By Dave Holcomb
SouthernPigskin.com

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Dave Holcomb recaps Boston College’s “Red Bandana” game win.

The ESPN commentators discussed it all night long Friday. There was a different feeling in the air at Alumni Stadium when the Boston College Eagles hosted the Virginia Tech Hokies. It wasnt because the game was in primetime on ESPN2 or because quarterback Phil Jurkovec was returning for the Eagles.

No, this was something entirely different. This was Boston Colleges annual x9cRed Bandannax9d game, where they honor Sept. 11 hero and alumnus Welles Crowther.

Fueled from the emotion of the night and maybe a bounce or two from the spirit of Crowther, Boston College ended its four-game losing streak and defeated Virginia Tech, 17-3, on Friday.

The story has been well documented over the past two decades — as a child, Crowthers father gave him a red bandanna, and he wore it all the time, including under his lacrosse uniform at Boston College. On Sept. 11, Crowther, who was working in the Twin Towers, used the bandana to shield his nose and mouth from smoke and remained in the building to save other survivors.

He helped save more than a dozen people from the South tower. Because the people he saved never saw his face and didnt learn his name, to them, he was simply the man in the red bandana.

Crowther died alongside FDNY firefighters trying to save more people trapped in the tower, but Crowther and his bandanna live on through foundations, projects, 5K road races and other memorials. Starting in 2014, Boston College began the x9cRed Bandanna game,x9d where the team wears special red bandanna uniforms and welcomes back Crowthers family to the field.

x9cThis one is for Welles, for Welles mom, for Boston College, for all the things that are right in the world. This is a special night tonight. Im just happy to be a part of it,x9d said Boston College coach Jeff Hafley in a postgame interview with ESPN on Friday.

x9cIts hard to describe, really hard to describe. This is why we do what we do and never give up. This is what struggles do — they make you stronger, they make you tougher, and they bring you closer together.

With such emotion, its amazing Boston College ever loses the red bandana game, but the Eagles actually entered this year 3-4 in the special game. Crowther may have been in attendance to ensure that record improved to .500.

Although it seems extremely trivial to say Crowther returned to Alumni Stadium to be a guardian angel for a football game, it seemed like it at times Friday night. Virginia Tech recorded an interception on Boston Colleges first drive of the game but then fumbled on the interception return.

Thanks to the interception and fumble exchange, the Eagles gained 22 yards of field position. Jurkovec leaped over defenders on an 8-yard run to the end zone three plays later.

Boston College dominated on the ground, rushing for 55 yards, the following possession. Jurkovec completed a miraculous 10-yard pass on third-and-11 and then converted fourth-and-short to keep the drive alive. It ended with a field goal and 10-0 Boston College lead.

Thats all the Eagles would need the entire night. Credit to the Virginia Tech defense for keeping the game close, but the Hokies couldnt do anything offensively. Virginia Tech finished the game with 235 yards, including 73 passing yards, and 3 for 11 on third down. The Hokies had an embarrassing three passing yards at halftime.

Virginia Tech entered the game without junior wide receiver Tre Turner. The Hokies finished the game without quarterback Braxton Burmeister and center Brock Hoffman. Any team losing three starters of that caliber would struggle to move the ball.

But theres a reason Boston College is first in pass defense in the ACC. The Eagles will be ranked in the Top 10 in pass defense nationally after this weekends games.

Jurkovec went 7 of 13 for 112 yards with an interception in his first game since, ironically, Sept. 11. Jurkovec rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown as well.

Sophomore running back Pat Garwo led Boston College with 116 yards on the ground. With 234 rushing yards, the Eagles posted their third 200-yard rushing game of the season.

Thanks to ending its four-game losing streak, Boston College now sits one win away from a bowl appearance in Hafleys second season. The Eagles face two beatable opponents in Georgia Tech and Florida State next before finishing the season with Wake Forest.

Virginia Tech entered the night at 4-4 as well, but the loss means the Hokies must win two of their final three to avoid missing bowl season for the second straight year. That hasnt happened for Virginia Tech since 1991-92.