THAT’S A STRIKE!
Win over ’Cuse helps BC score big in bowling
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Boston College coach Steve Addazio labeled yesterday’s convincing 42-14 victory over Syracuse in the
BOSTON COLLEGE 42 SYRACUSE 14
Carrier Dome the byproduct of “complementary football.”
The Eagles controlled all three phases but totally dominated on offense with a precise balanced attack under the command of backup quarterback Darius Wade, who made his second start of the season in place of redshirt freshman Anthony Brown. Wade completed an efficient 16-of-20 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown against the host Orange.
“I thought we came out and played great complementary football,” said Addazio. “On offense, we came out and played good complementary football and the defense, I thought, did a great job making them go the long hard way.
“I thought we played physically, we played relentlessly and we played together for each other. That is what I enjoyed seeing the most.”
With their first win in the Carrier Dome since 2010, the Eagles improved to 7-5 and 4-4 in the ACC and enhanced their bowl prospects in the process. The two bowls most likely in play for BC are the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium and the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
“This is a tough place to come in and we put up the most points by BC against Syracuse and we did it the physical way,” said Addazio.
The Eagles ran 76 plays and racked up a whopping 581 yards of total offense, 333 on the ground and 248 in the air. BC had 24 first downs and a stellar 8-of-14 on third-down conversions.
Freshman tailback AJ Dillon shredded the Syracuse defense for 193 rushing yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns. Dillon ended the season with a freshman record 1,432 yards and finished second to Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson (1,443), the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, for the ACC rushing title.
“(Dillon) is a great player and he was hurt in practice this week and didn’t take one snap or run or anything,” said Addazio. “He came into the game the way he did speaks volumes for what he did.”
While the Orange had 417 yards of total offense, the bulk came on chunk pass plays from freshman quarterback Rex Culpepper to Steve Ishmael, who finished with 187 yards on 11 catches with a touchdown.
BC neutralized the other aspects of the Syracuse offense with two forced fumbles, an interception and six tackles for a loss.
BC opened the second half with a methodical 69yard, 10-play drive to take a 35-14 lead with 10:57 to play in the third quarter. Wade completed four passes for 53 yards on the drive. Dillon smashed in from a yard out for his third score.
Freshman tailback Travis Levy made a juggling catch on a short wheel route from Wade and went 46 yards for a touchdown to put BC up 42-14 with 12:37 left in the game.
BC scored 28 points in the first half with a pair of touchdown runs by Dillon, a 64-yard jet sweep by receiver Jeff Smith and 30-yard fumble return by safety Will Harris.