Boston College's Donnie Fletcher, right, tackles UCF's Ronnie Weaver in the first quarter. (AP)

September 21, 2008

Greco injured in UCF's loss to Boston College

BY JUSTIN A. RICE
FOR FLORIDA TODAY

In a season known more for flip-flopping politicians than quarterback controversies, UCF and Boston College changed their minds on the QB position so many times that fans of both parties had a hard time voting for one signal caller over the other.

But the 41,267 on hand Saturday afternoon for the 34-7 BC victory at Alumni Stadium didn't need a recount to declare the game sloppy on all counts, from missed field goals (three overall), botched punts (two for BC) and a seemingly infinite number of interceptions (seven total).

More than anything, however, the first meeting between the two programs was marked by quarterback questions. While Chris Crane and Dominique Davis rotated drives in the shadow of legendary Eagles quarterback Matt Ryan, redshirt junior Michael Greco split time with freshman Rob Calabrese after injuring his knee during the Knights' fourth drive of the afternoon.

Despite throwing an interception on his first career pass, Calabrese kept the Knights on the move, engineering a 49-yard drive that ended with a missed field goal.

"I wanted to get him in," UCF coach George O'Leary said of Calabrese, not explaining why he leapfrogged redshirt freshman Joe Weatherford on the depth chart. "I put him in and he did some good things, probably not enough good things.

"(Greco) got hit and his knee blew up and he wasn't as mobile as he was in the first half. But I thought he did some good things."

Greco returned in the final moments of the first half to lead the Knights (1-2) to their only scoring drive of the day. With 32 seconds remaining in the first stanza, he kept the ball on 3-and-4 from the 45. Then the lefty cut to midfield, slipped a tackle at the 20 and scampered to the 1-yard line where he dove for the end zone and was knocked out at the one. Three plays later, Greco rolled 10-yards backwards before regaining ground to set up a goal-line collision that ended in a 1-yard TD.

UCF players were unavailable for comment after the game. While Greco's score gave the Knights a 7-3 lead at the break, BC (2-1) started the second half with Jeff Smith's 56-yard kick return to set up Crane's 1-yard touchdown run.

Down 10-7, Calabrese returned to the game after Greco threw another INT but the freshman couldn't muster much. Then Crane collected another 1-yard TD run to cap a 6-play, 59-yard drive to go up 17-7. Calabrese, -- who finished the day 4-for-8 passing with 37 yards and an interception -- led another short-lived drive before punter Blake Clingan pinned the ball at the 1-yard line.

A few plays later, Crane threw the ball into the hands of UCF sophomore linebacker Lawrence Young at the 10, but senior kicker Darin Daly eventually missed his second field goal of the day within 25 yards. He hit the left upright just as BC kicker Steve Aponavicius did in the first half.

Finally hitting his stride in the fourth quarter, Crane ripped off a 27-yard third-down scramble before connecting with senior Brandon Robinson on a 48-yard score again, on third down. The longest touchdown pass of Crane's young career gave the Eagles a 24-7 edge and the game.

Greco rounded out the game, but his completion to Rocky Ross on 4th and 9 from the BC 31 was overturned on an illegal touching penalty. As BC tacked on 10 more points, Greco threw his third interception and finished 12-of-24 passing for 92 yards. He added 54 yards rushing.

The loss snapped a three-game road winning streak for the Knights, but didn't waiver O'Leary's confidence in his quarterbacks.

"I'll look at the film and stuff, but I think I'm gonna play two quarterbacks," he said. "I have no problem with that. There's no quarterback controversy."

After Saturday's game, it looked like BC would also continue to go with two quarterbacks. Crane finished the game 16-of-34 passing for 207 yards and three INTs while Davis, who fans have been itching to see play all season, was 4-of-7 for 30 yards in his debut.

Maybe both teams will have the quarterback question figured out by Nov. 4.