Colleges

Defining pass par for course for Ryan

The TD toss against Virginia Tech didn't surprise observers of title contenders BC.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published October 31, 2007

After putting up solid numbers despite a foot injury last season, Matt Ryan has blossomed as a star as a fifth-year senior whose savvy and presence are as impressive as his skills.
	[Getty Images]

ADVERTISEMENT [Getty Images] Cool, strong-armed Matt Ryan has made himself a top Heisman contender and his Eagles a national title threat.

The play seemed to unfold in slow motion as such seminal moments often do.

Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, facing third and 20 from the Virginia Tech 24 and down 10-7 in the final moments Thursday night, stood in the pocket and scanned the field. Seconds passed before he began drifting backward okay, maybe he was moving faster in real time then rolling to his left.

"You're looking for something to kind of shoot open in the end zone, and nothing really did at first, and so you just try to buy a little time and maybe something else will happen," he said.

Nothing did, and Ryan, not exactly a Tim Tebow-like threat with his legs, figured he would take off and gain whatever precious yards he could to give his kicker a shorter attempt at the tie.

But in the next split second, Ryan spotted tailback Andre Callender, someone who wasn't even in his progression of possible targets, sprinting free far to his right.

"I knew I could make that throw," said the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Ryan, so renowned for his unflappability that teammates have taken to calling him "Matty Ice," which inspired a recently launched Web site, mattyice.com. "I had confidence in myself and the rest is kind of in the book."

He jumped and hurled the ball with uncanny velocity and accuracy for the winning score with 11 seconds left to cap an improbable comeback.

"It seemed like it took forever," Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski said, adding he didn't give a second thought to his star, who had been struggling for much of the night, attempting a pass across his body. "I didn't cringe. Not at all. Go make a play."

A play?

Maybe the play.

Not only did it keep the Eagles undefeated and off to their best start since 1942 at 8-0, but it validated them as national title contenders - they're No.2 in the polls entering Saturday night's game against Florida State - and stamped Ryan as the favorite for the Heisman Trophy, as a last-moment desperation touchdown throw that seemingly took forever to play out did for another BC quarterback, Doug Flutie.

"That quarterback, I think, is the best passer in college football," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said, raving about Ryan's decisionmaking, accuracy and arm strength. "I think he'll win the Heisman. ... I'd vote for him."

'Why me?'

But then it's difficult, even for an opposing coach, not to root for Ryan.

About six years ago, Ryan, now 22 and a fifth-year senior who has earned his degree in communications, and older brother Michael were in a car accident; their car was rear-ended, hurtled into the path of an oncoming truck.

Matt broke an ankle. Michael, then 19 and a quarterback at a Division III school, so severely broke his right elbow that, even after five surgeries, he couldn't throw a football.

For years, Matt silently wrestled with the vagaries of chance.

"It is tough to deal with the questions of, 'Why me?' and, 'Why am I able to continue and he's not?'" he said.

"I really didn't know that," said Michael, 25, who now develops vacation homes along the Jersey shore. "Before one of his high school games, he told our mom that he felt bad that he was able to play and unfortunately I wasn't. I told him that high school sports should be some of the best times of his life, and I think it eased his mind."

The accident and its aftermath changed his perspective. "It helps me now when I'm going through some difficult things to put things into perspective and understand what's important and what's not," Matt said.

Last year, Ryan threw for 2,942 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. That was despite breaking a bone in his left foot midway through the season.

Healthy this year, he has completed 217 of 356 passes for 2,433 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Jagodzinski, who worked with Brett Favre as Green Bay's offensive coordinator last year, and new BC coordinator Steve Logan are so taken with Ryan's skills and savvy, his composure and command, that they let him call his own plays in the two-minute offense.

"He's got a lot going for him," Jagodzinski said. "He's got those intangibles. You can tell right away that he knows how to carry himself."

Flutie, a Ryan fan for some time now, isn't surprised.

He has seen enough in slow-mo and real-time action.

"I go down in the spring and we throw a little bit together and going back as far as three years ago, I was in awe of the way he threw the football," said Flutie, an ESPN analyst and the 1984 Heisman winner. "I remember a couple days I felt great and I was slinging it and he's just got that extra zip on the ball, getting from here to there, just effortlessly. ... He is as good as they come."

FAST FACTS

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With player, position, school and key stats

Matt RyanSr. QB Boston College217-for-356, 2,433 yds, 19 TDs, 8 INTs

Dennis DixonSr. QB Oregon154-for-224, 1,885 yds, 16 TDs, 3 INTs; 92 rushes for 492 yds, 8 TDs

Tim TebowSo. QB Florida129-for-196, 1,947 yds, 18 TDs, 3 INTs; 138 rushes for 563 yds, 12 TDs

Pat WhiteJr. QB W. Virginia91-for-130, 1,070 yds, 9 TDs, 2 INTs; 96 rushes for 656 yds, 9 TDs

Mike HartSr. RB Michigan200 rushes for 1,078 yds, 5.4 avg, 12 TDs; 7 rec. for 43 yds

[Last modified October 30, 2007, 23:28:21]