Sacred Cod Trophy

The Sacred Cod Trophy was awarded to each season's winner of the American college football series between the teams of Boston University (Boston University Terriers), Boston College (Boston College Eagles), and College of the Holy Cross (Holy Cross Crusaders). The Boston University-Boston College game was normally played in early to mid November, the Boston University-Holy Cross game normally played in mid October, and the Boston College–Holy Cross game played as the last game of the season. At the end of the series, the Boston College Eagles holds the most trophy victories with 3, the Holy Cross Crusaders have won 2, and the teams have shared the trophy on 3 occasions.

Sacred Cod Trophy

Boston College Eagles	Holy Cross Crusaders	Boston University Terriers
Originated:	1954; 72 years ago (1954)
Ended:	1962; 64 years ago (1962)
Current Holder:	Holy Cross (Defunct)

Boston College (3) 1954 1955 1958	Holy Cross (2) 1956 1961	Boston University (0)
Shared Awards (3) 1957 1958 1960

30km
19miles

Holy Cross

Locations of Boston University, Boston College, and Holy Cross

The Sacred Cod Trophy was awarded to each season's winner of the American college football series between the teams of Boston University (Boston University Terriers), Boston College (Boston College Eagles), and College of the Holy Cross (Holy Cross Crusaders).^[1]

The Boston University-Boston College game was normally played in early to mid November, the Boston University-Holy Cross game normally played in mid October, and the Boston College–Holy Cross game played as the last game of the season.

At the end of the series, the Boston College Eagles holds the most trophy victories with 3, the Holy Cross Crusaders have won 2, and the teams have shared the trophy on 3 occasions.^[2]

History of the trophy

[edit]

The Sacred Cod Trophy was the idea of the Boston University chapter of the Delta Sigma Pi fraternity.^[1] The trophy was first awarded in the 1954 season to Boston College. Boston College dominated the BU-BC game during this span winning 8 of 9 games with Boston University's sole victory coming in 1959. Holy Cross also dominated the BU-Holy Cross game winning 6 of 8. As a result, the BC–Holy Cross game most often determined who won the trophy. In 1962, the BU-Holy Cross game was not played due to the failure to find an available date, thus the trophy was not awarded.^[2] The series ended in 1963 when Boston College and Boston University decided to no longer schedule each other. The 1963 game was postponed due to the assassination of John F. Kennedy and was never rescheduled.^[3]

The trophy

[edit]

The trophy was a gold cup topped with a cod fish a symbol of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.^[4] The name was inspired by the Sacred Cod, a wooden fish that has hung in the Massachusetts State House since the mid 1700s.

Game results and trophy winners

[edit]

^[5]^[6]

Boston University victories	Boston College victories	Holy Cross victories	Shared trophies and tied games	No game played, no trophy awarded

Season	Trophy Winner	Boston University – Holy Cross score	Boston University – Boston College score	Boston College – Holy Cross score
1954	Boston College (1)	Holy Cross 14–13	Boston College 7–6	Boston College 31–13
1955	Boston College (2)	Holy Cross 20–12	Boston College 40–12	Boston College 26–7
1956	Holy Cross (1)	Holy Cross 21–12	Boston College 13–0	Holy Cross 7–0
1957	Shared (1)	Boston University 35–28	Boston College 27–2	Holy Cross 14–0
1958	Boston College (3)	Holy Cross 16–8	Boston College 18–13	Boston College 26–8
1959	Shared (2)	Holy Cross 17–8	Boston University 26–7	Boston College 14–0
1960	Shared (3)	Boston University 20–14	Boston College 23–14	Holy Cross 16–12
1961	Holy Cross (2)	Holy Cross 20–7	Boston College 10–7	Holy Cross 38–26
1962	N/A	Not played	Boston College 41–25	Boston College 48–12
All-time Records		Holy Cross: 6–2 (.750)	Boston College: 8–1 (.889)	Boston College: 5–4 (.556)

References

[edit]

^ ^a ^b "The Boston Globe 08 Oct 1954, page 27". Newspapers.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "The Boston Globe 05 Apr 1961, page 43". Newspapers.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
^ "The Boston Globe 26 Nov 1963, page 51". Newspapers.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
^ "The Boston Globe 30 Nov 1954, page 8". Newspapers.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
^ "2022 BC Football Media Guide (FINAL) (PDF)" (PDF). Boston College Athletics. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
^ "All-Time Results (PDF)" (PDF). Holy Cross Athletics. Retrieved January 14, 2023.

