One of the projects the Sickos Committee on Substack will explore during this off-season is one where we will do a dive into the internet archives to find out the seemingly lost history of College Football teams who we used to have playing on Saturdays in the fall. We will explore universities and colleges who used to have football but then decided for whatever reason to end their football program. Then we will highlight their Best Season of all time in our however many part series called the Best Season of All Time for Schools Who Stopped Having A Football Team also known as the BSOATFSWSHAFT (right on). 

I’ll give you some background on the program if I can find it. Give you some basic history about the team, when they started playing and when/why they stopped playing and of course their best season in my opinion. Also, I’ll see if I can find a football helmet with the logo to show it to you here.

Now for the next team I wish to explore in this series.

The Boston University Terriers

Why did I choose this team?

At one point I decided to get my Masters Degree and wanted to have a “good school” on my resume. I had gone to ULM for four years but actually graduated from the University of New Orleans (UNO, not that one in Omaha) after a transfer back home due to family drama and my mental state due to the ongoing drama. I really wanted a school name to try to make me stand out resume wise. In retrospect, it was silly of me but I decided to apply to Boston University for their Masters program. Little did I know what I was getting myself into but in 2016 I started my Masters online at BU. I passed two classes with A’s but it was like I was working a 40 hour work week and then another 40 hours doing Masters homework. My son came along in 2017 and I took a break from the Masters program. I realized I couldn’t hang at BU with the newborn, especially since they stuck me in a group project with someone who lived in New Zealand in the previous class. I still have the time difference memorized. (it’s 19 hours ahead of San Antonio which typically meant they were a day ahead of me). I eventually transferred to Southern New Hampshire University and completed my Masters during the pandemic. I’ve always appreciated BU for allowing me into their Masters program, so why not pay it back with a substack about their football team? 

History of the team 

Boston University Football started in 1884. 

When I took a deep dive into the BU Football team, Wikipedia records show years of the team existing but nothing of a yearly football record until 1920. Apparently the reason for this was the football team wasn’t officially recognized as a varsity sport until 1920. “The tireless dedication of student athletes created the foundation for varsity athletics, and progressively made way for more official recognition of men's club teams, like ice hockey (1917), football and baseball (1920), track (1931), crew (1939), tennis (1948) and soccer (1949).”  BU Athletics History

So BU had a football team, but since it wasn’t officially recognized until 1920, team information is not readily available for me to find. (If you find some, let me know.) Going on what I could find after 1920, BU’s first winning season didn’t occur until 1936. Basically, they “officially” waited 16 years to have a winning season at 5-1-2. 

The BU football team was largely independent in the early goings of their history. Also, it appears the program went on hiatus after the 1942 season due to World War II but returned in 1945. 

I couldn’t find much of anything, so I am assuming this is what happened here. Google kept pulling up stuff for Boston College and this may have made my research a little more difficult. Also, the BU library website was not much of a help either. And now I am having Masters flashbacks trying to find at least five sources on my weekly discussion posts for the BU Masters classes. (snaps out of it.)

Back to the Football team history. 

Their best season as an Independent occurred in 1969 when they went 9-2. They made it to their only bowl game in school history, the Pasadena Bowl. They fell 28-7 to NFL Hall of Fame Coach Don Coryell’s San Diego State. Look at that sweet interlocking BU helmet. (calm down Baylor fans, your helmet is nice too). 

In 1973, when the NCAA reorganized and created the Division I and Division I-AA levels, the Terriers hopped into the Yankee Conference. 

What a helmet. 

They won their first share of the Yankee Conference in 1979 at 8-1-1 and finished #7 in the Small Colleges Poll. This started a run of Conference titles for the Terriers. They won another in 1980 and finished 9-2. In 1982, there was a Four Way Tie for the Yankee Conference Title and BU was 5-6 overall but 3-2 in Conference. They made the 1-AA Playoffs for the first time but lost in the first round. In 1983, another Yankee Conference Title at 9-4 (4-1) earned their first playoff win but were eliminated in the Quarterfinals by Furman. In 1984, another Yankee Conference Title at 9-3 (4-1) but lost again in the first round against Richmond, a future Yankee Conference mate. 

