1997 Syracuse Football Rewind: Orange hold on to defeat Boston College

The 1997 Syracuse Orange found a way to win when the offense wasn’t dominating. Syracuse was held to 20 points by the Boston College Eagles, but the Orange defense did the job in the second half to secure a 20-10 win.

BC got on the board first when Omari Walker cashed in a two-yard run after a Donovan McNabb fumble. The Orange responded with a one-yard Kyle McIntosh run and that was the score after one quarter. BC regained the lead on a field goal, but Syracuse was able to match on a Nate Trout kick right before the half.

Another Trout field goal gave Syracuse their first lead of the day and after three quarters it was 13-10 Orange. McNabb gave Syracuse a bit of cushion when he found Kevin Johnson on a third-down pass that went for a 66-yard touchdown. That’s when the Syracuse defense took over.

Will Allen brought down BC’s Mike Cloud after a 53-yard run and a key sack by Morlon Greenwood forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal to make it 20-13. The Eagles got the ball back with one more chance at the tie but Phil Nash intercepted Matt Hasselbeck to secure the win.

McNabb struggled completing only 12 of 28 passes for 221 yards and the one touchdown. McIntosh led the way on the ground with 24 carries for 125 yards. Hasselbeck was 12-20 for 171 yards and Cloud led BC’s ground game with 14 carries for 89 yards.

Syracuse moves to 7-3 on the season and will finish on the road at Pitt then Miami.