Seniors Bid Farewell In Heartbreaking Loss At Syracuse
By TJ Hartnett – @T_Hartnett2
Disappointing. One word sums up an entire year of football on The Heights. The story was the same in Saturday’s loss to the Eagles’ rival Syracuse in the final game of the season. Both teams entered the game with a record of 3-8, both not having one a game since the end of September. Being rivalry week, emotions ran high throughout, charging up the Carrier Dome from kickoff onward. The #1 defense in the nation, coming off a game in which they forced 5 turnovers against the #4 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame was met with a mid year transfer walk on quarterback Zack Mahoney of the Orange. Like Boston College, Syracuse was bitten by the injury bug, losing captain QB Terel Hunt and freshman backup Eric Dungey before Mahoney took the reigns for NC State the week prior.
Jeff Smith got the start for the Eagles after his impressive outing against the Irish at Fenway, going 5-6 with 2 TD’s, one rushing and one throwing. The story was not the same in Syracuse. Smith went 1 for 13 for 9 yards. Yes that is correct, one complete pass through four quarters for nine positive yards. That catch occurred mid way through the fourth quarter to Thadd Smith. Jeff Smith didn’t exactly receive any help on the other hand. He had three balls dropped and very little protection from a shaky offensive line, causing him to leave the pocket on almost every occasion. Characteristically, Boston College went to the ground on seemingly every play, becoming predictable to the weak 106th ranked Syracuse defense. That “weak” Orange defense, caused two interceptions from the hand of Smith, changing the dynamic of the game tremendously. The lone offensive bright spot for the Eagles was upstate New York native, junior RB Tyler Rouse. Rouse ran for 111 yards and two TD’s in by far his best game of the season. Rouse has had a history with the rival Orange, rushing for 224 yards and four TD’s in three games as an Eagle. He was impressive to say the least, gaining large yards after contact and converting a crucial 4th down late in the 4th quarter to set up a Colten Litchenberg 43 yard FG to tie the game.
But the name of the game today was simple, penalties. At the half, the Eagles had 80 yards of offense and 89 total penalty yards. The Eagles had 7 points and 8 penalties when they went into the locker room. On multiple occasions, particularly a Syracuse drive in the 2nd quarter, penalties led to points on the Orange’s side of the scoreboard. This drive consisted of a face mask (15 yards), another face mask (offset with a holding call), and a pass interference (14 yards), hindering the dominant Boston College defense and leading to a Syracuse touchdown. In total, the Eagles had 11 penalties for 119 yards compared to Syracuse’s 6 for 55 yards. That is the difference in the game.
The Eagles fell to the Orange 20-17 on a 35 yard FG as time expired. Coach Scott Schafer, fired earlier this week, was carried off the field by his senior class, in classic Rudy style. At his press conference, Coach Steve Addazio made it clear he and the entire team was disappointed, as they should be. This defense, these seniors, and the BC legacy deserved better. Now, we must look forward and learn from the past, hoping that this is rock bottom for the Boston College football program. With a nice looking recruiting class coming in and Addazio’s recruits finally becoming upperclassmen, BC hopes to return the heights of the ACC. This loss was clearly a tough way to go out, but characteristic of this season as a whole. Another three point loss in a last second defeat. Five losses coming from a three point margin is the heartbreaking tale for the Eagles. “We have to learn how to not give those away” Addazio said of the heartbreaking losses. The head dude knows better than anyone how much these defeats sting. Going into the offseason, something needs to be done. What that something is, I don’t think anyone knows. All I know is, the Eagles have an extra month of offseason thinking to figure out what is wrong and what changes need to be made. Addazio said from the start, year 3 would be the rebuilding year for this program, and though many never expected it to be this bad, the good news is year 4 is just around the corner. I can only hope it will have the same ending as the movie Fever Pitch starring Jimmy Fallon and the tale of the 2004 miracle team Red Sox. In the movie, Fallon receives his brand new 2004 season tickets in the winter, breaks the box open, breaths the new ticket scent in, and exclaims “yep, new season, clean slate, this smells like the year.” Bring on Dublin, 9-3-16.