HAIL TO FLUTIE AND THE GANG

The NFL renaissance of Doug Flutie is a reminder of one of the great plays in college football history, a last-second desperation pass that turned into a Hail Flutie completion.

Tucked away in the back of every football team’s playbook are ideas to be used when all else fails. When the last seconds are ticking off the clock and no other options remain, it’s OK to throw up a prayer and see what happens.

What happened to Flutie and Gerard Phelan 14 years ago Monday gives hope for all hopeless situations.

It was college football’s version of the Immaculate Reception, a 48-yard touchdown pass that really traveled 64 yards and carried Boston College past Miami, 47-45.

This was one of those games that leaves defensive coordinators wondering if they shouldn’t be in some other line of work. Flutie and Bernie Kosar, main rivals for the Heisman Trophy that season, were like a couple of heavyweights, throwing haymakers at each other all day.

As time wound down, Miami led 45-41. BC had one play left, one last chance. In the huddle, Flutie dipped into the back of the playbook.

“The play was called ‘Trips Right, Flood Tip,’ ” Phelan said. “That meant three receivers to the right side, flood the zone and try for the tip. I was the guy in the middle. I was the one who decided whether to tip it.”

Flutie took the snap at the Miami 48 and while Phelan and friends headed downfield, the quarterback started scrambling. He turned one way and then the other, running around, looking for some room to set up and throw. Finally, with no time left on the clock, he stopped at the BC 36--64 yards away from where the ball needed to be--and unloaded the pass.

A knot of players had settled at about the 5-yard line. Phelan left them there.

“I was in the back of the pack,” he said. “I needed to get into the end zone. The 5- or 6-yard line was no good. It looked like it was going to be tipped into my arms.”

That never happened.

Instead, Flutie’s pass sailed right past the leaping pack, right into Phelan’s chest, almost as if it had been drawn there by some invisible magnet.

Touchdown, Boston College.

This was not as hopeless a play as it sounds. The Eagles had pulled it off earlier in the season at halftime against Temple and nearly made it work against West Virginia.

“There’s some luck involved with all those bodies flying around,” said Phelan, now vice president of sales for a printing company in Boston. “We won two out of three. If you get touchdowns on two out of every three plays, you’re doing pretty good.”

This was better than pretty good. This was special, an electrifying moment made all the more memorable by the circumstances. It was the day after Thanksgiving, the only game being played, shown on national television. It was an underdog team with an undersized quarterback going against the defending national champions.

“All the elements were in place,” Phelan said. “It was very exciting in a desperate situation. But never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine it would have the lasting implication it has.”

Fourteen years after the fact, Flutie has Buffalo in the hunt in the AFC East. “Doug has that knack,” Phelan said. “He gets people to rise to the moment.

“I talk with Doug every now and then. I talk about Doug a lot.”

For his part, Flutie seems almost annoyed about always being reminded of that one play.

“It’s like the only thing people think I have ever done in my life,” he said. “It’s taken on a life of its own. It was 14 years ago and history and they should get over it.”

Phelan won’t.

“It had an impact on my life,” he said. “I’m in the sales business. It gave me name recognition. It helped.”

Boston is passionate about its sports and Flutie’s pass is woven into the fabric of the city.

“I consider myself fortunate,” Phelan said. “Thank goodness I caught it. Otherwise, I’d be run out of town. It would be me and Bill Buckner.”