v t e Boston College Eagles football
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Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Boston University (Green Line Rivalry) Clemson (O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy) Holy Cross Notre Dame: Holy War UMass Virginia Tech Sacred Cod Trophy
Culture & lore	Baldwin the Eagle "For Boston" Marching band Scanlan Award Hail Flutie The Iron Major
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
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National championship seasons in bold

v t e Holy Cross Crusaders football
Venues	Worcester College Grounds (1896–1902) Worcester Oval (1897–1902) Fitton Field (1903–present)
Bowls & rivalries	1946 Orange Bowl Boston College Fordham: Ram–Crusader Cup Sacred Cod Trophy
Culture & lore	The Crusader "Chu! Chu! Rah! Rah!" Holy Cross Goodtime Marching Band 2021 Patriot League Football Championship Game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

v t e Boston University Terriers football
Venues	Old Nickerson Field (1928–1938, 1940–1946) Fenway Park (1925–1926, 1936–1939, 1947–1952) Braves Field (1920–1921, 1939, 1953–1954) Nickerson Field (1955–1997)
Bowls & rivalries	Boston College: Green Line Rivalry Sacred Cod Trophy
Culture & lore	Rhett the Boston Terrier "Go BU"
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1884 1885 1886 1887 1888–1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898–1903 1904 1905 1906–1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Atlantic Coast Conference rivalries

Conference

Football	Boston College–Clemson Boston College–Virginia Tech California–Stanford Clemson–Florida State Clemson–Georgia Tech Clemson–NC State Duke–Georgia Tech Duke–North Carolina Duke–Virginia Duke–Wake Forest Florida State–Miami Florida State–Virginia Georgia Tech–Virginia Tech Louisville–Miami Miami–Virginia Tech North Carolina–NC State North Carolina–Virginia North Carolina–Wake Forest NC State–Wake Forest Pittsburgh–Syracuse Tobacco Road Virginia–Virginia Tech
Basketball	Duke–North Carolina North Carolina–NC State North Carolina–Wake Forest NC State–Wake Forest Tobacco Road Virginia–Virginia Tech
Other	Duke–North Carolina (lacrosse) Syracuse–Virginia (lacrosse) Virginia–Virginia Tech (overall)

Non-conference

Football	Alabama–Clemson Alabama–Georgia Tech Auburn–Clemson Auburn–Georgia Tech Boston College–Boston U Boston College–Holy Cross Boston College–UMass California–UCLA California–USC Cincinnati–Louisville Clemson–Georgia Clemson–South Carolina Colgate–Syracuse Duquesne–Pittsburgh East Carolina–NC State Florida–Florida State Florida–Miami Florida Cup (Florida–Florida State–Miami) Georgia–Georgia Tech Georgia Tech–Tennessee Georgia Tech–Vanderbilt Houston–SMU Kentucky–Louisville Louisville–Memphis Maryland–Virginia Miami–Nebraska Navy–SMU North Carolina–South Carolina Old Ironsides (Penn State–Pittsburgh–West Virginia) Oregon–Stanford Penn State–Pittsburgh Penn State–Syracuse Rice–SMU North Texas–SMU Pittsburgh–West Virginia Sacred Cod Trophy (Boston College–Boston University–Holy Cross) San Jose State–Stanford SMU–TCU Stanford–UCLA Stanford–USC Syracuse–UConn Syracuse–West Virginia VMI–Virginia Tech Virginia Tech–West Virginia
Basketball	Boston College–UMass Cincinnati–Louisville Duke–Maryland Florida–Florida State Georgetown–Syracuse Houston–SMU Kentucky–Louisville Kentucky–North Carolina Louisville–Memphis Notre Dame–UCLA Notre Dame–UConn (women's) Pittsburgh–West Virginia Stanford–Tennessee (women's) Stanford–UConn (women's) Syracuse–UConn
Lacrosse	Cornell–Syracuse Hobart–Syracuse Johns Hopkins–Syracuse Johns Hopkins–Virginia Maryland–Virginia
Other	Boston College–Boston U (hockey) Florida–Florida State (baseball) Florida–Miami (baseball) Louisville–Vanderbilt (baseball) Indiana–Notre Dame (men's soccer) Maryland–Virginia (men's soccer)

Notre Dame
football rivalries

v t e Patriot League football rivalries
Conference	Ram–Crusader Cup (Fordham–Holy Cross) The Rivalry (Lafayette–Lehigh)
Non-conference	Boston College–Holy Cross Sacred Cod Trophy (Boston College–Boston University–Holy Cross) Steven Dean Memorial Trophy (Catholic University–Georgetown) Colgate–Cornell Colgate–Syracuse Liberty Cup (Columbia–Fordham) Delaware–Lehigh Yank Townsend Trophy (Lehigh–Yale) James Madison–Richmond Richmond–VMI Capital Cup (Richmond–William & Mary)

Sacred Cod Trophy

History of the trophy

The trophy

Game results and trophy winners

See also

References