Page 12 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 A wild night indeed: the time BC football beat Alabama at Sullivan Stadium A Forrest Gump-like remembrance of that Flutie Era win on Nov. 25, 1983 By Steve Freker W hen you look at Alabama Crimson Tide football these days, it is not simply a matter of the biblical David and Goliath matchup when an opponent ventures onto its path in most years. Nick Saban has transformed ’Bama back into a college football National Championship factory, with its modest recent title just a few days old after the 202021 Tide annihilated an exceptionally good Ohio State team Monday night in New Orleans, a 52-24 wipeout win. No, they don’t win it every year, it just seems that way. We do know they are always the favorite, and they have been for probably every single game they’ve stepped on the field the past 11 or 12 seasons, at least since 2009 when they won their first National Championship since the Bear Bryant days at ’Bama. The latest title Monday night got me to thinking, and a fantastic memory jogged back into the front of my mind. Does anyone recall the first and only time Alabama football came north of the Mason-Dixon Line to play Boston College on Eagle home turf... and LOST?! I do. It was on the evening of November 25, 1983, a Friday night and the night after Thanksgiving... And I Was There! When #13-ranked Alabama came to Foxborough in 1983 to play #15-ranked Boston College, its first-year head coach Ray Perkins, above, had mighty big shoes to fill since he was replacing the most iconic and winningest coach in Crimson Tide history, Bear Bryant. (Courtesy Photo) fer Stadium”) for the notorious Patriots-Dolphins 3-0 “snow plow” game, too!) This one certainly was up there in importance, for sure – with Cowboy Jack Bicknell’s BC Eagles on one side and future Patriots assistant coach Ray Perkins leading Alabama on the other sideline; this was a national level game at the time. CBS televised in nationally, a big deal in college in those days, nothing like it is today. Talk about pressure and a Doug Flutie was in the midst of building his legend in his junior year when he led Boston College (BC) football to a comeback 20-13, upset win over visiting #13-ranked Alabama at then-Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, one of the biggest wins in BC history. (Courtesy Photo) That’s right. In one of my many “Forrest Gump-like” appearances, I was in attendance at that windy, rainswept, dreary weather matchup in good old Sullivan Stadium (where the practice bubble for Gillette Stadium now sits), the original home of the New England Patriots. A very memorable “I Was There” moment I’ve actually had many “I When the BC-Alabama game was played on November 25, 1983, the Patriots’ home field in Foxborough had been renamed “Sullivan Stadium” just a few months earlier by its new sponsor, Anheuser Busch, in honor of its longtime owner, Billy Sullivan. When it opened in 1971, it was christened “Schaefer Stadium” by its original naming rights sponsor, Schaefer Beer. (Courtesy Photo) Was There” moments in Boston (and some national) sports history in terms of attendance. But those are stories for another day. Although, just for context, yes, “I Was There” in December 1982, just under a year earlier (when it was still called “Schaetarget on his back – Perkins was in his first year as Alabama head coach – succeeding to that point the most legendary college football head coach in history, Bear Bryant, who had won more national titles than any coach ever, six of them. Alabama had come out of the gate on fire in 1983, winning four straight and rising as high as #3 in the national polls before a pair of tough losses to then #3 Penn State and #11 Tennessee knocked them back down them down to #18. But Perkins and the Tide roared back with three straight wins over three more Top 20 opponents to climb back to #13. Alabama that year was like many in the oldschool collegiate days, playing at monster strength of schedule. How many teams these days play an entire season of ranked, Top 20 opponents as the Tide did in 1983? At 7-2 coming into the BC game, Alabama was a big favorite on the road “up North” over the Eagles. It was the best start in years for BC football BC came in at 8-2, its best start in years as Bicknell and the Eagles were experiencing the first wave of “Flutie Fever.” BC had played only one ranked opponent that season and lost, 27-17, to #12 West Virginia. But this was Alabama. A perennial national title contender under Coach Bryant and Coach Perkins was expected to stay that course. Future Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback Doug Flutie, leading BC in his junior year season, was quickly building a following for the surprisingly #15-ranked BC Eagles and for football fans like me, it was like this: To go watch the University of Alabama Crimson Tide come to town and play a local team like Boston College was like getting a chance to witness a piece of history. When I found out I was getting a free ticket, courtesy of Coach Bicknell himself and the BC football program, it was like getting a chance to go see that history live. We got to see Flutie... and Godzilla, too Forget about David and Goliath, this was about seeing Doug Flutie in the flesh. And Godzilla, too. How did these tickets materialize? Well, right place, right SPORTS | SEE PAGE 14
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