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1942 Boston College Eagles football team

The 1942 Boston College Eagles football team was an American football team that represented Boston College as an independent during the 1942 college football season. In their second year under head coach Denny Myers, the Eagles compiled an 8–1 record in the regular season, were ranked No. 8 in the final AP poll, and went on to lose to Alabama in the 1943 Orange Bowl.[1] The Eagles captured the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy (emblematic of the 'Eastern championship').

1942 Boston College Eagles football
Orange Bowl, L 21–37 vs. Alabama
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
APNo. 8
Record8–2
Head coach
Captains
Home stadiumFenway Park
Seasons
← 1941
1943 →
1942 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Williams   –   7 – 1 – 0
No. 19 Penn State   –   6 – 1 – 1
No. 8 Boston College   –   8 – 2 – 0
Buffalo   –   6 – 2 – 0
Bucknell   –   6 – 2 – 1
Colgate   –   6 – 2 – 1
Army   –   6 – 3 – 0
Syracuse   –   6 – 3 – 0
Duquesne   –   6 – 3 – 1
Yale   –   5 – 3 – 0
Fordham   –   5 – 3 – 1
Penn   –   5 – 3 – 1
No. T–19 Holy Cross   –   5 – 4 – 1
Dartmouth   –   5 – 4 – 0
Brown   –   4 – 4 – 0
Villanova   –   4 – 4 – 0
Vermont   –   4 – 3 – 0
Carnegie Tech   –   3 – 3 – 0
Boston University   –   4 – 5 – 0
Cornell   –   3 – 5 – 1
Princeton   –   3 – 5 – 1
Temple   –   2 – 5 – 3
Columbia   –   3 – 6 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   3 – 6 – 0
Tufts   –   2 – 5 – 1
Franklin & Marshall   –   1 – 4 – 2
Massachusetts State   –   2 – 5 – 0
Harvard   –   2 – 6 – 1
Drexel   –   2 – 6 – 0
Manhattan   –   2 – 6 – 0
CCNY   –   1 – 7 – 1
Rankings from AP Poll

Boston College won its first eight games of the season, climbing to No. 1 in the AP Poll, but lost to rival Holy Cross in the final game of the regular season. The result, however, was a stunning rout loss, 12–55. The Eagles team canceled their planned post-game celebration at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, which inadvertently saved the team from perishing along with 492 others in the Cocoanut Grove fire that occurred that night.[2]

Team co-captain and fullback Mike Holovak was a consensus pick on the 1942 All-America team and finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting.[3] He finished his career as Boston College's all-time leading rusher, with 2,011 yards and 23 touchdowns.[4] Holovak returned to coach the Eagles from 1951 to 1959.

Boston College ranked first nationally in rushing defense (48.9 yards allowed per game) and second in rushing offense (292.8 yards per game). They also ranked third nationally in both total offense (410.7 yards per game) and total defense (131.8 yards per game) and fourth in scoring offense (28.2 points per game). [5]

The team played all of its regular season games at Fenway Park in Boston.

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 3West Virginia
W 33–015,000–18,000[6]
October 10Clemson
W 14–718,500–23,400[7]
October 17North Carolina Pre-FlightNo. 11
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
W 7–625,107
October 24Wake ForestNo. 10
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
W 27–020,000[8][9]
October 31GeorgetownNo. 7
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
W 47–030,000[10]
November 7TempleNo. 5
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
W 28–024,000
November 14FordhamNo. 3
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
W 56–636,300
November 21vs. Boston UniversityNo. 3
W 37–010,000
November 28vs. Holy CrossNo. 1
L 12–5541,300
January 1, 1943vs. No. 10 AlabamaNo. 8
L 21–3730,000[11]
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[12]

Rankings

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See also: 1942 NCAA football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
Poll1234567Final
AP11 (1)10 (4)7 (4)5 (13)3 (10)3 (37)1 (47)8

References

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  1. ^ 2009-10 Boston College Record Book Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Section: Season-by-Season Results.
  2. ^ Anderson, Dave (November 22, 1992). "Sports of The Times; The Upset, the Party, the Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  3. ^ "1942 Heisman Trophy Voting". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  4. ^ "2016 Boston College football media guide" (PDF). p. 156.
  5. ^ Walter R. Okeson, ed. (1943). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1943. A.S. Barnes and Company. pp. 51–55.
  6. ^ "West Virginia bows to Boston College, 33–0". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. October 4, 1943. Retrieved July 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Eagles take Clemson by 14–7 score". The Atlanta Journal. October 11, 1942. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ O'Leary, Steve (October 25, 1942). "Deacons Blanked By Boston Array". The News & Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. Associated Press. p. 11. Retrieved May 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com  .
  9. ^ O'Leary, Steve (October 25, 1942). "Baptists Beaten In Boston Battle". The News & Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. Associated Press. p. 12. Retrieved May 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com  .
  10. ^ "B.C. Routs Georgetown: Eagles Slash Swiftly, Fiercely To Mangle Hoyas by 47-0". The Sunday Star. November 1, 1942. pp. C1, Ck4 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Alabama's victory Tide starts home in 2 groups". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. January 3, 1943. p. 12. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  12. ^ "1942 Boston College Eagles Schedule & Results". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 12, 2017.


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