Week 8 Notes: The Syracuse Game

Following an upset bid of the top-ranked team in the country last week at Clemson, Boston College returns to action Saturday against an old rival in the Syracuse Orange. Kickoff inside the Carrier Dome is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on regional sports networks, including NESN locally. Tom Werme, James Bates and Kelly Crull have the call of the game. Coverage on the Boston College Learfield IMG Sports Network begins at 1:30 p.m. with Jon Meterparel, Pete Cronan and Scott Mutryn. Fans can listen to the game locally on WEEI 93.7 FM, nationally on TuneIn and on Sirius channel 113, XM channel 385 and online via SiriusXM channel 975.

Where to Watch
• Saturday's BC-Syracuse game will air across regional sports networks nationally. Fans in Boston can watch the game on NESN.
• The game is also available on FOX Sports South, FOX Sports Sun, FOX Sports Midwest, YES, AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh, Marquee, MASN, SportsTime Ohio, FOX Sports Detroit, FOX Sports North, FOX Sports Wisconsin, FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Arizona, FOX Sports West, AT&T Sportsnet Vegas, AT&T Sportsnet Rocky Mountain and Root Sports Northwest.

Last Saturday, Boston College (4-3, 3-3 ACC) gave No. 1 Clemson everything it could handle as the Tigers rallied for a 34-28 victory in Death Valley. Syracuse (1-6, 1-5 ACC) looks for its second win of 2020 Saturday after the Orange dropped a 38-14 result at home last Saturday to Wake Forest inside the Carrier Dome.

The Series
Boston College and Syracuse meet for the 54th time Saturday in series history inside the Carrier Dome. Syracuse leads the all-time series 32-21, including a 20-8 advantage in Syracuse. The two teams began series play in 1924 as Syracuse shutout the Eagles 10-0.
• Boston College scored its most points in series history in the last visit in 2019 (W, 58-27) in the Carrier Dome against the Orange. BC looks to win for the third straight time in the Carrier Dome for the first time in series history.
• The longest winning streak for the Eagles in series history is three games while Syracuse's longest winning streak in series play is six games.
• The Eastern rivals met every year from 1971-2004.
• BC is 4-4 against the Orange in ACC play. As members of the BIG EAST, BC was 5-7 against the Orange.
• In the last visit to the Carrier Dome, BC finished with a school record 691 yards of offense. The previous record for a single-game was 656 versus Penn State in 1982.
• BC's 58 points were the most in school history in an ACC game. The previous record was 52 in the win against NC State in 2009.
• BC's 58 points were the most in 53 all-time meetings against Syracuse. The previous record was 42, set in the 2017 win inside the Carrier Dome for the Eagles.
• Last season, Boston College finished with 496 rushing yards, the most ever in a conference game (BIG EAST or ACC). It was also the most rushing yards allowed by Syracuse since 457 at West Virginia in 2006.
• AJ Dillon finished with 242 yards rushing, the ninth-best single-game total in Boston College history. He also became Boston College's all-time leader with 35 rushing touchdowns as he scored on a 51-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter.
• In 2019, Boston College scored 44 points and totaled 484 yards of offense in the first half. It marked the most points and total yards in a half for the Eagles in an ACC game.

Scouting Syracuse
• Syracuse is 1-6 overall and 1-5 in ACC play entering Saturday's game. The Orange defeated Georgia Tech 37-20 earlier in the season for the lone win of 2020. The Orange have lost to North Carolina (31-6), Pitt (21-10), Duke (38-24), Liberty (38-21), Clemson (47-21) and Wake Forest (38-14).
• Dino Babers was named the 30th head football coach at Syracuse University on Dec. 5, 2015. He owns a 61-48 career record and boasts nearly 40 years of experience in the profession.
• Known for his innovative, ultra-fast offense, Babers is in his fifth season on the Syracuse sideline.
• Syracuse is 10-6 since the start of 2018 at home.
• Under Dino Babers, Syracuse is 16-12 at home. Home field success has been a staple at all three of his coaching stops, with Babers' teams combining to go 34-18 when defending their home field.
• Syracuse ranks 99th nationally in total offense (267.1 yards per game), 90th in scoring offense (19.0 points per game), 84th in passing offense (176.3 yards per game) and 98th in rushing offense (90.9 yards per game).
• On defense, the Orange rank 86th in total defense (473.7 yards per game), 72nd in scoring defense (33.3 points per game), 62nd in passing yards allowed (245.4 yards per game) and 92nd in rushing defense (228.3 yards per game).
• Syracuse debuted a renovated home stadium this season. It features a new fixed roof, a vertically hung scoreboard, state-of-the-art sound and lighting sytems.
• The new crown truss atop the building consists of more than six million pounds of structural steel and the center-hung scoreboard is 7,022 square feet, making it the second-largest indoor center-hung system in the United States.

