Season Journey Ends Deep in the Heart of Texas
December 04, 2018 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC will mess with Boise State in the First Responder Bowl on December 26.
Bowl projecting is supposed to be one of the most fun times of the year. Players, coaches and fans finish the regular season and begin the process of figuring out potential destinations for a postseason, neutral site game. Potential opponents are based on conference tie-ins, and endless possibilities provide water cooler discussion for matchups and excitement.
The 2018 bowl season, however, added more stress than usual on Sunday because it was never cut and dry where any team would wind up, especially in the ACC. Eleven of the league's 14 teams finished bowl eligible, but over half had identical 7-5 records. Pittsburgh won the Coastal Division but lost the ACC Championship to Clemson, and the extra game meant the Panthers finished with a worse overall record than three other teams in its own division. The league entered its selection day with no team holding a clear-cut destination, only adding to the confusion.
So it became a pleasant surprise for Boston College when the bowl destinations rolled in. The Eagles found themselves heading to the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl in Dallas on December 26 against Boise State, a nationally-ranked team fresh off of a conference championship game appearance.
"We're just happy to finally find out who we're playing and get a chance to go out and get our eighth win," safety Will Harris said. "Boise State - they're a good team, got a lot of wins under their belt. They play a lot of good football so we're really excited. We just got the news (before meeting with the press) so we're ready."
The First Responder Bowl marks Boston College's 27th overall appearance in a postseason football game. It will be the program's second-ever game against Boise State and first since the Eagles won the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl held at the Broncos' "Smurf Turf" home stadium in Idaho.
Matt Ryan threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns in that game, connecting on two scores to tight end Tony Gonzalez as BC built a 24-0 halftime lead. They went up 27-0 in the third quarter when Ryan Ohligher hit a 27-yard field goal with under four minutes left, then held on as Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky led a near-miracle comeback. It fell just short when Ryan Glasper intercepted a pass with 37 seconds remaining, giving BC its sixth consecutive bowl win at the time and ending the Broncos' 31-game winning streak at the stadium.
It became a breakout for both programs. Ryan went onto rewrite record books for the Eagles and led BC to its best-ever start in the modern era two years later. The team would eventually rise to No. 2 in the national rankings, and it extended a bowl game winning streak to eight games with wins in the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl and 2007 Champs Sports Bowl.
Boise State, meanwhile, became the biggest "BCS buster" of the Bowl Championship Series era. The Broncos went undefeated the next season, winning the Western Athletic Conference as part of a run to the Fiesta Bowl. They defeated Oklahoma in that game, 43-42, after Zabransky executed a Statue-of-Liberty play on a two-point conversion in overtime. It came after the Broncos tied the game late with a hook-and-ladder gadget play.
That 2006 run was part of a larger stretch of dominance among mid-major teams. The Broncos won the WAC annually from 2002-2006, then three-peated again in 2008, 2009 and 2010, winning a second Fiesta Bowl along the way. They switched to the Mountain West Conference in 2011 and won their new conference one year later. In 2014, they again advanced to the Fiesta Bowl, winning a third bowl title by defeating Arizona.
"I was a lot younger when I saw that the first time," Harris said. "But they have a long history of making big plays in big bowls. It will be very interesting to finally get the film on them. I've never seen Boise State on film, just here and there on TV every once in a while. So it will be interesting to break them down and get going on those guys."
They now run into a Boston College team that ended its 2018 regular season much differently than expected. The Eagles earned a bowl berth before Halloween when they beat Miami and rose inside the Top 20 national rankings after beating Virginia Tech one week later.
Three straight disappointments followed, and that win over the Hokies wound up as the last regular season victory for the Eagles. It failed to diminish hopes for a marquee bowl game, however, and the Eagles remained a marketable team in the clump of ACC teams finishing 7-5. Their resume enabled them to transfer out of the ACC bowl selection alignment, heading to a bowl with tie-ins with the Big Ten, Big 12 and Conference USA. Centrally located in Texas, it became the destination for teams from the ACC and Mountain West Conference, providing a rare East-West matchup in college football.
"We're excited to get out to Dallas to play Boise," head coach Steve Addazio said. "(It's) a storied team that has had a bunch of 10-win seasons and competed (for a) conference championship. A team that's got a tremendous history. And Bryan Harsin has done a great job out there."
