Big games, big plays

It came from the son of one of Glasper's high school coaches, accented by big, bold letters.

According to the BC safety, it read, "Big game. You always make big plays in big games."

When the chips are down, Glasper just seems to make plays.

And though BC came up on the short end against Wake Forest the night of the text message, Glasper made his token big play with a key interception on the fourth play from scrimmage.

But no matter what the statistics seem to indicate, Glasper doesn't think it's quite that simple.

"I just took that with a grain of salt," he said of the text. "I'm a competitor. I like to win. If I feel the need where somebody needs to step up and make the big play, I want to be the person to do that. It just goes along with the way I play."

Nevertheless, for the only senior on the roster who has never redshirted, Glasper hasn't done much to disprove the theory.

CT's loss is BC's gain

During his days at Southington (Conn.) High School, Glasper was an offensive force, tearing up most any defense that the schools of the Nutmeg State had to offer.

Playing mainly as a receiver and a running back in Southington's wide-open offense - not to mention his duties as a return man - Glasper made plenty of big plays in high school.

Yet when college recruiters took notice, they saw something else in Glasper that would enable him to play at the next level: defense.

The transition was certainly not easy for Glasper, but, in the end, it was probably necessary, too.

"I like playing defense, and I think it's a better fit for me now after I got acclimated to it," said Glasper. "At first it was difficult because it was something I wasn't used to, but it actually suits my character better."

The athletic talent that Glasper displayed - including a slew of 90-plus yard scores in his senior season - and the intensity he brought to the field convinced BC that he could cut it as a Division I defensive back.

He even showed a few moves, dodging some would-be tacklers during an interception against Boise State in last December's MPC Computers Bowl, reminding everyone of what he could do.

"I think I had a nose for the end zone, and I think that was one of my biggest assets when playing offense," said Glasper. "And I had that same intensity that I have on the defensive side."

That intensity would serve him well as a true freshman in the fall of 2003, cracking the BC lineup within weeks of setting foot on the campus.

And the jump in talent was pretty noticeable, too.

"You go from the Thanksgiving game to Notre Dame in a matter of months," said Glasper. "It was definitely a challenge."

Stepping into the two-deep at strong safety right off the bat certainly wasn't easy, either, transitioning both to the D-I talent and the defensive side of the game.

"I spent most of the year just learning how to play defense, just trying to get situated," said Glasper. "Where most people get a redshirt year to do that, I had to do that on the fly and that forced me to mature a little faster."

Glasper got one start that season, against Notre Dame.

And he stepped up, making a key second-half interception.

Big game, big play.

Bashing adversity

With a year of solid contribution under his belt and with the player starting in front of him at strong safety the year before having graduated, Glasper assumed that he had the inside track to starting as a sophomore.

For the first few weeks of the season, at least, he would have to wait. A redshirt freshman from Rhode Island - Jamie Silva - would be taking the job.

"Jamie [Silva] ended up taking the starting job, and that's to his credit," said Glasper. "He's a tremendous player. That forced me to step up my game and to get focused."

No more time for complacency about deserving the starting job. There was, however, an example for how to play BC football.

"He came in and he was relentless, and that was the kind of player I wanted to be," said Glasper. "I'm glad that I had the opportunity to play with him."

Having played alongside each other as starters for two seasons now, Glasper and Silva have developed quite the rapport, as Glasper famously termed the duo the "Bash Brothers" after a game this season.

Yet while the two are classmates, their time playing together will soon end.

"It'll be sad, because he came in with the rest of our class," said Silva of his fraternal co-basher, adding, "He's my best friend on the field."

Once he earned the starting spot, Glasper continued making plays, picking off one pass in a road upset of West Virginia as a sophomore.

As a junior, he had two more interceptions in the MPC Computers Bowl, including the game-sealing pick in the waning moments.

But his biggest test as an Eagle would come just weeks into the off-season during the team's training regimen, suffering a hip injury that would keep him out of spring practice and put his senior season in doubt.

Of course, having never used his redshirt year, sitting out in 2006 was an option.

In theory.

There were still big games to be played.

Back in business

Once he was healthy enough to play, five games into this year, no one could keep Glasper off the field.

"Coaches want their players back on the field and contributing as soon as possible," said Glasper. "And that should be the idea of players. I don't think the idea should be to place your future ambitions ahead of what you're trying to attain as a team."

And sure enough, in Glasper's second game back in action - the first big one he took part in - the senior made a big play, intercepting a pass in BC's 22-3 rout of Virginia Tech.

"He brought it all together," said Silva of his bash brother's return to the secondary. "Since he's been back we clicked."

In two days, he will have his last chance to do so in front of his home crowd.

After Saturday's Senior Day comes at least two more games.

And after that, no one knows.

"It's tough, because I don't know what's going to happen," said Glasper of the great beyond. "If God has it in my future where I have an opportunity to play at the next level, so be it, but if not, I have a great education and everything else that goes with it."

No matter how it shakes out, it's hard to imagine that Glasper will have problems getting by after his BC days are done.

Life, after all, is a pretty big game.