LYNN — Peter Holey always had a dream. He wanted to play football for the University of Alabama.
“When I was growing up, I wanted to play for (late Crimson Tide coach) Bear Bryant,” he said.
It didn’t happen, of course. He ended up at Boston College, and for two of the four years he was on the roster, the Eagles played Alabama, against Bryant’s successor Ray Perkins, at the old Foxboro Stadium his junior season and at Birmingham’s Legion Field.
“It was such a huge deal, playing against Alabama,” he said. “Alabama is the Mecca of college football.”
Thirty-five years later, the Eagles find themselves back on Legion Field today in the Birmingham Bowl against 23d ranked Cincinnati.
Holey remembers that game 35 years ago very clearly.
“As I remember it, we were down big in the first half,” he said, “but … we walked onto the field with the confidence that no one was going to beat us.”
And Alabama didn’t.
That Alabama lead grew to 31-17 after the Tide returned a kickoff for a score to begin the second half. This was early in the season, still September, and the Eagles — who were never truly out of a game with Doug Flutie at quarterback — were not deterred, Holey said.
“We were confident we were going to come back,” he said, “and as we got into the season, that confidence just grew.”
Alabama never scored again. Meanwhile, the Eagles scored three times in the second half to win, 38-31. Holey was a linebacker on the defense that stifled the Crimson Tide and Tony Thurman the free safety.
“He was the center fielder,” Holey said. “I always knew he was behind me.”
While Flutie performed his usual magic to spearhead the comeback, no one, said Holey, was more responsible for that victory than the person he saw from across the line of scrimmage at the old Manning Bowl in Lynn for three years: Tony Thurman.
“I never got him,” said Holey, who played for English while Thurman was quarterbacking Classical to an Eastern Mass. Super Bowl victory in 1979.
“They beat us every year,” Holey said. “Go back and look at those teams. The third string quarterback was Tony Hill. They were loaded.”
No one was more relieved to see Thurman on his side than Holey.
“We were rivals but once we got here we became friends,” said Holey.
Thurman, the city’s only consensus All-America, picked off three passes that night in Birmingham — two of them pivotal to the game. On one, he ran the ball back to the Alabama 5-yard line to set up a Flutie touchdown. Another one, in the end zone with 45 left, preserved the 38-31 win.
“I remember that one,” said Holey. “He tipped it up and then caught it. It was a great play.”
After school, Holey came back to Lynn and became one of three brothers in his family (Paul and Mark the others) to join the Lynn Police force. He coached Pop Warner football and ultimately coached at Lynn English, where his Bulldogs won the Northeastern Conference in 2011 and was The Item’s Coach of the Year. Paul also played on the 1984 BC team.
“It was such a great night (in Birmingham),” Holey said. “I remember it so well. Keith Jackson did the game, and the atmosphere was great.
“Both games were. The year before was at Foxboro, and it was raining and sleeting, and the electricity went out at the stadium. This one was just as memorable. You know, you don’t appreciate it when you’re going through it. But you do, more and more, as you get older.”
