Boston College Defeats USC: Where Does This Win Rank All-Time?

Putting yourself back in the moment, Saturday night at Alumni Stadium as Boston College defeats USC, it was a special time to be a fan, student, or alumnus.

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On Saturday afternoon, maybe only the diehard-iest Eagles diehards thought the maroon and gold would improbably conquer Troy, but by Saturday night, to paraphrase Vin Scully, the impossible had happened.

In the midst of this unforgettable experience, the question must be asked about how history will remember this game from an Eagles perspective.

Time can only tell, but does this win enter the pantheon of Boston College football greatness like Notre Dame 1993 or Virginia Tech 2007?

Boston College Defeats USC: The Competition

Some of the all-time great games, in no particular order and not an exhaustive list:

• Boston College beats Notre Dame, 1993. David Gordon’s last-second field goal to topple the #1 Fighting Irish is perhaps Eagles’ football’s signature moment.
• Boston College beats Miami, 1984. The “Hail Mary” game is another one of Boston College’s most famous wins, again with a last-second comeback. So epic was this victory that Doug Flutie got a statue out of it, both a Heisman and an actual statue.
• Boston College beats Texas, 1976. Texas was ranked #7 at the time, but lost their season opener at Alumni Stadium. That Eagles team only ended up being okay, yet it was their most high-profile win at the time, second only to the 1941 Sugar Bowl.
• Boston College beats Alabama, 1984. Before they beat Miami, Flutie’s Eagles went down to Alabama and beat the Tide. Alabama would never recover from that season-opening loss.
• Boston College beats Notre Dame, 2002. The Eagles went to face #4 Notre Dame and again thwarted a perfect season. The Irish turned it over five times in that signature win.
• Boston College beats Virginia Tech, 2007. Lane Stadium went silent.

Boston College Defeats USC: The Facts

The USC game on Saturday was Boston College’s first win over a top-ten team since they were #2 and won in Blacksburg, Virginia in 2007. It was the first time since the aforementioned Notre Dame game in 2002 that they beat a top-ten team while unranked.

Since polls came into being, the USC victory was Boston College’s ninth all-time victory against a top-ten team.

Boston College Defeats USC: Where This Game Falls

The USC win this past weekend was not the best Boston College win of all-time, because that honor probably belongs to the Notre Dame game in 1993.

Boston College has beaten ranked teams in the past, but few of this stature, and never the storied USC Trojans until a few days ago. They did it despite all odds and in thrilling fashion in front of their home fans.

One could make a case that this is one of the top ten victories in program history, and certainly the biggest win since that rainy Thursday night in 2007. This cannot reasonably be put above games like Notre Dame 1993 or Miami 1984, and in context, it was not as meaningful as the Virginia Tech win in 2007.

Still, we could look back on last Saturday as the day the program took a great turn for the better, but how history views this win can only be decided over time. It was absolutely one of Boston College’s most momentous victories in the modern era.