O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy

The O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy was created in 2008 by the Boston College Gridiron Club to commemorate the tradition at Clemson and Boston College while honoring the legacy of Charlie O'Rourke and Banks McFadden. O'Rourke and McFadden are members of the College Football Hall of Fame who played during the leather helmet era.[1][2] Since the trophy's inception in 2008, the club has presented it to every winner of a Boston College-Clemson football game.[3]

Clemson vs. Boston College Football Rivalry

Clemson Tigers Boston College Eagles
Sport	Football
First meeting	January 1, 1940 Clemson 6–3
Latest meeting	October 26, 2019 Clemson 59–7
Next meeting	October 2, 2020
Statistics
Meetings total	29
All-time series	Clemson leads 18–9–2
Largest victory	Clemson 59–7 (October 26, 2019)
Longest win streak	Clemson 9 (2011–present)
Current win streak	Clemson 9 (2011–present)

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Locations of Boston College and Clemson

Trophy history

The Boston College Gridiron Club commissioned the trophy to honor the relationship between Clemson and Boston College that began 80 years ago, in early 1940, and to recognize the support of Tiger fans in welcoming Boston College to the ACC, which BC joined in 2005.

The trophy features two leather helmet replicas of those used by O’Rourke of Boston College and McFadden of Clemson, when they competed against each other in the 1940 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. In addition to the trophy presentation, the Boston College Gridiron Club presents a replica leather helmet to the MVP of the winning school. The helmet will reflect the colors of the winning team.

Namesakes

Charlie O’Rourke led Boston College from the quarterback position to a 26–3–2 (.871) record in his three years (1938–40). One of those three losses was to McFadden and Clemson in the 1940 Cotton Bowl. O'Rourke went on to play quarterback and defensive back for the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Dons, and Baltimore Colts. After two years as an NFL coach, he coached at Massachusetts (1952–59). O’Rourke later served as commissioner of the Pop Warner League, a national organization of junior football teams. His jersey was retired at Boston College and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.

Banks McFadden led the Tigers to a 9–1 record in 1939 as the starting quarterback. He was an All-American in football and basketball at Clemson. The 1939 football team finished 12th in the final AP poll (early December), for Clemson’s first top 20 season on record, and the win over Boston College in the Cotton Bowl was Clemson’s first bowl appearance. In the spring of 1939, he led Clemson to the Southern Conference Basketball championship. McFadden was Clemson’s first inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959. He was the fourth overall pick of the 1940 NFL Draft by the Brooklyn Dodgers. After one year in the NFL and a stint in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he returned to Clemson and held coaching positions in football, basketball, and track. McFadden became the first coach in college basketball history to improve his conference wins in five consecutive seasons.

Game results

Boston College victories

Clemson victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 January 1, 1940 Dallas, TX Clemson 6–3 2 October 11, 1941 Boston, MA Clemson 26–13 3 October 10, 1942 Boston, MA Boston College 14–7 4 September 26, 1947 Boston, MA Boston College 32–22 5 October 29, 1948 Boston, MA Clemson 26–19 6 November 5, 1949 Clemson, SC Boston College 40–27 7 November 11, 1950 Boston, MA Clemson 35–14 8 November 10, 1951 Clemson, SC Clemson 21–2 9 October 31, 1952 Boston, MA Clemson 13–0 10 September 26, 1953 Boston, MA Tie 14–14 11 November 22, 1958 Clemson, SC Clemson 34–12 12 November 19, 1960 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 25–14 13 September 18, 1982 Clemson, SC Tie 17–17 14 September 10, 1983 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 31–16 15 September 24, 2005 Clemson, SC Boston College 16–13 No. Date Location Winner Score 16 September 9, 2006 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 34–33 17 November 17, 2007 Clemson, SC Boston College 20–17 18 November 1, 2008 Chestnut Hill, MA Clemson 27–21 19 September 19, 2009 Clemson, SC Clemson 25–7 20 October 30, 2010 Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College 16–10 21 October 8, 2011 Clemson, SC Clemson 36–14 22 September 29, 2012 Chestnut Hill, MA Clemson 45–31 23 October 12, 2013 Clemson, SC Clemson 24–14 24 October 18, 2014 Chestnut Hill, MA Clemson 17–13 25 October 17, 2015 Clemson, SC Clemson 34–17 26 October 7, 2016 Chestnut Hill, MA Clemson 56–10 27 September 23, 2017 Clemson, SC Clemson 34–7 28 November 10, 2018 Chestnut Hill, MA Clemson 27–7 29 October 26, 2019 Clemson, SC Clemson 59–7 Series: Clemson leads 18–9–2

References

1. "BC football and Clemson begin new tradition". Boston College Athletics. October 29, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
2. Bernard, Francisco (October 10, 2013). "The tale of the O'Rourke-McFadden Trophy". Boston College Gavel. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
3. Vandervort, Will (September 19, 2017). "There's a reason why Boston College week is so special". The Clemson Insider. Robert MacRae. Retrieved September 29, 2018.