Boston College Announces 2014 Football Homecoming And Spirit Days

Boston College announced on Monday that its October 18th matchup against ACC rival Clemson will serve as the backdrop for its annual homecoming and spirit days celebration.  The game will mark the second consecutive homecoming game after the institution revived the practice last year for Army.

The week intends to foster community and school spirit among the student body and its alumni.  There will be a homecoming dance on campus, and all alumni are invited to a pep rally and fireworks display on Friday.  The Varsity Club Hall of Fame inductees for 2014 will be introduced during on the field during the game on Saturday, which itself is a budding rivalry.

Clemson and Boston College compete annually for O'Rourke-McFadden Trophy, and the Boston College Gridiron Club hands out an additional replica leather helmet to the MVP of the winning school.  The helmet reflects the colors of the winning school and has not been awarded to a Boston College athlete since Montel Harris led the Eagles to a 16-10 victory in 2010.  Clemson is on a three-game winning streak against BC.

Homecoming this year is the second incarnation since the school resurrected the practice.  Last year's event was scheduled during the Army week, but it was largely overshadowed by the concern that the game would be postponed.  The government shutdown of last season closed all non-essential activities, meaning the football game at BC was put in jeopardy.  Army ultimately ended up traveling from West Point to Boston but were summarily defeated 48-27.

In the coming weeks, the school will send direct email to the Boston College alumni base informing them of special offers on tickets and of homecoming and spirit week activities.  Former athletes and band members will be invited to take part in special activities, meaning we might get to see Grant don his band uniform one more time.  No word on if it still fits.

Homecoming is listed as one of the themes associated with each Boston College home game.  There will be a Military Appreciation Day, Service Day, and Youth Day to go along with Rivalry Weekend against Syracuse and the annual Parents' Weekend affair.  Homecoming rounds out the list of the six official home games the Eagles play at Alumni Stadium.  The games at Alumni are six of the seven games BC will play in Massachusetts this season, including their first five and six of their first seven games.

The Eagles open their 2014 season at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro against UMass on August 30th.