Teams: Syracuse Orange (4-7, 2-5) vs. Boston College Eagles (6-5. 3-4)
Day & Time: Saturday, November 25, 2017, 12:20 p.m. ET
Location: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Line: N/A -- they’re waiting on injury news
TV/Streaming: ACC Network (check your local listings) or WatchESPN
Radio: Syracuse IMG Network, WAER 88.3, Sirius 93/XM 193
Boston College blog: BC Interruption
Rivalry: 31-19, Syracuse leads
Current Streak: 2, Orange
First Meeting: Syracuse beat BC 10-0 back in 1924 in a game that was a spiritual predecessor to many of the contests to come. Boston College wasn’t even technically a major program, though Chick Meehan didn’t seem to care much while scheduling that year en route to a 8-2-1 record. After the game, the Eagles were trying to think of a slogan to find better players. One BC defender suggested SU were better “gents” that day. That offseason, they tried to entice potential players with the slogan “Be a Gent.” It never caught on.
Last Meeting: While the rain might have slowed down the scoring, it didn’t do much to stop Syracuse from throwing through a 28-20 Orange win. Eric Dungey threw for 434 yards on just 32 completions, and both Amba Etta-Tawo and Steve Ishmael topped 100 yards receiving. SU’s defense couldn’t really slow the Boston College rushing attack, but the traditionally anemic BC passing game was enough to prevent a win for the Eagles.
Head Coaches: SU: Dino Babers (2nd year, 8-15); Boston College: Steve Addazio (5th year, 30-32)
Coach Bio: The chief dude played at Central Connecticut State (hey, we know that place!), then failed to catch on with the Patriots and the USFL before earning his master’s at CCSU. His first college coaching job came at Syracuse in 1995, then he moved on to Notre Dame where he’d catch a bad case of Indiana. Addazio served on the Hoosiers staff from 2002 through 2004, then coached Florida from 2005 through 2010. He won a bowl game with Al Golden’s players at Temple in 2011, and Boston College hired him after he went 4-7 in 2012. Addazio’s gone 7-6 three times in four years at BC and might might it four times this season.
Last Year: Boston College showed everyone what garbage non-conference schedules can do. The Eagles went 4-0 against UMass, Buffalo, Wagner and UConn, while beating NC State and Wake Forest in ACC play. Then, they somehow beat Maryland 36-30 in a bowl game that will forever puzzle even the brightest minds at Boston University.
Last Game: College football’s stupid, so BC played UConn “on the road” at Fenway Park for the world’s largest meet-up of Yankees fans outside of a Duke basketball game. The Eagles ran for 330 yards and forced three turnovers to earn an inexplicable 39-16 win. UConn tried to hand them the Civil ConFLiCT trophy after the game, and Boston College told them the loser could just keep Paul Pasqualoni instead.
"Fear Me, I've Killed Hundreds of Timelords": Since Boston College figured out how to learn on the run successfully, A.J. Dillon’s been pretty lethal at the halfback position. He’s rushed for 1,239 yards on over five yards per carry, to go along with 10 touchdowns. He’s rushed for 149 yards or more in four of the last six games (including 200 vs. UConn). Good luck stopping that...
If Syracuse Wins: Considering it would likely be with either Zack Mahoney or Rex Culpepper (or both?) at quarterback, I’d say it would be a nice feat to end the year. BC’s been on a roll, even if the aesthetics are questionable. A fifth win for Syracuse would make this season look a lot more like progress than another 4-8 campaign would. Also, we’d be set up well to the retain the #OrangeEagle for a fifth consecutive year. #CAWWWWWWWWWW
If Syracuse Loses: It wouldn’t be unexpected, but it would certainly suck to lose to your biggest active rival to hand them a seventh win, while you log your third straight 4-8 season and bemoan a five-game losing streak to end the year.
Fun Fact No. 1: In 2015-16, Boston College pulled off the impressive feat of going 0-8 in ACC football play, AND 0-18 in ACC hoops in the same academic year. That’s garbage, and we can take pride in knowing we do not hold such a claim to fame.
Fun Fact No. 2: Some lunatic once created the “Shafer-Addazio Corollary” around here. It was interesting while it lasted, though it didn’t make the end of Shafer’s time any easier to stomach.