BC has history of big games

Boston College has fielded a football team for 104 years. In that time, the Eagles won a… Boston College has fielded a football team for 104 years. In that time, the Eagles won a national championship in 1940, boasted a Heisman Trophy winner (Doug Flutie) and provided numerous players to the National Football League (Bill Romanowski, Daryl Porter, and Mark Chmura to name a few).

But despite all of its accomplishments, the Boston College football program’s true claim to fame is its involvement in some of the most historic games in the annals of college football.

1893: Boston College won its first varsity game 10-6 over cross-town rival Boston University. Joseph C. Drum served as the player-coach for the Eagles.

1921: The Eagles played the inaugural game in Dallas’ Cotton Bowl stadium. After traveling 2,400 miles by train, Boston College handed Baylor a 23-7 defeat.

The game proved prophetic, as the Eagles would return to the Cotton Bowl 19 years later to play the Clemson Tigers in the annual New Year’s Day game.

Nov. 16, 1940: The Georgetown Hoyas visited town having not lost a football game in three years. The Eagles changed all that with a 19-18 victory that went down to the wire. Sportswriter Grantland Rice called the contest “the greatest game of football ever played.”

Jan. 1, 1941: Boston College earned a trip to New Orleans to play the Tennessee Volunteers in the Sugar Bowl. For the second time that season, the Eagles faced a team that had not lost a game since 1938, but the result was the same.

Don Currivan blocked a Tennessee field goal in the fourth quarter, giving Boston College the ball. On the ensuing drive, quarterback Charlie O’Rourke scrambled for a 24-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles a 19-13 victory and their only national championship to date.

Nov. 28, 1942: Boston College came into its final game of the season as the undefeated, top-ranked team in the country, and a win over archrival Holy Cross would ensure the Eagles a shot at their second national championship.

The Crusaders wouldn’t go down easily, however, and they shocked Boston College with a 52-12 upset victory. The BC faithful planned a victory party at a Boston restaurant called the Coconut Grove, but the violence that ensued in the wake of the BC loss prompted the building to be burned down, killing 490 people.

1975: The Eagles open their season with a rare college “Monday Night Football” appearance against Notre Dame at Foxboro Stadium, as 61,000 fans and a national television audience watched the Irish earn a 17-3 victory.

Sept. 11, 1976: Boston College defeated top-ranked Texas 14-13 in its home opener. A botched Longhorn two-point conversion attempt proved to be the difference.

Nov. 22, 1984: In one of the most memorable plays in college football history, Doug Flutie threw a 48-yard “Hail Mary” touchdown pass to Gerald Phelan with no time remaining to give Boston College a 47-45 victory over Miami in the Orange Bowl.

The Eagles would go on to win the Sugar Bowl over Houston, and finish the season ranked No. 4 in the country.

Oct. 8, 1994: The Eagles solidified their status as giant-killers when they handed national championship hopeful Notre Dame its first loss of the season. The 30-11 victory was Boston College’s first in the newly renovated, 44,500-seat Alumni Stadium.

Boston College will attempt to add another historic matchup to its legacy when it takes on Pitt for the 26th time tomorrow at noon at Heinz Field. The two teams are even at 13-13 in the all-time series. Pitt will look to avenge last year’s 45-7 loss at Alumni Stadium.