Four Downs: Syracuse

Halfway through the season, AJ Dillon was just a running back with promise. He had a couple of long runs but hadn't really started gaining traction behind his offensive line. He only had 178 yards combined through the first four games, and Boston College stood 1-3 after back-to-back-to-back losses to Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Clemson.

Dillon had a slight breakout against Central Michigan, but it went largely unnoticed after BC stepped backwards with a loss to Virginia Tech. By the time the Louisville trip happened, there wasn't much public indication of what was about to happen.

What a difference two months can make.

Dillon finished the regular season with three straight games at or within 200 yards. On Saturday, he rushed for 193, averaging 8.4 yards per carry and scoring three touchdowns as the Eagles mauled Syracuse, 42-14, in their annual rivalry matchup.

"I really wanted to jumpstart the game," Dillon said. "Coach (Steve Addazio) had been talking all week about not waiting to make a play. Everyone should go out and just make a play - offense, defense and special teams. So, I was sitting back there and ran through. When I hit the end zone I saw my mom - who I had been telling all week I would score for her - so it was a pretty great feeling."

Dillon scored on his first carry, driving through the center of the defensive line for 22 yards. His next run was a 50-yard sprint to daylight, and after three carries, he had 80 yards and two touchdowns. It paced him to over 100 yards in the first half for the sixth time this year, though he ultimately came seven yards short of a third 200-yard game.

The true freshman now finishes the regular season with 1,432 yards. That's by far the most yardage by a running back in the entire ACC heading into bowl season, clearing Georgia Tech's KirVonte Benson by 350 yards. It's second most in the league behind only Louisville's Lamar Jackson (1,443 yards). In Boston College terms, it's sixth all-time, tied with Derrick Knight in 2002.

"It was a physical football game," Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. "They ran the ball extremely well and it was difficult to stop them."

Dillon's season isn't over. He now heads into a bowl game with a chance to catch both Montel Harris and William Green in the program record books, while names like Mike Cloud and Andre Williams await his company.

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First Down: Boston College offense

The Eagles might have saved their best for last on Saturday, finishing the regular season with one of their best performances. The team scored 35-plus points for the fifth time this year, the most since the 2007 season with Matt Ryan. BC amassed 581 yards of offense, 333 on the ground with four touchdowns. Darius Wade was incredibly efficient passing, going 16-for-20 for 248 yards and a touchdown and no picks.

Dillon led the rushing attack, but others enjoyed their respective moments. Jeff Smith ran 64 yards on a jet sweep for a touchdown, and Jon Hilliman finished with 74 yards on 19 carries, including a 26-yard rumble.

Wade, meanwhile, silenced doubters and critics with a much improved second start. Moving from the cold rain at Fenway Park, he spread the ball around to 10 different receivers in the climate-controlled Carrier Dome. He hit Travis Levy for a 46-yard touchdown, the first of the freshman's career, and his utilization of Kobay White and Michael Walker early in the game set the tone for the throw game.

"It was a great day for Boston College," head coach Steve Addazio said. "We played a great football team. Syracuse has certainly had their fair share of injuries, as all of us have. We were 10 guys down today and I thought we played great complementary football."

Before the game, I talked about how a rivalry needs history and moments. The Boston College offense score more points against Syracuse than it ever had in the matchup's 51-year history. The Eagles walked off the field on Saturday with one of those signature moments with a complete effort and one of the offense's finest of the season.

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Second Down: Syracuse Offense

The "go fast" offense in football is a lot like a basketball team built around three point shots. It has its rightful place in the game, and it's successful as long as execution remains high. It can get a team back on track incredibly fast, and it can render big leads unsafe.

That's a little bit of what happened in the second quarter. Trailing 14-7, Syracuse punted from midfield, after which BC scored almost immediately on Smith's jet sweep. Two plays and 23 seconds later, BC scored again when quarterback Rex Culpepper threw a screen pass that didn't go forward. The lateral was broken up by Hamp Cheevers and resulted in a fumble scoop by Will Harris. Harris then rumbled home for a touchdown. A 14-point swing put BC up 28-7 with just over one minute of game clock.

That's when Syracuse unveiled another gear. They went 75 yards in 1:17, scoring in four plays when Culpepper hit Ervin Phillips for 17 yards. It was the second time Syracuse scored in less than two minutes, having nailed a five-play, 65-yard drive in 1:58 in the first quarter.

"When I first got here, Erv was playing some kind of alphabet position," Dino Babers said. "I'm not sure what it was called. He was the first person that really took to the techniques and fundamentals we were talking about, which allowed him to have success in 2016."

I think about Buddy Ryan whenever I see a run-and-gun offense. He hated the fast offense when he was the defensive coordinator of the Houston Oilers, and he had an infamous incident with offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride about it. He believed that going fast taxed the defense too much. But 20 years later, teams are going faster in an attempt to put opposing defenses on roller skates going backwards.

Syracuse is the latest in a long list of teams to go that fast, but the Orange might be the fastest. Dino Babers identified some great athletes for his team, and he's made them into playmakers. The score on Saturday might not have indicated it, but the seeds are there. It won't be long before this rivalry matches some of the nation's best.

