The Top 5 Best Boston College Sports Moments of 2014
By Joe Micik
Sep 13, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston College Eagles fans rush the field after the Boston College Eagles defeated the Southern California Trojans 37-31 at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
2014 Top 5 Best Boston College Sports Moments — #2
Boston College football beats #9 USC; September 13
What an unforgettable night at Alumni Stadium.
Boston College football, coming off of a disappointing home opener loss to Pittsburgh, hosted the #9 USC Trojans in primetime. The game had special meaning long before the opening kickoff.
It was on this night that Boston College football honored the life of Welles Crowther, the “man in the red bandanna” who died on September 11 in the World Trade Center in the midst of heroism and bravery. His parents were in attendance, the students (and Baldwin) wore red bandannas, and the team even wore special uniforms with the red bandanna pattern.
While the program did something extraordinary, so did the team.
Boston College fell behind early in the game, trailing 17-6 early in the second quarter in what was beginning to look like a rout in the making. Yet, the Eagles crawled back into it with a Jon Hilliman touchdown run, and they took their first lead at 20-17 went 54 yards to the house just 87 seconds before halftime.
What was to come felt more real when Hilliman ran for his second touchdown in the third quarter, putting the Eagles up 27-17, and Joey Launceford added a field goal to make it 30-17.
USC got one of those scores back with a touchdown with 4:32 to go, making it a 30-24 game, but on the ensuing drive, Tyler Murphy ran 66 yards for a touchdown to all but put the game away with 3:30 left. When he did, the proverbial roof blew off of Alumni Stadium.
As the Eagles kneeled out for the win from inside the USC 10, fans stormed onto the field in celebration of Boston College’s biggest win since the Matty Ice game at Virginia Tech in 2007. The crowd that night was great by Alumni Stadium standards, and they left with some great memories.