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UCF notched two big wins Saturday night.
The school's football team had a huge victory, defeating Boston College 30-3. A packed house of 45,671 watched the Knights beat a BCS opponent for the first time at Bright House Networks Stadium.
The bigger victory, though, was won in the stands Saturday night and around campus all day during tailgating.
The stands, Memory Mall and the rest of campus were the usual sea of black and gold Saturday. On this particular Saturday, though, the day before the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, there was also a lot of red.
Hopefully by now everyone knows the story. Welles R. Crowther was a Boston College lacrosse player, and he always wore a red bandanna. It was that same red bandanna that would help survivors of the attack on the World Trade Center identify Crowther as an American hero and as a man who selflessly helped lead others to safety before losing his own life.
We are sometimes reminded that there are things so much bigger than football. That was evident all around campus Saturday.
The online campaign started by UCF students to wear red bandannas and honor Crowther and others who died that day was an inspiring success – a bigger success than the Knights allowing only Boston College 141 yards of offense or Jeff Godfrey going head on at an All-American linebacker.
It showed a better side to UCF's fan base.
You see, I'm not sure if everyone is aware of this, but UCF fans have a bad rap.
Around Conference USA, UCF's fans are generally regarded as the least hospitable to opposing fans who visit campus to follow their team. The UCF nation has developed a reputation for being mean and probably a little too vulgar. On message boards, UCF fans are generally regarded as having an undeserved sense of entitlement.
Saturday, though, this student body and fan base showed that it can prioritize where it counts most. The overwhelming amount of red bandannas in the stands showed that.
"I think it's great to honor an American hero," said Knights head coach George O'Leary. "It's something we should be proud of."
In his playing days, Crowther wore a jersey that said Boston College. His legacy, though, is that of an American hero, and his true colors were red, white and blue. Mostly red.
Some things are bigger than sports. Saturday, UCF showed we get that.
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