Onwuka Hopes to Wrap Unorthodox College Career With Bounce-Back Season

Boston College defensive tackle Chibueze “Booze” Onwuka’s 5-foot-11 frame allows the 286-pound defensive tackle to get low to the ground. But so does his background as a wrestler.

Onwuka became Eleanor Roosevelt High School’s first-ever wrestling state champion back in 2016. He finished his senior season 33-0 and atop the 220-pound MPSSAA weight class.

Then he started his collegiate career at Niagara County Community College, where he wrestled for one season. The Bowie, Maryland, native’s experience on the mat shaped him into a D-Lineman with a low center of gravity.

Although Onwuka played linebacker in high school, defensive tackle is where he earned a scholarship at his first college football destination—Buffalo—after walking on to the team in 2017.

“Wrestling helped me with that muscle memory to kind of know where my body is in space and then where I need to get to,” Onwuka said this spring.

“I don’t think anything I’ve done in football can ever amount to wrestling. It has prepared me in life a lot.”

But nothing quite could have prepared Onwuka for the injury he suffered last August. The second-year BC grad transfer wasn’t just low to the ground. Onwuka was on the ground with the weight of a center on top of him.

“There was too much pressure on my leg, and I just felt a pop,” he recalled.

Onwuka remembers every detail. It was the ninth day of the month. It was 80 degrees. It was the first day of pads. It was during a team period. He went in for a chop club. His arm got hooked. Then he hit the ground. Then he felt the pop.

“I knew something was really bad,” Onwuka said. “But I tried to stay optimistic.”

Torn achilles. That was the diagnosis, and it came with a season-ending injury tag.

“I would have said Booze made the biggest jump,” Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley said this spring. “He turned into one of our best leaders and best defensive players. He was kind of like the leader and the veteran voice in that room.”

Hafley continued: “It was almost like, ‘Wow,’ to see the transformation of him when he first got here to training camp last year, and then to get that taken away, that was a tough one. It was a really tough one.”

Hafley gave Onwuka a heads up not too long after his injury that he would try to get him back for one final season. It wasn’t until December, however, that Onwuka’s eligibility waiver was approved by the NCAA.

In between, he had to reorient his mindset.

“I like to look at life in a certain way,” Onwuka said. “Life is not about what happens. It’s about how you react to things. So after it happened, I knew I was out for the season. I just tried to move on. I can’t go back in time and change it. So why waste life energy sulking or being sad about something you can’t change?”

Onwuka pointed out that many injured players detach themselves from the game. He emphasized how important it is to stay engaged: for him, that meant watching film, talking to coaches and helping his younger teammates who were filling his shoes.

“You always gotta stay connected,” Onwuka said. “It’s football. Even though you can’t do it [physically], mentally you still can.”

It’s been a long way back to full strength for Onwuka, who was limited throughout spring practice. He expects to be 100% by the summer, but even just being out there in Fish Field House made the veteran defensive tackle excited for what’s to come.

Plus, it gave him the opportunity to help develop a BC defensive line rich with young talent and, because of last year’s injuries and departures, more experienced than it normally would be.

“Just to see him around those guys, especially with all the young guys we have in that position, it’s huge,” Hafley said of Onwuka. “He’s a really good player. And I think he’s got a chance to be one of the better players in the ACC.”

After transferring from Buffalo—where he piled up 8.0 TFLs and 3.5 sacks en route to All-MAC third-team honors in 2019—Onwuka made five starts and played in 10 games for BC in 2020. He totaled 19 tackles, including 12 solos and 2.5 TFLs, with 1.5 sacks, not to mention a pair of forced fumbles.

Onwuka logged the second-best Pro Football Focus run defense grade (74.6) on the team in 2020. The only player ahead of him was defensive end Marcus Valdez.

Both of them are returning for the 2022 season.

“I think the games where our defensive line played well, we played well as a defense, [and] we played well as a team,” BC defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu said this spring. “There’s a direct correlation there. That’s why I’m really excited to have not only two good playmakers back but a lot of experience.”

Onwuka’s got that in spades—as well as motivation.

“I’m glad to be back,” he said. “I’m glad I got another opportunity.”