Recap:
5.1995 Orange Bowl
Before they were the Number 2 team in the country, Boston College was just the other Catholic school behind Notre Dame. For the longest time BC was at the bottom just floundering around. But in 1980, they signed Doug Flutie, a small but agile Quarterback that many schools wanted as a Defensive back. Flutie would arrive on campus in 1981 and instantly he made an impact. In 1983, BC went 8-2-1, earning a trip to the Liberty Bowl against Notre Dame only to fall 3 Extra Points short.
Riding on the coat tails of 1983, Boston College entered 1984 a potential favorite for the National Championship. However, losses to West Virginia and Penn State on the road by a combine total of 8 points knocked BC out of contention. But, it didn't stop Flutie from playing his best. After the PSU loss, BC bounced back winning 2 in a row heading into a Thanksgiving showdown with the defending National Champion Miami Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl. Unfortunately for Miami, the magic of the 1983 season would not repeat after a loss to Michigan and a blowout loss to Florida State. Things were made worse 2 weeks beforehand(in something saved for another blog)so going in, Miami knew they had to win.
The game aired on Thanksgiving Friday and was Nationally Televised on CBS. Boston College immediately struck at Miami jumping out to a 14-0 lead. However, Senior Quarterback Bernie Kosar and the Canes would not surrender and took a 21-14 lead, but it wasn't enough to stop BC as they took the lead back at halftime at 28-21. The 3rd Quarter would not be as explosive as the defenses showed up but BC still led 34-31 going into the final quarter. The final 15 minutes would be memorable as Miami took the lead to make it 38-34. With 4 minutes left, BC rallied to make it 41-38.
Miami, however, was not done and with under 2 to go they led 45-41 and all seemed lost for BC. With 28 seconds away, BC drove to the Miami 46 and it was down to one final play. Flood Right 55 was the call as Flutie dropped back and scrambled all the way to BC's own 37 dodging sacks along the way before finally throwing the ball up. In the end zone was Gerard Phelan coming down with the catch to give Boston College a thrilling victory. It was that game that established Boston College with the big dogs of College Football and defined the school forever.
The next day it was announced that Doug Flutie had won the Heisman Trophy. Flutie capped off his career at BC with a 45-28 win over Houston in the Cotton Bowl. Both teams would take a somewhat different path as Miami would win the National Championship in 1987, 1989, and 1991 while BC would struggle only have 1 winning season in 9 years before pulling off THE upset against No.1 Notre Dame in South Bend. Nowadays both Miami and BC are ACC rivals and BC looks to become National Champions for the first time in 68 years.
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