:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/24164277/20131126_kkt_ai8_782.0.jpg)
All we want for Hannukah this year is a Syracuse Orange victory over the Boston College Eagles this weekend so we can play some Sun Belt team in a crap bowl. But oh what a fantastic crap bowl experience it would be!
But can we? Let's see what the TNIAAM crew thinks...
John Cassillo
Boston College 28, Syracuse 17
I want to pick Syracuse. I really do. But given the injuries we've sustained at this point, it's a bit difficult. You all saw what happened once Sean Hickey went down against Pitt -- the inside running game stopped being effective and the offense continually stalled out. Pitt's front is better than the Eagles', but we could see more of the same tactics, pushing our running game toward the edge where it's much less effective. Plus, there's Andre Williams, who's sure to bludgeon us throughout the game, only to set up Chase Rettig deep passes to Alex Amidon in single coverage (it will happen). The Orange's best shot to gain bowl eligibility was against Pitt and they blew it. Now, it looks like it's not going to happen at all.
Invisible Swordsman
Syracuse 27 - Boston College 21
The scoreboard and stat sheet obviously didn't show it, but Terrel Hunt had his best ACC game this season last week. With his starting future very much in doubt, I expect to see Terrel up his game even more this week and offer George McDonald the kind of balance that will help him make more effective use of Jerome Smith and our running game. On the other side of the ball is a man, Andre Williams, who has been just destroying the soft front sevens of the ACC...Syracuse doesn't have a soft front seven. In fact, I expect young Andre will be fitted with a brand new Jay Bromley sweater vest on Saturday, as Big96 and his friends contain BC just enough to allow SU to gain bowl eligibility and take 6 more #orangeeagle points!
Matt McClusky
Boston College 24, Syracuse 15
Andre Williams is a legit talent and the one guy who can out Syracuse, Syracuse. He's all about the ground and pound and I think Williams will do just enough to keep the SU defense on the field and the offense off of it.
It's a frustrating end to the season, losing three straight, but things are still going well for the Orange program. With health and time, this program under Scott Shafer will keep getting better. It's just unfortunate that the combination of inexperience and injury cost SU a return trip to the world of Bowls. Meaningless meaningful bowls.
Dan Lyons
Boston College 20, Syracuse 10
With all of the injuries and struggles as of late for this Syracuse team, I just don't see them pulling this one out against a decent Boston College team that knows exactly what it's strengths are and how it needs to win. While I trust the SU defense to do about as good a job as we've seen against Andre Williams, he's going to get his. As I said in our roundtable this week, I'm more concerned about Syracuse's offense than I am that of BC. I just don't think Syracuse has enough firepower to win this last one up at the Dome.
Sean Keeley
Boston College 27 - Syracuse 14
So here's the thing. I thought this team would cover the spread against FSU. They most certainly did not. I thought they'd beat Pitt because it just made sense. And then they didn't. So I figure the best thing I can do is just give up on these guys. Just assume Andre Williams is going to run for 300 yards. Just assume the injuries are just too much to overcome. Just assume that this team has lost its will and we're, once again, going to miss a bowl game after getting five wins fairly quickly. In theory, this should propel them to victory. But…probably not.
That's our say. What you say?
