Its the stuff movies are made of. An upset so large, so unpredictable, there is no way it could actually happen. And yet, it did.

The game was almost secondary. Unranked Boston College welcomed the #9 USC Trojans to Alumni Field in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, Saturday night with plans to honor former BC Eagle lacrosse player Welles Crowther.

Crowther, who was known for wearing (or holding in his pocket) a red bandana his father gave him as a child, was working as an equities trader in the World Trade Center building on 9/11, but he spent his free time as a volunteer firefighter and had designs on making that his full-time career. He used those firefighting instincts to lead two groups of people to an open staircase and out of the building. He went up and down 17 flights of stairs to help evacuate people twice, leading at least 12 people to safety. He went back up the staircase a third time, but never made it down.

The Crowther family was in attendance for the game, and the Eagles players honored him by wearing shoes, gloves and helmets with a red bandana design. The coaching staff wore red bandana-inspired clothing and the school handed out 6,000 red bandanas to students to wear during the game.

But the true honoring of Crowther took place on the field. Led by Senior transfer quarterback Tyler Murphy, the Eagles overcame a 10-0 deficit after the first quarter and rallied to upset the 9th ranked Trojans 37-31 in front of a raucous Boston crowd. Murphy ran for 190 yards, including a 66 yard touchdown run with 3:30 to play to lead the Eagles their first victory over a ranked team since November 15, 2008, when they beat 20th ranked Florida State 27-17. At that time BC was ranked #2 in the country.

courtesy of Boston College
courtesy of Boston College
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