The First Responder Bowl now becomes Boston College's third game at one of college football's most revered sites. In 1940, the Frank Leahy-led Eagles took a 3-0 lead on Clemson behind Alex Lukachik's 30-yard field goal, but Charley Timmons' 1-yard touchdown run gave the Tigers a 6-3 victory over a BC team that would win the Sugar Bowl the next season.
BC wouldn't play in the Cotton Bowl for another 45 years, returning only when Doug Flutie won the Heisman Trophy in 1984. Playing on New Year's Day, 1985, Flutie roared the Eagles out to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter, throwing touchdown passes to Kelvin Martin and Troy Stradford. He threw a third score to Gerard Phelan in the second quarter as BC opened up a 31-14 lead. The Cougars closed the gap with two scores in the third, but Steve Strachan's two runs in the fourth allowed BC to win, 45-28, behind 533 total yards.
"We're very, very excited about it," head coach Steve Addazio said. "(We're) certainly excited about the bowl game and the venue that we're going to be in, in the Cotton Bowl. Looking forward to it."
The Cotton Bowl Classic itself moved from the stadium in 2010 when it moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, but the stadium remains one of the sport's most venerable venues. It became colloquially known as "The House That Doak Built" in honor of Southern Methodist running back Doak Walker, and the Mustangs used the Cotton Bowl as a home stadium until the late-1970s. It also served as the original home for the Dallas Cowboys before Texas Stadium opened in 1971.
The Red River Showdown between Oklahoma and Texas continues to be played there annually as part of the Texas State Fair, and it was one of the host sites for the 1994 World Cup in the United States. It was the original home of the Dallas Burn, now known as FC Dallas, when Major League Soccer played its inaugural season.
In 2011, college football maintained a foothold in postseason football by organizing the "Dallas Football Classic." It became known as the TicketCity Bowl for its first matchup, a 45-38 win for Texas Tech over Northwestern. The name changed two years later to the Heart of Dallas Bowl, and that remained until this season.
This will be the fourth straight season where a team from a conference unaffiliated with the bowl plays in the game. Washington played there in 2015, and Army moved to the game as an FBS Independent in 2016. Last season, the Pac-12 returned with Utah. This will be the first time both teams will be placed into the game from conferences other than the three with tie-ins, highlighting both its desirability and potential for a good football matchup.
"It's a great opportunity," offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom said. "I'm excited that we have the opportunity to play in a bowl game against a great program like Boise State (and to play) in the Cotton Bowl. It's going to be a great venue and I'm excited for our team."
The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl will take place on December 26 at 1:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast via ESPN.
The 2018 bowl season, however, added more stress than usual on Sunday because it was never cut and dry where any team would wind up, especially in the ACC. Eleven of the league's 14 teams finished bowl eligible, but over half had identical 7-5 records. Pittsburgh won the Coastal Division but lost the ACC Championship to Clemson, and the extra game meant the Panthers finished with a worse overall record than three other teams in its own division. The league entered its selection day with no team holding a clear-cut destination, only adding to the confusion.
So it became a pleasant surprise for Boston College when the bowl destinations rolled in. The Eagles found themselves heading to the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl in Dallas on December 26 against Boise State, a nationally-ranked team fresh off of a conference championship game appearance.
"We're just happy to finally find out who we're playing and get a chance to go out and get our eighth win," safety Will Harris said. "Boise State - they're a good team, got a lot of wins under their belt. They play a lot of good football so we're really excited. We just got the news (before meeting with the press) so we're ready."
The First Responder Bowl marks Boston College's 27th overall appearance in a postseason football game. It will be the program's second-ever game against Boise State and first since the Eagles won the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl held at the Broncos' "Smurf Turf" home stadium in Idaho.
Matt Ryan threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns in that game, connecting on two scores to tight end Tony Gonzalez as BC built a 24-0 halftime lead. They went up 27-0 in the third quarter when Ryan Ohligher hit a 27-yard field goal with under four minutes left, then held on as Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky led a near-miracle comeback. It fell just short when Ryan Glasper intercepted a pass with 37 seconds remaining, giving BC its sixth consecutive bowl win at the time and ending the Broncos' 31-game winning streak at the stadium.
It became a breakout for both programs. Ryan went onto rewrite record books for the Eagles and led BC to its best-ever start in the modern era two years later. The team would eventually rise to No. 2 in the national rankings, and it extended a bowl game winning streak to eight games with wins in the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl and 2007 Champs Sports Bowl.
