SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Recap
By JD Biagioni
Officially, on December 26, 2018 at the old Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, nothing happened. But that’s not the full story.
Boston College’s fully-healthy offense moved the ball well in the first quarter, but none of that will count, as weather cancelled Wednesday’s bowl matchup against Boise State.
Lightning sent players to the locker rooms with 5:08 remaining in the first quarter and BC up 7-0. The touchdown came on a 19-yard AJ Dillon run to cap BC’s opening drive. The Eagles converted on multiple third downs on the drive.
After about an hour and a half delay, word came out that the game would be cancelled. Per NCAA rules, a game cannot start until at least 30 minutes after the last lightning strike in an 8-mile radius. Persistent strikes kept resetting the clock in Dallas, before the official cancellation.
This is believed to be one of the first bowl games to ever get cancelled due to weather. The 2013 Heart of Texas Bowl was cancelled, but it wasn’t an FBS bowl game, and Hawaii’s second postseason game of the 1941 season was cancelled following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
BC Athletic Director Martin Jarmond offered full refunds to anyone who had purchased tickets through BC, as well as free tickets to any 2019 BC sporting event.
Boise State also offered a similar refund. But the bowl directors refused to refund any money, considering all sales final.
The game was officially ruled a no-contest, so BC finishes the 2018 season 7-5, a program still looking for that elusive eight win. It is the fifth time in six seasons under Steve Addazio that BC finished with seven wins, but 2018 will be the first time the Eagles do it with only five losses.
BC’s string of weather impacting bowl games continues. Last season, the Eagles fell to Iowa in the Pinstripe Bowl in frigid conditions that froze the turf and prevented players from wearing cleats.
Boise State’s 2018 season faced similar meteorological challenges. The Broncos beat Wyoming in September under the smoke of wildfires and lost to Fresno State in a snowy Mountain West Championship.
It’s a disappointing end to a relatively successful season for the Eagles. BC started the season 7-2 and hosted College GameDay when Clemson came to town for a game that would determine control of the ACC Atlantic. The sour ending shouldn’t dampen excitement for 2019. Dillon and Brown return, and the Eagles will welcome one of the deepest recruiting classes in recent history to the Heights.