Boston College Football Countdown: 94 Days to Go
By Joe Micik
This is going to be a good day, because it’s 94 days to go until the start of the 2013 Boston College Eagles football season. Why 94? It’s dedicated to two guys in particular who wore it and were two of the best BC defenders in this generation: Mark Herzlich and Mathias Kiwanuka.
Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports
Before We Go Any Further
Typically, we review the people who wear/wore the number in question, which today is 94. Mark Herzlich and Mathias Kiwanuka both did, and both were tremendous Boston College Eagles. Today, both are teammates on the New York Giants, but back when they wore maroon and gold, they were excellent. It’s entirely fair to put Luke Kuechly on his own level, but if Kuechly’s on Level 1, guys like Kiwi and Herzlich are on Level 1A in this generation of Eagles.
Howard Smith-USA TODAY SportsEveryone knows Herzlich’s story, though. He won his battles on the field as well as off, taking down his most dangerous opponent of all: cancer. #94 beat the odds and scored a victory for himself and many others who looked to him as an inspirational figure.
“94” is going to come up a lot in the next few moments, but at Boston College, it will always be associated with “Beat Cancer,” as well it should.
Who Wears 94 Now
Nobody
They might retire it someday, though the school would have two fine candidates from whom to choose. Hey, the Yankees retired Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey’s #8 at the same time, so why not do a two-for-one.
(Other) Notable Who Wore 94
• Bob Moore, DT, 1974-77. 1977 team captain; in a swanky old Heights article from the 70s.
Henning ’94
The 1994 BC football season was the first for Dan Henning, who took over for Tom Coughlin after his very successful Eagles tenure and promotion to Jacksonville Jaguars head coach. He rode the wave and got BC back into a bowl game in 1994 with a 7-4-1 record, winning the Aloha Bowl and finishing the year ranked #23 in the AP.
Speaking of New Eras
In 1994, not only did the Henning Era begin, but so did the Hasselbeck Era. For the next seven seasons, either Matt or Tim would play for Boston College.
Catching the Record in ’94
In the senior year of Boston College WR Pete Mitchell, 1994, he broke Mark Chmura’s program record in receiving yards by coming to a final total of 2,388. This record would be broken in 2009 by Rich Gunnell in his final career game. Mitchell went on to eight seasons in the NFL (where he played for his old coach, Tom Coughlin, in Jacksonville and went to Super Bowl XXXV with the Giants in 2000), while Gunnell recently coached at BC.
Sack Happy
Boston College set its team record for sacks in the 1994 season, putting the quarterback on the turf 47 times in twelve games. Remember, the 2012 Eagles did that just six times, which would probably be near the lowest team number since the stat was first recorded.
In 1994, Mike Mamula set a program record for sacks in a game (3.5, later tied by Kiwanuka in 2005), sacks in a season (13, later tied by Erik Storz in 1997), and career sacks (24, later broken by Kiwanuka).
Tackles, Too
In 1994, Stephen Boyd set a program record with 524 career tackles in four seasons. It only took Luke Kuechly three seasons to break it, which says more about Kuechly than anything else.