Orange Rallies for 34-31 Win Against BC

Saturday, November 30

Syracuse, NY

3:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

6-6 , 4-4

Boston College

7-5 , 4-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Boston College

Syracuse

Terrel Hunt dives into the end zone on the third consecutive score of the second quarter. Hunt set career highs for completions (29), passing yards (270) and yards of total offense (360) Saturday against Boston College..

Photo by: Charles Wainwright

11/30/2013 4:24:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Final Stats | Notes | Photos | Coach Shafer Quotes | Syracuse Student-Athlete Quotes | Boston College Quotes
VIDEO: Highlights | Coach Shafer Press Conference | Syracuse Players Press Conference

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Terrel Hunt connected with Josh Parris on an eight-yard touchdown to lift Syracuse (6-6, 4-4 ACC) past Boston College (7-5, 4-4 ACC) 34-31 on Saturday, Nov. 30 at the Carrier Dome. Hunt led the Orange 75 yards in 2:02 to overcome a 31-27 deficit and defeat the Eagles to become bowl eligible.

Hunt finished with a career-high 360 yards of total offense, including a personal-best 270 passing yards and 90 rushing yards. He completed a career-high 29-of-43 passes, including two touchdowns, and connected with 10 different receivers. He also ran for a score.

The Orange offense was efficent all day, converting 66.7 percent of the time (12-of-18) on third down and running a season-high 94 plays for 480 yards.

Ryan Norton kicked a pair of field goals, including a career-long 44-yarder in the second half, to help atone for a 30-yard miss early in the game.

Alvin Cornelius led SU's receivers with seven catches for 81 yards, both personal bests. Parris had a career-high seven receptions for 47 yards and caught the first two touchdowns of his career. In addition to the game-winner, Parris caught a one-yard TD pass from Hunt in the second quarter.

The SU defense held BC's Andre Williams, the nation's leading rusher, to 29 yards on nine carries. The output was 159.5 yards below Williams' season average of 188.5 yards per game. The Heisman hopeful left the game early in the third quarter with an injury and did not return. In addition to bottling up Williams, the Orange held the Eagles to a 30 percent conversion rate on third down (3-of-10).

Marqez Hodge led the Syracuse defense in tackles with seven, including six solo takedowns. Marquis Spruill assisted on a tackle for loss to raise his career total 40, tied for second in the SU career record book. Cameron Lynch intercepted his second pass of the season in the second quarter, posted two tackles, and was credited with a quarterback hurry.

BC quarterback Chase Rettig completed 10-of-18 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. He was also the Eagles' leading rusher with 85 yards on four carries. Alex Amidon led the Eagles with 60 receiving yards on three catches.

The Orange missed out on two scoring opportunities in the first quarter and trailed 7-0 at the end of the first 15 minutes. SU marched 40 yards to the BC 13 on its second drive of the game, but Norton's 30-yard field goal attempt was wide right. SU went 51 yards on its next possession, but turned the ball over on downs inside the five. On the ensuing BC possession, Rettig directed a 96-yard scoring drive that ended with a 23-yard run into the end zone by Williams.

Syracuse opened the second quarter with a 75-yard scoring drive, capped by Hunt's one-yard touchdown pass to Parris, to tie the game at 7-7 with 10:46 left in the first half.

George Morris II scored the first touchdown of his career on the next SU series, going into the end zone from four yards out to give Syracuse its first lead of the day with 6:12 remaining in the second quarter. Hunt made it three consecutive scoring drives when he dove across the goal line to put the Orange up by two touchdowns, 21-7, with 1:10 remaining in the second.

Boston College had enough time for one more scoring drive before halftime. The key play was a 52-yard pass from Rettig to Amidon. Rettig then found C.J. Parsons for a nine-yard touchdown that closed the gap to 21-14 at the break.

The Eagles struck again on their opening drive of the third quarter to tie the game, 21-21, as Rettig connected with Jake Sinkovec for a nine-yard score at the 9:56 mark of the third stanza. The Orange answered late in the quarter with a 42-yard field goal by Norton with 3:44 remaining. The SU defense stopped the Eagles on their final possession of the period to head into the fourth with a 24-21 advantage.

Boston College regained the lead in the middle of the fourth quarter when Rettig plunged into the end zone on a one-yard run to make the score 28-24 Eagles with 7:49 remaining in the game. Norton drilled a 44-yard field goal 2 minutes and 46 seconds later to cut the BC lead to 28-27 with 5:03 to go.

The Orange defense forced a three-and-out on BC's next series to regain possession, but Steele Divitto intercepted Hunt's second-down pass on the ensuing SU possession and returned it to the Orange 22-yard line. After a 17-yard run by Willis down to the five, SU stopped the Eagles on three straight goal-to-go plays and BC settled for a Nate Freese 21-yard field goal.

With 2:08 left and no timeouts, Hunt completed passes to Parris and Cornelius to quickly get the Orange near midfield. An eight-yard Hunt run and a BC penalty for pass interference put the ball on the Eagles' 33-yard line. Hunt took off running again on the next play. He was corralled by a host of BC defenders and the ball came loose. Senior center Macky MacPherson alertly jumped on it at the BC 25 to keep SU's hopes alive. Four plays later, on first-and-goal, Hunt delivered a strike to Parris on a tight-end throwback and Parris bulled his way into the end zone for the winning points.

The victory was SU's third in its last four meetings with the Eagles. Syracuse finishes its inaugural ACC campaign with a 4-4 league record, tied with Boston College for third place in the Atlantic Division behind Florida State and Clemson.