Picture this: it’s the fourth quarter. You kick the field goal to cut the lead to one possession, and all you need to do is recover an onside kick. It’s no easy task, as onside attempts are 12% successful on average in the NCAA. You have all the hope in the world, and it gets ripped out of your hands. For Syracuse in Saturday’s 37-31 loss to Boston College, a lot of fans are saying it was BS. Let’s dive into it.
If you were living under a rock this weekend (or simply watching a better game than SU-BC on the CW Network,) Syracuse attempted an onside kick that was recovered by Darrell Gill Jr. The only problem was that the referees ruled an illegal block on Fadil Diggs, forcing a rekick. BC then recovered the next attempt and the ‘Cuse lost the game.
“They said we blocked early so I guess we blocked early,” Syracuse head coach Fran Brown said. He was NOT HAPPY about the call, almost appearing as if they were screwed. But as the face of a program should do, he took the high road.
“He called it,” Brown said. “I mean, what you want me to say? It ain’t going to change no matter what I say now. They made a call. We have to go with the call. So we’re gonna get ready for the next one.”
For those of you saying Syracuse got screwed, they didn’t deserve to win this game anyway. The Eagles ran for 313 yards on the Orange, which is quite frankly embarrassing. Boston College’s starting quarterback Thomas Castellanos left the game with an injury, and the backup CARVED them up. They had just 69 total passing yards and STILL found a way to beat you. So sure, it may have been a bad call, but they most certainly were not screwed out of winning this game. Syracuse is clearly not a top contender in the ACC, but we all expected this. Give Fran Brown some time to keep establishing a culture.
