I was at the game Saturday night, and I share my fellow Trojans fans’ disappointment at the outcome. But there are a couple of silver linings to our thundercloud.

First, I think this team needed a wake-up call. The Trojans did not play well in our victory over Stanford, and our sudden leap up to #9 in the national rankings was not an accurate indication of the quality of our play.

Second, and much more important: On a cold wet night on the East Coast, there were many hundreds of vocal USC fans at the game . . . and their reaction genuinely impressed me. When things went badly, and even at the end of the game, none of them that I saw actually looked sad or angry. One of my favorite moments came in one of the interior walkways after the game, when the USC marching band was processing out, playing a tune: There were some 10 or 20 people — in USC gear and not — cheering them on and flashing the “fight on” V-sign at them. I joined in, and it made me feel better about the game: It’s good to have fans who don’t lose heart, whose love is not conditional on victory. This is especially so given USC’s reputation for feeling “entitled.” I have lived in cities where I experienced that phenomenon of fan entitlement: Montreal with the Canadiens, New York with the Yankees, and Washington, where the Redskins used to win Super Bowls. I think the Trojans fans on Saturday showed a better way. It helped that the hometown fans were very polite: I think the BC fans were as shocked as the USC folks at what happened. (One guy sitting behind me said, “Wait, is this the USC? Or, like, the University of Southern Connecticut?” By the fourth quarter he was cell-phoning all his friends, “turn on your TV, you’ll never believe . . .”)

PS. It was great to witness the celebration of the 9/11 hero Welles Crowther, who had played lacrosse at BC. The BC coach gave the game ball to Mr. Crowther’s parents.