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BC-USC Coverage
BC-USC Coverage
The Boston College football team welcomes the #9/#10-ranked USC Trojans to Alumni Stadium tonight at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN and broadcast on AM 850 and the BC IMG Sports Radio Network. Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge are on the call.
The new-look Trojans are rolling, off to a 2-0 season with a win over then-13th ranked Stanford on the Farm last weekend. After starting last season with a 4-3 record, USC has won eight of its last nine games including a 45-20 win over Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl.
USC welcomes coach Steve Sarkisian back to the program -- this time as head coach -- after he spent the last five years with the Pac-12's Washington Huskies (34-29, 24-21 Pac-12). Sarkisian previously served as the Trojans QB coach (2005-06) and offensive coordinator (2007-08) before spending the last five seasons in Seattle.
Following a season-opening win over Massachusetts at Gillette, the Eagles came back down to earth a bit with a 30-20 loss against Pittsburgh last Friday night. The Eagles usually stout run defense was gashed for 303 yards rushing on the night (214 from Pitt RB James Conner); a mark only surpassed by triple-option teams like Army and Georgia Tech in recent seasons. For BC, a week after gaining 338 yards on the ground against UMass, the run game eked out a meager 142 yards rushing vs. Pittsburgh. Murphy rushed for 92, including 51 on one play, but the Eagles' young stable of running backs couldn't get much of anything else going in the ground game.
The Eagles will be wearing red bandana-inspired shoes, socks, gloves and helmets to honor the life of Welles Crowther (BC '99), a former BC lacrosse player credited with saving at least a dozen people in the World Trade Center's south tower during the terrorist attacks of September 11.
This will be the fifth meeting between the two schools. Boston College and USC have previously met four times with the Trojans winning all four meetings -- two in Los Angeles, one in Chestnut Hill and one in the 2009 Emerald Bowl. USC defeated Boston College 35-7 last season at the Coliseum.
Game Time, TV channel: 8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN
Radio: BC IMG Sports Radio Network, 850 AM
Thirteen years later: remembering the man who led people to safety after terrorists struck the World Trade Center on September 11th -- a former Boston College lacrosse player whose trademark was a red bandana.