Boise State, meanwhile, became the biggest "BCS buster" of the Bowl Championship Series era. The Broncos went undefeated the next season, winning the Western Athletic Conference as part of a run to the Fiesta Bowl. They defeated Oklahoma in that game, 43-42, after Zabransky executed a Statue-of-Liberty play on a two-point conversion in overtime. It came after the Broncos tied the game late with a hook-and-ladder gadget play.
That 2006 run was part of a larger stretch of dominance among mid-major teams. The Broncos won the WAC annually from 2002-2006, then three-peated again in 2008, 2009 and 2010, winning a second Fiesta Bowl along the way. They switched to the Mountain West Conference in 2011 and won their new conference one year later. In 2014, they again advanced to the Fiesta Bowl, winning a third bowl title by defeating Arizona.
"I was a lot younger when I saw that the first time," Harris said. "But they have a long history of making big plays in big bowls. It will be very interesting to finally get the film on them. I've never seen Boise State on film, just here and there on TV every once in a while. So it will be interesting to break them down and get going on those guys."
They now run into a Boston College team that ended its 2018 regular season much differently than expected. The Eagles earned a bowl berth before Halloween when they beat Miami and rose inside the Top 20 national rankings after beating Virginia Tech one week later.
Three straight disappointments followed, and that win over the Hokies wound up as the last regular season victory for the Eagles. It failed to diminish hopes for a marquee bowl game, however, and the Eagles remained a marketable team in the clump of ACC teams finishing 7-5. Their resume enabled them to transfer out of the ACC bowl selection alignment, heading to a bowl with tie-ins with the Big Ten, Big 12 and Conference USA. Centrally located in Texas, it became the destination for teams from the ACC and Mountain West Conference, providing a rare East-West matchup in college football.
"We're excited to get out to Dallas to play Boise," head coach Steve Addazio said. "(It's) a storied team that has had a bunch of 10-win seasons and competed (for a) conference championship. A team that's got a tremendous history. And Bryan Harsin has done a great job out there."
The First Responder Bowl now becomes Boston College's third game at one of college football's most revered sites. In 1940, the Frank Leahy-led Eagles took a 3-0 lead on Clemson behind Alex Lukachik's 30-yard field goal, but Charley Timmons' 1-yard touchdown run gave the Tigers a 6-3 victory over a BC team that would win the Sugar Bowl the next season.
BC wouldn't play in the Cotton Bowl for another 45 years, returning only when Doug Flutie won the Heisman Trophy in 1984. Playing on New Year's Day, 1985, Flutie roared the Eagles out to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter, throwing touchdown passes to Kelvin Martin and Troy Stradford. He threw a third score to Gerard Phelan in the second quarter as BC opened up a 31-14 lead. The Cougars closed the gap with two scores in the third, but Steve Strachan's two runs in the fourth allowed BC to win, 45-28, behind 533 total yards.
"We're very, very excited about it," head coach Steve Addazio said. "(We're) certainly excited about the bowl game and the venue that we're going to be in, in the Cotton Bowl. Looking forward to it."
The Cotton Bowl Classic itself moved from the stadium in 2010 when it moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, but the stadium remains one of the sport's most venerable venues. It became colloquially known as "The House That Doak Built" in honor of Southern Methodist running back Doak Walker, and the Mustangs used the Cotton Bowl as a home stadium until the late-1970s. It also served as the original home for the Dallas Cowboys before Texas Stadium opened in 1971.
The Red River Showdown between Oklahoma and Texas continues to be played there annually as part of the Texas State Fair, and it was one of the host sites for the 1994 World Cup in the United States. It was the original home of the Dallas Burn, now known as FC Dallas, when Major League Soccer played its inaugural season.
In 2011, college football maintained a foothold in postseason football by organizing the "Dallas Football Classic." It became known as the TicketCity Bowl for its first matchup, a 45-38 win for Texas Tech over Northwestern. The name changed two years later to the Heart of Dallas Bowl, and that remained until this season.
This will be the fourth straight season where a team from a conference unaffiliated with the bowl plays in the game. Washington played there in 2015, and Army moved to the game as an FBS Independent in 2016. Last season, the Pac-12 returned with Utah. This will be the first time both teams will be placed into the game from conferences other than the three with tie-ins, highlighting both its desirability and potential for a good football matchup.
"It's a great opportunity," offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom said. "I'm excited that we have the opportunity to play in a bowl game against a great program like Boise State (and to play) in the Cotton Bowl. It's going to be a great venue and I'm excited for our team."
The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl will take place on December 26 at 1:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast via ESPN.
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