Charlotte, N.C. ? He glanced up at the scoreboard just in time to see kicker Ryan Ohliger take a fake field goal into the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown run that sealed Boston College’s 37-24 victory over North Carolina in the Continental Tire Bowl on Thursday.

Pumping his fists in celebration, the touchdown temporarily eased the pain for Peterson, the Eagles’ hard-luck quarterback.

“I saw it on the screen when they were wheeling me off, and I was so pumped,” Peterson said. “I’d be pretty ticked off if I went out in the first quarter, but I made it to the fourth, and we got the win. It’s just awesome.”

The 25th-ranked Eagles (9-3) never wanted to be in this game, needing only a victory over Syracuse in the regular-season finale to secure their first outright Big East championship and earn a BCS berth.

But Peterson missed that game because of a broken hand, and Syracuse beat the Eagles to send them to Charlotte.

So when he broke his left leg in the fourth quarter, coach Tom O’Brien huddled the team at midfield and delivered a passionate speech for his quarterback.

“Paul is the heart and soul of this team, and everyone went back to the huddle and coach O’Brien said, ‘We’re not going to lose. We’re going to put it in the end zone for Paul,” said holder Matt Ryan, who handed the fake to Ohliger.

Ryan then replaced Peterson at quarterback.

Clinging to a 27-24 lead over North Carolina (6-6) in the fourth quarter, Peterson was injured as he tried to run outside for a first down on third-and-one and was brought down awkwardly by Tommy Davis.

Navy quarterback Aaron Polanco passes during the second half of Navy's 34-19 win over New Mexico in the Emerald Bowl. Polanco passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another Thursday in San Francisco.

As trainers removed Peterson’s shoe and cut away his socks while awaiting a stretcher, O’Brien broke from his conservative nature and urged on the Eagles.

“He’s not a big speaker, but this time he got us all pumped up,” Ohliger said. “And when he called the fake field goal, my eyes almost popped out my head. That is so not him.”

Ohliger, a 5-foot-9 freshman, took the handoff from Ryan and raced into the end zone, breaking a tackle a long the way, for a 34-24 lead with 10:32 to play.

“We kind of expected them to do a fake, but we were more favoring the pass than the run,” Carolina linebacker Tommy Richardson said. “That was a great call by Mr. O’Brien.”

Emerald Bowl

Navy 34, New Mexico 19

San Francisco — Aaron Polanco ran for three touchdowns and passed for another, and Navy capped the academy’s best season in 99 years.

“I guess that’s the way it worked out for me,” Polanco said. “The line played their hearts out.”

Polanco scored on runs of 14, 1 and 27 yards and completed a 61-yard touchdown pass to Corey Dryden, the longest of the season by Polanco and the first career score by Dryden.

The Midshipmen’s defense was impressive, too, despite the rain-soaked field at SBC Park.

The unit forced two first-half turnovers that led to TDs and staged a goal-line stand late in the third quarter. Then Navy kept the ball for the next 14 minutes, 26 seconds, and held New Mexico to only seven plays in the fourth quarter.

The Midshipmen (10-2) tied for the most wins in school history, last accomplished when Navy went 10-1-1 in 1905.

Polanco finished the season with 16 rushing touchdowns, a record by a quarterback this year. Temple’s Walter Washington ran for 15. Polanco gained a Navy bowl record 136 yards on the ground for his fourth 100-yard rushing game and threw for 101 yards. He even caught a 17-yard pass from Frank Divis to set up his second TD — and his two receptions were most by any Navy player.

New Mexico quarterback Kole McKamey had nearly as big a day after the Lobos (7-5) lost star tailback DonTrell Moore to a left knee injury late in the first quarter.

McKamey threw for 207 yards and also rushed for 138, the first Lobos player to accomplish the feat since Graham Leigh in 1997. But McKamey had two interceptions.