Boston College Athletics
Football Hosts No. 24/22 Clemson on Saturday
October 17, 2014 | Football
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - The Boston College football team hosts Clemson for the 24th time in school history on Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. matchup that the will air on ESPNU and WEEI 93.7 FM. The game can also be seen on ESPN3, the WatchESPN app and BC IMG Radio affiliates in the New England area.
The winner of the game will receive the O'Rourke-McFadden Trophy, created in 2008 by the Boston College Gridiron Club to honor the relationship between BC and Clemson that goes back more than 70 years. The BC Gridiron Club initiated this award in recognition of the efforts of the Clemson fans to welcome BC into the Atlantic Coast Conference. The trophy honors the rich football tradition of both schools as well as the legacy of a great player from each school who played during the leather helmet era.
Clemson and Boston College met for the first time in the 1940 Cotton Bowl. It was the first bowl game for each team. Clemson won the game, 6-3, led by James "Banks" McFadden, an All-America quarterback and the first Clemson player to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. That same day, BC was led by Chuckin' Charlie O'Rourke, BC's All-America quarterback. O'Rourke was the first Eagle elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Each year, a genuine leather helmet is awarded annually to the game's MVP. The helmet will be a replica of the one worn by his team in the 1940s.
Clemson holds the advantage, 12-9, in the all-time series between Boston College and the Tigers. There have been two ties as well in the 23 meetings between the two squads. In Chestnut Hill, each team has won six times and tied once in 1953.
When the Eagles joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2005, they had the Tigers' number to start the league rivalry. BC won the first three meetings, all in nail biters. In 2005, BC earned its first-ever ACC win in Clemson as Brian Toal scored a one-yard TD in overtime in Clemson. The next year, it took two OT periods, but BC prevailed as Jo-Lonn Dunbar blocked an extra point and L.V. Whitworth scored on a six-yard run. In 2007, Matt Ryan threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:11 to send the Eagles to their first-ever ACC Championship Game. Since 2009, CU has won four of the last five meetings, including the last three, as BC' only victory came in 2010.
Last year in South Carolina, the Eagles fell, 24-14, after leading, 14-10, going into the final quarter. Current sophomore running back Myles Willis scored the game's first touchdown, a 28-yard run, early in the second quarter for the first rushing TD of his young career. Wide receiver Alex Amidon put the Eagles up, 14-10, on a 69-yard scoring reception from Chase Rettig with just under seven minutes to play in the third quarter after Sammy Watkins scored on a 48-yard pass from Tajh Body 19 seconds before. Clemson was the only team to score in the fourth as Body ran in a six-yard TD and Vic Beasley scored on a Rettig fumble.
Clemson is currently ranked 22nd in the Coaches' Poll and 24th in the AP Poll. Boston College is 2-7-1 against the Tigers when CU is ranked.