They earned one more conference title but we will talk about that one in a little bit. (ooooo Foreshadowing)

The Boston University Football Program finished with an All-time record 323–390–34 (.455). Which would put them with the likes of these programs. 

Two of these programs really fit the small private school mode that Boston University would fall under.

Why did the team get shut down?

This one is relatively simple. They were losing tons of money and I mean tons. 

At the time of its termination the program ran at an annual loss of $2.91 million. 

Damn you football, why do you have to be so expensive! 

So each year, BU had a football team, it was costing the school about $3 million per year. We really love football in the Committee, but I don’t know if we love it that much that we'd be willing to pay $3 million per year just to keep it going. 

You can blame it on the dominance of professional sports in Boston — combined with spiraling costs, poor attendance and changing campus demographics or whatever you want to say here but losing about $3 million a year is extremely tough to swallow. 

By a vote of its Board of Trustees on Oct. 25, 1997, Boston University chose to eliminate football from its athletic programs during its 91st season.

They were losing so much money, they voted to cancel the football program in the MIDDLE OF THE SEASON. 

The BU program had a $3 million budget and was operating at a deficit, which made eliminating football a “business” decision that did not involve Title IX. Boston University Eliminates Football

The vote took place following a 28-7 loss to crosstown rival Northeastern with 2,025 fans in attendance at Nickerson Field, which was once the home of the National League’s Boston Braves. 

“The power behind the push to jettison football was BU chancellor John Silber, a cantankerous, unpopular administrator who ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1990 and was the subject of a Mike Wallace expose on 60 Minutes.” BU athletic director Gary Strickler had little to fight back with and Silber got his way on all BU matters. No athletic director wants a euthanized football program on his or her resume, but Stickler had no choice but to carry out Silber’s diktats. Boston University Eliminates Football (i’ve never used the word diktats before so I wanted to source it at least) 

In their final season, BU only won one game and finished 1-10. 

The one game they managed to win was their final home game in Nickerson Field, where they thrashed UMass 33-8. 

At least they got to walk off their home field one final time as winners…

The 1993 Boston University Terriers

They call this a Cinderella season for the Boston University Terriers and in reviewing this one it was a magical season that seemingly came out of nowhere. 

They were coached by Dan Allen (on the left) and their offense was coordinated by Tony Sparano (on the right).  

You likely remember Tony Sparano from the Dolphins and his stint with the Jets and Cowboys wearing sunglasses at night due to an eye condition he suffered as a teenager. If not, here’s his wiki. Tony Sparano Wiki

Between 1990 and 1992, the Terriers football team had combined to win 12 total games against 21 losses through Dan Allen’s first three seasons with BU. They finished 3-8 and 2-6 in the Yankee Conference in 1992. The Terriers finished eighth out of nine teams in the Yankee Conference, and were outscored by a total of 352 to 218. The only two wins in the Yankee Conference were against Rhode Island who finished 0-11 and the inconsistent 6-5 UConn Huskies. 

Heading into the 1993 Season the Terriers had been picked to finish near the bottom of the Yankee Conference standings. Really there was not any reason for them to expect them to be any good at all…

Coach Allen made some changes in his coaching philosophies for the 1993 Season. He changed positions for players, converting some defensive linemen to offensive lineman. He changed coaches by having them coach different positions. He changed the defense to a 4-3 and ratcheted up the tempo of the offense from a Run and Shoot, to a No Huddle Run and Shoot. 

