Boston College runs through Syracuse defense, wins 58-27
Boston College runs through Syracuse
Boston Colleges’ stellar rushing offense, led by AJ Dillon and David Bailey, was on full display Saturday as the running back committee accounted for nearly 500 yards and five touchdowns in a blowout win over the Syracuse Orange.
Syracuse dropped to 3-6 on the season and 0-4 in ACC Conference play as Boston College improved to 5-4 on the year.
The Orange came out swinging in the first quarter of their ACC showdown with the Eagles. After the defense held Boston College to a field goal on the first drive of the game, quarterback Tommy DeVito gave Syracuse the lead with a 9-yard touchdown toss to tight end Aaron Hackett.
Syracuse took the lead for the last time in the game on a 30-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt with 9:29 remaining in the first half. Afterwards, most of the offense came from Boston College, which scored 34 unanswered points between the second and third quarters.
In his first carries since the September 28th game against Holy Cross, freshman Jawhar Jordan got the Orange offense moving forward with a couple bursts of speed. Two forced fumbles by Andre Cisco and Trill Williams on consecutive drives by Boston College then gave the Orange great field position. The offense, led by DeVito, capitalized on the turnovers with a field goal and touchdown. The touchdown was DeVito’s second of the day, this time on a 26-yard strike to receiver Trishton Jackson that gave Syracuse a 17-10 lead.
The second quarter was a story of missed tackles and lapses for Syracuse as they were outscored 34-3. The Eagles offense seemed virtually unstoppable as they strung together 12 plays for 275 yards on four drives back to back. That yardage is the result of four plays that went over 50 yards as the Eagles stormed back into the lead. The plays were broken up by a 30-yard field goal from Syracuse kicker Andre Szmyt, but the 20-17 lead didn’t last long for the Orange.
Boston College ran away with the rest of the half, scoring 27 unanswered points to head into the locker rooms with a 44-20 lead. Running backs AJ Dillon and David Bailey compiled 146 and 133 yards, respectively, and the Eagles offense rushed for 336 yards as a unit in the first half. It seemed as though the Syracuse defense couldn’t make a tackle throughout the quarter, and the boos rang out from the crowd as they exited the field for halftime.
The Syracuse defense had no answer to stop the ground game from Boston College. Orange coach Dino Babers said that his defense was getting worn out by the constant rushing attack.
“[The defense] got tired of hitting Dillon, and his backup,” he said in the post-game press conference.
The big runs and missed tackles kept piling up as the second half opened up. AJ Dillon capped off a 74-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 31 points for the Eagles. After failing to convert on fourth down on consecutive drives, Syracuse was finally able to muster some offense as Tommy DeVito again connected with Trishton Jackson, this time for an 85-yard touchdown.
But that would be the last score for the Orange as DeVito and the rest of the offense weren’t able to make up for the defensive lapses. AJ Dillon then pushed into the endzone for his third score of the affair early in the fourth quarter, all but ending any comeback hopes for Syracuse.
The boos that came down from the stands were evidence of the frustration that the disappointing season is bringing to Syracuse fans. Those boos clearly struck a chord with some of the Orange players, like Andrew Armstrong who discussed the scenario in the post-game press conference.
“We apologize to the fans,” Armstrong said. “We feel the same heartache that they do, probably even worse.”
Coming up for the Orange will be a bye week before two straight road games at Duke and Louisville. Syracuse will close out the regular season at the Dome with a home game against 23rd ranked Wake Forest.
is a contributor to The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.
is a contributor to The NewsHouse.