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Third Down: Boston College defense

The Syracuse offense might have had some moments, but it couldn't outpace and outwork the Boston College defense. Cheevers' breakup/fumble and Harris' subsequent touchdown was just one play. Harris later had a second fumble recovery, and Lukas Denis had his seventh interception of the season when he picked off Rex Culpepper.

"We know the scheme they like to run - a vertical pass game - so all week we've been practicing lining up at the right depth, getting to the right spot," Denis said. "That exactly play I saw two receivers on one side, no receivers on the back side, so I shifted. On the snap, he threw it right to me, and I had great blocking by my teammates right down the field.

"I think most (interceptions) come from being in the right place pre-snap," Denis explained. "I was just kind of aligned right already and it worked in my favor."

The game's helmet sticker goes to Davon Jones, who once again made an appearance on defense at linebacker. He's the fourth starter at his position after BC lost Connor Strachan, Max Richardson and John Lamot at various, different times.

While Lamot started, the unit worked on converting Jones from a running back to a linebacker. Jones, who threw a running back option to Tommy Sweeney for a touchdown last season, started on Saturday and recorded eight tackles and one tackle for loss.

"Davon Jones went from running back to linebacker, then got activated as a linebacker, having never really played the position in his life," Steve Addazio said. "He was very unselfish. He had to sit on that side of the ball in hopes that he had an opportunity, and sure enough, an opportunity came."

The Eagles have an opportunity to get a little bit healthier with some time off before their bowl game, which has yet to be determined.

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Fourth Down: The ACC Weekend

Friday afternoon began with Miami and Pittsburgh at Heinz Field. I figured I would sit back and watch the Turnover Chain in action while smothering leftover turkey in gravy. Then the Panthers beat the Hurricanes, 24-14, and we were off and running.

The ACC's weekend otherwise played out as expected with one "upset" but there were some solid football games. Duke beat Wake Forest to become bowl eligible, dropping the Demon Deacons to an identical 7-5 overall record and 4-4 conference record as BC. Louisville also finished 4-4 in league play but finished with an 8-4 overall record with its win over Kentucky.

Clemson avoided a misstep against South Carolina to finish at 11-1, while Florida State beat Florida to pull within a game of bowl eligibility.

The Coastal Division finishes with two bowl ineligible teams ahead of teams heading to the postseason. Georgia Tech's loss to Georgia dropped the Yellow Jackets to 5-6 overall, while Pittsburgh finished 5-7 despite the win over the Hurricanes. They finish ahead or tied with Virginia and Duke, who have better overall records.

The season will end with the Atlantic Division sending more teams to bowl games than its Coastal conference mates. An FSU win over Louisiana-Monroe next week would send the Seminoles to a bowl game and help it become the sixth Atlantic Division bowl team. The Coastal Division will send only four teams to a postseason game; because there are enough six-win teams to fill bowl spots, there will be no five-win teams receiving NCAA waivers this year, eliminating Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh from consideration (also highlighting the huge win by Duke).

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Point After: Boston College's bowl profile

So what exactly is the status of Boston College's bowl bid?

Let's start with the Eagles resume. Boston College finished the regular season with seven wins for the third time in the Steve Addazio era, having done so in 2013 and 2014. It's also the fourth time in five years that the Eagles will go to a bowl game.

BC went 5-1 in the second half of the season, losing only to an eight-win NC State team and only by three points. The Eagles averaged over 40 points in each of those victories with one of the most dynamic offenses in the nation. Defensively, BC allowed 20 points or more only once and none in the last five games of the season.

Only two of those last six games were decided by less than a touchdown - the three-point win over Louisville and the three-point loss to NC State. The Eagles blew out everyone else, including a Virginia team that was 5-1 at the time and a Florida State team that is currently 3-1 after the loss (with one game remaining).

"Now that we are official, I think that we are a very attractive and hot football team," Steve Addazio said. "We are playing at a high level and have some star players. I'm hoping that we will have a great opportunity. But wherever we go will be great. We are going to have the chance to be together and compete for our eighth win. We are going to have that opportunity, and that is all you can ask for - an opportunity. We are grateful for the opportunity to have the chance to win eight games."

Miami's loss likely makes the ACC Championship a de facto playoff game, with the winner advancing to the College Football Playoff and the loser going to the Orange Bowl as a consolation prize. Assuming the ACC won't absorb the Citrus Bowl, that sends the third team to the Camping World Bowl.

BC could, and probably should, be one of the four Tier I bowl entries. The ACC does have selection rules in place that allow flexibility, and Notre Dame falls into the ACC's selection order if it isn't picked for a New Year's Six game, making it far from guaranteed. All of the Tier I bowls also have equal standing, so beating Louisville or losing to Wake Forest doesn't impact slotting as much as it used to in the old days, when bowls were usually assigned based on finish location.

No matter where it ends up, Boston College is moving in the right direction. It's great to field consideration for one of those more prominent bowl games, and everyone, myself included, has a personal preference. Bowl announcements will come following next week's final slate of games, so for now, it's back to work this week with practice and the promise of one more game.

Boston College Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Hamp Cheevers

Lukas Denis

AJ Dillon

Will Harris

Jon Hilliman

Davon Jones

John Lamot

Travis Levy

Max Richardson

Jeff Smith

Connor Strachan

Tommy Sweeney

Darius Wade

Michael Walker

Kobay White

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