Where Were You When Lane Stadium Went Silent?

If you're a Boston College football fan, you don't need to be reminded of what happened eight years ago this week (Thursday, October 25, 2007, to be precise). In one of the most thrilling moments in recent Boston College football history, Matt Ryan led #2 BC to a dramatic 14-10 comeback win over the #8 Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium.

The feeling of being among the championship-contending elite was fleeting; BC lost the next week to Florida State in heartbreaking fashion at home, dashing dreams of a longshot run to the BCS title game. But that feeling, however short-lived it may have been, stuck with anyone who felt it, and we've all been hungering for it ever since. BCI co-founders Jeff Martyn and Brian Favat were there at Lane Stadium, and the dramatics of 2007 is what led them to create BC Interruption to begin with, over on the old BlogSpot site.

With BC facing Virginia Tech this week, we thought it was a good time to reflect on the anniversary, and ask fans, "where were you when Lane Stadium went silent?"

First, the video:

And now for our memories...

Joe Gravellese

I was in my dorm on CoRo...or possibly Grant's dorm (yeah, it was Grant's...that's the year we weren't roommates...sad). I don't remember too much about the game vividly, except for a few highlights:

- My then-girlfriend was watching with us in Grant's room (I think there were maybe 7 or 8 of us watching) and she noted that I was using extremely bad profane words that I had probably never used before in my life, certainly not in polite company.

- When BC recovered the onside kick, I just ran out into the hallway where dudes were just pouring out of their dorms and going crazy hugging each other. It was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen. Then the scene repeated itself over again when Ryan connected for the touchdown pass. There was one big guy who tackled me in the hallway; I'd never seen him before in my life and don't think our paths ever crossed again at BC.

- Then of course there was spilling out on to campus, and Grant playing "For Boston" in the freezing cold on his trumpet, marching people down toward the Mods like the pied piper.

-The team arriving at 2:30 AM or whenever it was, to a raucous reception of students who stayed up all night.

- The fact that the Red Sox polished off a Game 2 World Series win and I didn't even watch any of it (I did hear the roar from the crowd in the Mods as the final out was recorded, just to add to the party for those of us who are Boston fans).

- My friend's AOL Instant Messenger Away Message (those were still Things at that time) read "BEST 4:11 OF MY LIFE!," referring to the time of BC's two touchdown drives to win the game.

To this day it remains one of my favorite sports moments of all time. Certainly on the top 5, desert-island memories to take with me list.

BCI commenter hoyaeagle

I was living off-campus on Kirkwood road. My roommates and I had a ton of people over for the game. The majority of the game was absolutely miserable. My fellow Red Sox fans started chirping to put on the World Series (It was Game 2 against the Rockies). We didn't.

When Matt Ryan threw a pick with five minutes to go, down 10-0, some of the roommates started acting like assclowns and yelling about how BC would never amount to anything ever...pissing off the diehards like me. So a buddy of mine (another brainwashed BC fan since birth) and I went upstairs to his room to watch the final five minutes...and things started to change. The D held, Ryan led the team downfield for the first score (that beauty of a TD pass to Gunnell). When we recovered the onside kick...people started screaming and running upstairs to join me and the fellow BC-lifer...we shut the door and locked it. Yes, we were superstitious and weird. We scored on the miracle throw by Matty Ice, sealed the game and immediately started drinking more heavily as we headed to the mods to celebrate.

I also had a Financial Accounting Exam the next day at 11am. Yes, a professor scheduled that exam and wasn't willing to move it despite the entire class pleading with her.

I believe I got a 55 out of 100. Maybe 56.

Brian Favat

I was there, standing there, drenched, wondering for the first 57 minutes of the game why in the hell I would drive the 9 hours from New York to watch a top ranked BC team get shut out on the road.

PS - Eddie Royal was out of bounds.

Dan Rubin

In the fall of '07 I was still trying to figure out that as a college graduate, I could no longer get bombed on a Thursday when you have work on Friday. Tuns out you can't skip work like you could skip class—who knew?!

Anyways, I remember sitting in my parents house with my dad flipping back between the BC game and the Red Sox Game 2 of the World Series. I distinctly remember using the term "Papajima" because Okajima and Papelbon were lights out after Schilling muscled through less than six innings—Schill later used that term after the game, which made me feel good (though now to be compared to Schilling makes me stick a Taco Bell spork in my eyeball).

Before that onside kick, I remember feeling like the run was over. When Matt Ryan uncorked the throw to Andre Callendar, I was running through the living room of my parents house going bananas, hugging my dad, and reveling in what would wind up being the greatest stretch of Boston sports anyone could've experienced.

What I'll never forget about that entire night is that when it was over, my dad looked at me and said, "Appreciate it when you have it because you may never have it this good again." The next week? Florida State happened.

Bridget Klish

I didn't even watch most of the game. I don't remember what I was doing; all I remember was wandering down to a friend's room to watch the last few minutes. I was a freshman so I was living on Upper, and when we won, everyone went running out of Medeiros (and all the other dorms) and we all hugged and yelled and sang For Boston for what seemed like hours. I didn't have shoes on, I remember that pretty clearly. The other thing I remember pretty clearly was that no one told me the band was going to meet the team when they got back, so I missed out on that and am pissed about it to this day.

Laura Berestecki

I was a junior in high school so my very boring story is that I was doing homework in front of the TV while watching the game with my parents. Honestly I'm pretty sure I was more focused on finishing all my work for Friday AND Monday so that I could go to both BC hockey games that weekend, but I know I was still super excited by the win.

John Fidler

I was going to say, thank God for Dan...I was sitting in the old man cave in Abington, it was game two of the 2007 World Series and although everyone else in the free world was watching the World Series and then flipping during inning breaks to the football game, I was doing the exact opposite, watching BC and going back to check on the Sox when I could.

The game, if you remember, was insanely painful. BC could do nothing the whole night offensively and although the defense held up well (gosh this has a familiar ring to it), it just looked like nothing would click. Of course we all know the rest. Ryan got hot, through an incredible pass to Rich Gunnell in the corner of the end zone to make it 10-7. Miracle onside kick and the heave to Callendar and all hell breaks loose.

We were living in a condo at the time and the woman next door to us was a huge Sox fan and called to ask what was going on as I screamed my way around the house. As Dan mentioned, FSU was the next week and it somewhat came crashing down after that, but for two weeks or so in October, it was as good as it has ever gotten for BC football.

Where were you when Lane Stadium Went Silent? Share your memories below!