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Rutgers will pay an incredible tribute to 37 alumni killed in the 9/11 attacks with a special uniform as the school heads to Boston College on Friday night.
Rutgers is the closest FBS program to New York City, located in New Jersey around 36 miles southwest of Manhattan.
The school mourned the loss of 37 of its former students in the 2001 terror attacks and will now play an emotionally charged Friday night game on the 25th anniversary.
The team will wear special helmets with the No.37 in a US flag print to honor those who lost their lives, with the words 'never forget' printed down the side of the pants in the all-red uniform.
The Scarlet Knights face fitting opponents in the form of Boston College, who annually pay tribute to their former lacrosse player, Welles Crowther, and his red bandana.
Crowther tragically died after saving as many as 20 lives in the 9/11 attacks, becoming identifiable for his heroics by the red bandana he was wearing.
Rutgers will wear special uniforms on Friday night on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
37 Rutgers alumni were killed in the attacks, with New York less than 40 miles from its campus
Rutgers is traveling to Boston College in an emotional game 25 years after the terror attacks
Boston College will again incorporate the iconic red bandana pattern on its helmets and jerseys, with name plates all saying 'For Welles' as they do for one game each year.
The game between the two schools with particularly close connections to the attacks was moved to the Friday night slot to coincide with the 25th anniversary, and serves as the 13th annual Red Bandanna Game in honor of Welles Crowther ‘99.
Unveiling their special uniforms, Rutgers Football wrote on social media: 'As we take the field on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we honor all of those whose lives were lost on that tragic day, including our 37 alumni. We remember. We honor. We will never forget.'
Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano spoke passionately about the importance of the anniversary to the school last year. He was in his first year of his first stint as Rutgers head coach in 2001.
'It's still real important, right? 37 Rutgers alums lost that day,' Schiano said.
'Personally, a guy who I grew up with just two doors down was lost that day. A lot of us all lost people that are from this area and also what it did in changing the world.
'I have a great gratitude to the people who serve our country and protect us. I will educate the team and I do every year because most of these kids, if not all of them, weren't born yet.
'So to them it's just something they read in the history books, but I think being located where we are, I will always tell the story. We stood on the practice fields and you could see the smoke on the horizon.
Boston College annually pays tribute to Welles Crowther and his red bandana
Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano has spoken passionately about the importance to his team
'We knew we weren't playing a game, but our players just wanted to go out to get their minds onto something else. So it all definitely hits home.
'A couple years ago when we were at the Pinstripe Bowl, one of the events that they did was take us down to the site and then we went on a tour.
'I think now a lot of the guys, having gone through that just really understand it much better. But, again half the team wasn't with us then, so I'll definitely still educate them.
'As a team, we try to not only talk about football, but what's going on in their world, what's going on in the world. Because the thing that can't get lost is we're educating young men to hopefully become the kind of grown men that we want in our society.
'So we take that real seriously. I take that real seriously in dealing with our football team.'
