After a demoralizing 58-27 loss to Boston College on Saturday afternoon, Syracuse can kiss its dreams of back-to-back bowl appearances goodbye. The odds that SU rattles off three straight wins to close the year are incredibly slim. This was the final chance to salvage the season and that chance is now gone.
The weirdest part about this game is how good the Orange looked in the first quarter. Sure, there were some problems defensively, but the offensive line was giving quarterback Tommy DeVito time to throw and he had his best quarter of the season. The Orange led 17-10 at the end of the first and were greeted on the sidelines by a warm round of applause from the Syracuse faithful.
Then, the second quarter started. Boston College outscored Syracuse 34-3 in the period. Yes, that’s right. 34-3! How does that even happen? You could make the case that it was the worst quarter of Syracuse football since Dino Babers took over. The defense was consistently out of position and seemingly every Eagles play went for at least 10 yards. Most of them went for more.
That brilliant offense led to 691 yards, the fourth most yards a Syracuse defense has ever given up. How did we get here? Why are we still surprised?
Season Timeline
August: As you know, expectations were sky high. How could they not have been with the roster Syracuse returned from a ten-win season. Basically everyone pegged the Orange with at least nine wins and a potential trip to the Orange Bowl. The sky seemed to be the limit for Babers’ team.
September: Expectations were lowered after being blown out by Clemson on the national stage. Even with that loss, fans wondered if losses to Maryland and Clemson were products of a slow start to the season.
October: Man, things were really starting to get out of hand. After the loss to NC State, people started to realize this would likely be a 6-7 win team.
Here we are in November, with season expectations at an all-time low. Instead of worrying about a bowl birth, the Orange now have their work cut out for them to avoid the program’s first three-win season since 2014. It’s a very real possibility that the Orange end the season without a win against a power five opponent.
Just think about that. Incredible.
