Red Bandana Game Comes at Right Time for Struggling BC
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
Boston College is losers of four straight and on a short week. With a Friday night game, the schedule gets shifted a day. Suddenly, Sunday isn’t only about watching Saturday’s film. It also entails researching the new opponent. There’s less contact and less full speed work as the week goes on. It’s tiring and confusing.
“Monday in my mind is Tuesday,” second-year Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley said Tuesday. “Today’s Wednesday for me. My whole world is Wednesday right now. It’s weird. Monday Night Football was on last night, and I said to Gina, ‘Why are they playing on a Tuesday night?’ That’s how screwed up I am.”
But, actually, Hafley and BC are grateful for the time crunch because it ends with the annual Red Bandana Game, which honors Welles Crowther, a BC lacrosse alum who died saving more than a dozen lives on 9/11 while using a red bandana to shield his mouth from dust and smoke.
“I think we need that,” Hafley said. “I think it’ll be great for our players. I think it’s an awesome tradition. Because, in my opinion, Welles represents so much about what’s right in the world. And what’s awesome about Boston College. There are great people who are resilient, there are people who sacrifice for each other. And it’s men and women for others, which is what BC is all about.”
Earlier this season, Hafley discussed how he talks to the team about Crowther throughout the year, before 9/11, ahead of the Red Bandana Game and even during the offseason when they integrate “Red Bandana workouts,” which include intense stair runs in the winter and summer.
The team wore its new paisley-patterned Adidas Red Bandana uniforms on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks at UMass this season. And the Eagles will put them on again for Friday night’s game against Virginia Tech.
It will mark the first time in the event’s eight-year history that BC will wear the honorary uniforms twice in one season. The alternate threads symbolize the heroism of Crowther. And this year’s edition has “For Welles” on the nameplate of every jersey.
Fifth-year left guard Zion Johnson, who transferred to BC from Davidson before the 2019 season, said that he believes a Red Bandana Game in November gives the team a much-needed push to finish the end of the year strong.
“We want to go out and play with a ferocity that mimics what [Welles] showed on that day,” Johnson said. “So it means a lot to us. It's definitely an added edge for us.”
BC is 3-4 all-time in Red Bandana games. The Eagles lost last year’s, 45-31, to No. 2 Notre Dame. The event’s first year, however, saw BC pull off one of its biggest upset victories in program history: a 37-31 win over then-No. 9 USC.
The Eagles, who are currently averaging 10 points per game in ACC play, are desperate to turn things around this week. Signs point to them starting a true freshman quarterback to try and do just that. A season with so much promise and potential—given the wide-open ACC standings—has been riddled by injuries, dropped snaps and, as a result, offensive dysfunction.
“Are we where we want to be, guys? No,” Hafley said. “I get it. And do the fans have every right to be disappointed? They do. I’m disappointed. Trust me. And I’m not happy about it. And I’m going to do something about it. But I’d ask, come out again, come out early and support our players.
“This is the Red Bandana Game. It is honoring Welles. Hang in there with us, show us that support, be loud. These guys are working hard. And it’s not for a lack of effort.”
Fifth-year defensive end Marcus Valdez has suited up for four of these games in his career. He says that this one arrived at a good time. Valdez described the emotion that comes with running out of the tunnel with the fireworks popping, especially considering the commemoratory atmosphere.
“It’s pretty awesome running out to the field and playing and having that cause in the back of your head, everything that Welles did,” Valdez said.
“We’re just trying to honor him and get a W.”
