

“I don’t think anyone has done the play-action and the roll-outs as good as we have in the ACC,” said Peterson, resting in a wheelchair outside the Boston College locker room after the game. “That was something we were going to try to take advantage of.”

North Carolina could not force the 24-year-old senior to throw from the pocket, and the inability of the Tar Heels to stop the Eagles’ run game contributed to Peterson’s success.

Tailback Andre Callender led a trio of Boston College tailbacks who combined for 208 yards on 38 carries.

“If you’ve got the run game going that well, you can’t stop (play-action fakes),” Peterson said. “You can’t stop those if your run game is on.”

Help also came in the form of the Eagles’ talented corps of wide receivers.

Seniors Grant Adams and Joel Hazard thoroughly exposed the North Carolina secondary all over the field, finding seams in the coverage and winning physical battles throughout the game.

“Their quarterback made us look pretty silly at times, out there on the edge,” said UNC coach John Bunting. “But give their receivers an awful lot of credit. Boy, they outplayed us.”

Even when the persistent injury to Peterson’s throwing hand forced wild or wobbly throws, Adams, Hazard and junior Larry Lester bailed him out with leaping, diving or one-handed catches.

On the Eagles’ final drive of the first half, perhaps the most critical series of the game, Peterson rolled to his right and found Hazard across the middle for a 32-yard gain.

Two plays later, Peterson tossed a one-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Kashetta to tie the game at 21.

“We knew we were going to have to help him today,” O’Brien said. “He floated that ball out there a couple of times, and they went and made some great catches today.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.