I found a three part YouTube Video on the 1993 Boston University Team and I am just going to say what they said for each game because it rules. I watched them all and I was enthralled. (I wrote a ton on this season thanks to these videos, so this one season review is much longer than usual)

1993 BU Part 1

1993 BU Part 2

1993 BU Part 3

Huge thanks to Eddie Donovan’s YouTube Channel for having all these videos.

“Following the 1992 year, scholarships were cut, players were allowed to leave no questions asked, they decided to stay, players and coaches decided it was time to make a difference, it was time to RESPECT THE RED!!”

In their first game of the season, BU was looking to get revenge against Maine for handing them a 40-11 defeat last year. 

The Terriers were shot out of the gate using the new version of their offense from last year. They scored FIVE STRAIGHT TOUCHDOWNS ON THEIR FIRST FIVE POSSESSIONS AND LED 35-0 AFTER THE FIRST QUARTER!!

This was BU’s first win in an opening game since 1988. 

Their new Junior College Transfer QB Robert Dougherty led the new fast paced offense they called the RED GUN.

Their next game, they traveled to nearby Worcester, MA to take on Holy Cross. They jumped out to another big early lead and cruised to an easy win 44-18. They put up 706 total yards!! 

The next week they welcomed another in-state opponent to Nickerson Field, the UMass Minutemen. The day started with a blocked punt for a BU touchdown and then the RED GUN raced out to a 21-0 halftime lead. 

The offense cooled off in the second half but the defense did its work. The Terriers prevailed 28-9

BU welcomed another Yankee Conference foe in Villanova next week. 

The RED GUN took off immediately firing on two deep touchdown passes. One for a 50 yard touchdown pass on 3rd and 33! 

Through the first 4 games of the season, BU had outscored their opponents 80-0 in t he first quarter. The Defense also stepped up with a safety (Sickos Substack Safety Alert!) 

The Terriers got out to an early 16-0 lead and held on for a nice 30-15 win with an off day for QB Robert Dougherty.

The next week they welcomed a rival Northeastern as they made their first appearance in the I-AA polls ranked 23rd at 4-0. 

Northeastern got out to a 7-0 lead and it was the first time BU was trailing all season long.  BU fought back and took a slim lead and held on to win the Canine Classic 17-14 for the second straight year. 

Wonder how much that trophy weighs…

BU finally left the state of Massachusetts for a game and headed down to Richmond, Virginia to take on the 14th Ranked Spiders. Richmond took an early 7-3 lead but then it was all BU. 

BU scored 38 unanswered points and forced 8 Spider Turnovers! A huge win for BU, 44-14. They had clinched their first winning season since 1984.

The Terriers returned back home to face Rhode Island with a jump up to 15th in the polls. It was Homecoming and spirits were high.

BU was looking to win 7 games in a row for the first time in their history. 

The BU defense helped them pull away from Rhode Island in the second half with a scoop and score plus a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. 

The Terriers rolled 48-15 and hello Top 10 Terriers!

(Hey who is at #8? Well look at that, its Northeast Louisiana aka ULM. Substack ULM Mentioned!!!)

They went up to New Hampshire next week. 

They fell behind early again but they gutted out another win 24-14.

The next week they clobbered Buffalo, 61-33. It was the second highest point total ever in BU history. 

They then took care of business against UConn and hit their 10th win on the season. The highest win total ever in BU History!

They then headed down to Virginia again to take on James Madison to try to finish off a perfect regular season.

One big issue was QB Robert Dougherty was out injured with a separated shoulder. They had to turn to 5th Year Senior QB Greg Moore, (remember when that wasn’t common) who hadn’t started since their 40-11 blowout loss to Maine in 1992. Their leading receiver was also out for the game and BU needed this win to clinch the Yankee Conference Title outright. 

BU fell behind early but continued to work to dig out of the hole. They worked to tie the game late in the 3rd quarter. 

Then they hit a field goal with 9 minutes left in the 4th Quarter to take their first lead 24-21. The Red Storm Defense (yes, they called the defense the Red Storm) held on for the win.

