Five Takeaways: Boston College 17 Syracuse 10

Syracuse lost its fifth straight game Friday night with a 17-10 defeat to Boston College. Here are five takeaways from the loss. 

1. LeQuint Allen

Allen was fantastic in this game, the biggest bright spot for the Orange. In total, he racked up 142 yards on 18 carries for 7.9 yards per attempt. The only thing missing was a little more breakaway speed to take the long run in the third quarter to the house. Instead, Syracuse settled for a short field goal. Regardless, he was really, really good and looked poised to carry the offensive load. He nearly did that. Allen is a very good player that Syracuse can build around in the future. 

2. Offensive Line

The offensive line played one of its better games of the season from a purely blocking standpoint. They opened up holes for a rushing attack that racked up 209 yards despite only having the ball for 17 minutes. While the passing attack struggled, the line did a solid job of pass protection for the most part. The issue the line had was with penalties. Too many false starts or other penalties that put Syracuse behind the chains. Most notably was the fourth and inches that turned into fourth and five due to a false start. 

3. Carlos Del Rio-Wilson

I wonder if something was wrong with Del Rio-Wilson physically. While he ran the ball very well (67 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown), he really struggled throwing the ball. He has had decision making issues in the past but has never had an issue with arm strength. He was short on a lot of throws in this one, which was surprising. That said, far too many interceptions. You cannot throw four picks against a power five team and expect to win. They stalled three promising drives, especially in the fourth quarter following a long Allen run that put Syracuse in position to take the lead with the game tied at 10. Del Rio-Wilson through a slant to Umari Hatcher, but the ball was behind the intended receiver. Hatcher still got his hands on it but Elijah Jones ripped it away for an interception. Yes Hatcher cannot let the ball get ripped away, but a better ball and that is a moot point. If Shrader is unable to go moving forward, CDRW must be better throwing the ball. 

4. Mistakes & Missed Opportunities

The penalties were an issue as noted above with the offensive line. Also a dumb late hit by Anwar Sparrow extended a Boston College drive. The defense, though, was very good for the most part. It held the Eagles to just 3.2 yards per carry on the day and 17 points despite BC holding the ball for 42 minutes. It forced two turnovers. However, the defense also dropped five interceptions. Five. Even grabbing one or two of them may have changed the outcome. Syracuse also allowed Boston College to pick up three first downs on fourth down tries in four attempts. Offensively, beyond the penalties, the interceptions noted above were a huge issue. As was the inability to complete a pass down the field. I did like some of the changes offensively. Going to a run based attack, the quick screens to the outside to receivers, tight end and even Allen. But the inability to complete passes down the field killed them. I also thought, at times, drives stalled when they stopped what was working. Running the ball to get deep into Boston College territory then throwing it right after. I would have liked them to keep running. One of the biggest mistakes in this game was not committed by Syracuse or Boston College. Late in the first half, Boston College threw an incomplete pass that should have given them third and nine at the SU 14 yard line. Instead, despite almost no contact, defensive pass interference was called that gave the Eagles first down at the two and essentially gifted them a touchdown. Absent that, given Boston College's struggles throwing the ball to that point, picking up a third and long was not likely. Instead of Syracuse going into halftime up 7-6, the Orange trailed 10-7. It was an inexcusable mistake by the officials. 

5. How Does Syracuse Bounce Back?

I cannot imagine the mental toll this five game losing streak is taking on the team. They hear all of the chatter from the fans. It is easy to say keep everything internal and stay together, but much harder to do. What I will say is the team did play hard Friday night, so I do not think the coaching staff will lose the locker room from that standpoint. And Syracuse did bounce back from a five game losing streak last season. This year, though, feels different than that. The struggles seem to be much more pronounced, especially offensively. Syracuse was already down two offensive linemen, its top receiving threat and its starting quarterback this week. Del Rio-Wilson was limping around at the end of the game, so will he be 100%? Two offensive linemen went down against BC, so what will that look like? A lot of questions remain including the status of head coach Dino Babers. The fans continue to discuss his future and that got even more cloudy after this latest loss. It is very easy to succumb to all of this negativity. Let's see if they are able to put that aside and put a better effort on the field against a Pittsburgh team that has had a lot of issues of its own so far this season.