The 2014 football season that began with a pair of wins for Syracuse came to a merciful end on Saturday with a fifth straight loss, a quarterback controversy and bunch of question marks heading into the offseason.
Syracuse’s season finale concluded like so many other games throughout the year – good defense, bad offense and a few head scratching plays in between.
The Orange had every opportunity to beat Boston College, even after a first half when AJ Long passed for nine yards. But Syracuse couldn’t execute even the simplest offensive plays with certainty, like a short pass over the middle or a swing pass to a running back out of the flat.
Instead, the Orange lost to the Eagles, 28-7, in its first trip to Chestnut Hill since 2004. Syracuse finished the season 3-9 (1-7 ACC), its worst record since Greg Robinson’s final season in 2008.
The game started out poorly for Scott Shafer’s group when the Eagles scored on the opening kickoff, the second return touchdown Syracuse has allowed in three games.
After the Eagles scored 12 seconds in, they never trailed for the rest of the game. The Orange defense did its part despite the final score, but didn’t get any support from its offensive teammates. Long tied the game with a four-yard scramble in the first quarter. But most of the game, he replicated the freshman mistakes that have haunted him all year. Long misfired and miscommunicated with his receivers, which caused Syracuse to fail to convert its first seven third down conversions.
Throughout the week, Shafer talked about rekindling Syracuse’s northeastern rivalry with Boston College. The teams backed up some of that hype with a skirmish after a first quarter play.
Unfortunately for Shafer, his offense didn’t have quite the same punch.
Long improved after his nine-yard first half, but his final line was only somewhat better: 7-for-18 for 59 yards and an interception. Including a late completion from Austin Wilson, the Orange had a season-low 66 passing yards on the day.
Even with Long’s ineffectiveness, he came back from halftime with the ball and a chance to tie the game. That’s when Long was picked off at his own 30 on a wheel route pass to Prince-Tyson Gulley. And four plays later, the Eagles cashed in, taking what felt like an insurmountable 21-7 lead.
Tyler Rouse, BC’s back from Baldwinsville, then put the game away with a 42-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that put the Eagles up 28-7. At that point, Boston College’s offense had been on the field more than ten minutes more than Syracuse’s.
Rouse’s rushing touchdown was a fitting backbreaker. It contrasted the struggles for Syracuse’s running backs, who rushed for just over two yards per carry against the Eagles and haven’t scored against an FBS team all season. Both rushing touchdowns – one apiece from Adonis Ameem-Moore and Gulley – came against Villanova in the season opener.
And one image captured just how much these programs have gone in different directions in just one season. Eagles head coach Steve Addazio stormed onto the field to embrace his players after Rouse's touchdown, while Shafer was shown adjusting his headset in frustration.
Last year, Shafer celebrated while Addazio shrugged after Josh Parris’ game-winning touchdown that sent Syracuse bowling in the final week of the season.
But this time, it’s the Eagles who finish their season strong, heading to a second straight bowl.
The Orange, meanwhile, went out without much of a fight.