BU was 11-0!! A Perfect Regular Season! 

Total Tecmo Bowl ending photo here. 

5th Year Senior Greg Moore threw for a BU record of 442 yards in the win and got carried off the field with the OUTRIGHT Yankee Conference Title.

It was time for the I-AA Playoffs. Oh we’re talking Playoffs!

6th Ranked and 4 Seed BU welcomed future NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner and Northern Iowa in the first round of the playoffs.

Northern Iowa got out to a six point halftime lead. Then they took the opening drive for a touchdown and a 13 point lead. On the next possession, BU QB Dougherty playing with a banged up shoulder and now a broken finger on his non-throwing hand got called for intentional grounding in the end-zone. (Another Sickos Substack Safety Alert!) The Terriers were now down 21-6 and things were looking bleak.

The Red Storm answered the bell, they forced a Northern Iowa fumble and got a scoop and score. BU was now only down 21-13. The 4th quarter arrived and BU QB Daugherty had been sacked 10 times in the game by the Panthers.

BU got the ball back on their own 8 yard line with 8 minutes left down 8. BU managed a 14 play 92 yard march, converting on four 3rd downs. Daugherty scrambled 6 yards and just barely snuck in the end zone to make it 21-19. A perfectly thrown corner fade pass with a pretty over the shoulder catch for the 2 point conversion made it 21-21.

BU’s first ever home playoff game was going to OVERTIME.

BU’s first overtime possession didn’t go well. Daugherty threw his 3rd INT of the day on the second play in OT. Northern Iowa got it down for a 20 yard field goal for the win…

I don’t know if you can see the football in this Red Square but it was a DOINK!!!! (SUBSTACK DOINK) WE’RE GOING TO DOUBLE OT!!!

Northern Iowa missed another field goal in Double OT. BU just needed any score for the win. However, BU kicker Mike Morello’s 33 yard field goal was blocked. Then the most Sickos thing occurred. Morello picked up the ball in a mad scramble after the blocked kick and attempted to run with it. Oh no this can’t be good.

However, in the mad dash by Morello, a Northern Iowa player gets called for a face mask penalty on Morello. BU gets 15 yard penalty along with an automatic 1st down with the ball at the 8 yard line.

BU punches it in on 2nd down to win 27-21 in Double OT and Nickerson Field goes wild.

Their next game, they had to travel clear across the country to one of our favorite stadiums…

The Kibbie Dome to face the Idaho Vandals.

1993 KIBBIE DOME PIC!!

Starting QB Daugherty and back up QB Greg Moore both got injured in the game. Both knocked out with injured shoulders.

BU was down 21-0 with 39 seconds left when 3rd String QB Chris Pincince threw a TD pass to make it 21-7. BU then recovered an onside kick and quickly scored again to make it 21-14 with 13 seconds left. Could they get another onside recovery??? Nope. BU’s magical season ended when the Vandals recovered the onside kick attempt.

The most glorious season in BU’s history ended in Moscow but at least they got a trip to the Kibbie Dome. That’s got to be worth something.

BU walked away with the Lambert Cup which was the trophy for the best team in the East in Division I-AA Football. Head Coach Dan Allen walked away with AFCA Coach of the Year, Eddie Robinson Award, Yankee Conference Coach of the Year, Greater Boston Coach of the Year and New England Coach of the Year.

It really is incredible that BU’s football program ceased to exist less than five years after this magical season.

Any chance of the program coming back?

When the program was shut down they were losing nearly $3 million dollars a year. I don’t think BU would bring the team back to lose $3 million a year again. If they could find a way to make it more affordable and not lose that much money per year, there could be a chance.

There have been calls to bring it back in the form of blogs, a few news articles and some general noise in the student newspaper. But BU has made Hockey the centerpiece of their athletic department.

Selfishly, I’d love to see them come back in the CAA or the NEC but it seems like a far fetched dream at this point…