Thrill Jurkovec
• Phil Jurkovec has burst onto the scene as the starting quarterback for the Eagles. Jurkovec's 1,875 yards over his first seven games are the most by any BC quarterback in school history. Shawn Halloran owned the previous best start through seven games in 1985.
• Jurkovec also holds the record for the most completions (152) and passing touchdowns (14) over the first seven games of any player in BC history.
• Jurkovec is the first player in BC history to total four, 300-yard passing games in his first five career starts at quarterback and the first BC quarterback with four or more 300-yard games in a season since Matt Ryan (2007).
• In the 31-30 overtime win against Pitt, he finished with 19-for-35 for 358 yards with three passing touchdowns plus one rushing score.
• Against No. 11 North Carolina on Oct. 3, Jurkovec was 37-for-56 for 313 yards and two touchdowns. The 37 completions were tied for second in BC single-game history with Frank Harris (37 versus Army in 1968). Matt Ryan's 40 completions are the most in BC history against Wake Forest on Nov. 4, 2006.
• Jurkovec's 37 completions were an Alumni Stadium record. The previous best belonged to Matt Ryan with 37 completions versus Army on Sept. 22, 2007.
• His 56 pass attempts were also the most by a BC quarterback at Alumni Stadium since at least 1996 and was the highest overall total number of attempts since Ryan passed 56 times on Nov. 10, 2007 at Maryland. Jurkovec is tied for fourth in BC single-game history with the 56 attempts. Matt Ryan, Shawn Halloran and Frank Harris own the school record with 57 attempts.
• Jurkovec opened the season becoming just the third BC quarterback since 2010 to throw for 300 yards in a game - and he did it in his first career game at BC against Duke.
• The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named eight quarterbacks as its "Stars of the Week." Jurkovec was one of the eight quarterbacks to be honored after his breakout performance at Duke and in the win against Pitt.
• The Davey O'Brien Foundation announced its Great 8 list of the top quarterback performances of the 2020 college football season and Jurkovec was honored for his efforts at Duke and against Pitt.
• The transfer from Notre Dame finished 17-of-23 passing for 300 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the Duke victory. He joined 10 other former BC signal callers to throw for 300 yards in a game since 1996 (Chase Rettig, Anthony Brown, Matt Ryan, Chris Crane, Matt Hasselbeck, Paul Peterson, Scott Mutryn, Tim Hasselbeck, Brian St. Pierre and Quinton Porter).
• Jurkovec became the first BC quarterback since Matt Ryan in 2007 to throw for 300 yards, multiple touchdowns and complete 70% of his throws in a game in leading BC to a 26-6 victory at Duke.
• Jurkovec made his first start at quarterback since Dec. 9, 2017 at HersheyPark Stadium in the Pennsylvania Class 6A state title game. Jurkovec led Pine-Richland to a 41-21 victory over St. Joseph's Prep.

Haf Effect
• Jeff Hafley made an immediate impact on Ohio State's defense in 2019 and he is doing the same thing at Boston College in 2020.
• The year prior to Hafley's arrival at Ohio State, the Buckeyes ranked 71st nationally in total defense an 50th in scoring defense. In 2019, Hafley guided the nation's best defense allowing just 259.7 yards per game, an improvement of 143.7 yards per game from 2018. Ohio State yielded just 13.7 points per game in 2019, fourth-best in the nation.
• Hafley and the BC defensive coaching staff have turned things in the right direction on the Eagles' defense in 2020. BC is allowing 86 yards less per game than 2019, going from 125th nationally to 49th.

Zay All Day
• Sophomore Zay Flowers has blossomed in BC's new pro-style passing attack. After totaling just 22 receptions for 341 yards in 13 games in 2019, Flowers has 32 catches for 536 yards and five touchdowns in 2020.
• Flowers is 15th nationally with 536 yards receiving and tied for 18th with five receiving touchdowns.
• The speedster from Fort Lauderdale finished with his second 100-yard receiving game of the season with six receptions for 162 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in the 31-30 victory in overtime over Pitt.
• Flowers became the first BC player with three receiving touchdowns in a game since Kelvin Martin at Holy Cross (11/22/86).
• He tied the school record with five other players with three touchdown receptions.
• The 166 yards receiving by Flowers were the fifth-most by a BC player since 1996.
• Flowers' 77-yard score was the first of 70 or more by an Eagle since Hunter Long's 72-yard score at Louisville (10/5/19).
• Flowers is tied for 11th in BC single-season history with two 100-yard receiving games this season. He is the first Eagle with multiple 100-yard receiving games in the same season since Kobay White in 2018.
• Flowers totaled five receptions for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown in BC's 26-6 win at Duke. It was the first 100-yard receiving game for an Eagle since Kobay White's 121 yards at Florida State in 2018.
• Flowers was named the ACC Wide Receiver of the Week for the first time in his career following the Duke game. He became the only BC wide receiver to ever be named the ACC's WR of the Week for the second time in a season after his performance in the Pitt win.
• The 162 yards receiving by Flowers were the seventh-most by a BC player since 1996.
• Flowers averaged 32.4 yards per reception. No receiver in BC history had more receiving yards on fewer receptions than Flowers in a single game.
• Flowers was the first BC receiver since 2012 (Alex Amidon) to have over 150 yards receiving in a game.

The Nation's Leader
• Junior tight end Hunter Long has been BC's top receiving target in 2020 and he leads the nation in receptions for a tight end with 41. He is ninth among all players nationally in receptions in 2020 as well.
• Long has started the year with 41 receptions for 478 yards and three touchdowns. Prior to this season, Long had just 32 receptions total over his first two years on the field at Boston College.
• He was named to the John Mackey Award watch list after earning All-ACC third-team honors last season. The John Mackey Award is given to the collegiate tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, academics, and community values of NFL Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey.
• Long led Boston College with 509 receiving yards and 18.2 yards per reception in 2019. He finished the season with 28 receptions and two receiving touchdowns. His 72-yard touchdown reception at Louisville was the longest reception of his career a year ago.

McDuffie and Richardson on the Tackle
• Boston College linebackers Isaiah McDuffie and Max Richardson are tied for second in total tackles in 2020. Both players have 69 tackles on the season, three behind the nation's leader Tyler Grubbs of La. Tech.
• The last BC player to lead the country in tackles was Luke Kuechly with 191 stops in 2011. He led the country in tackles in 2010 as well (183) and was second in tackles in 2009 (158).
• McDuffie's 40 solo tackles are third in the country while Richardson is tied for 10th in solo stops.

Coming Up Big
• Junior wide receiver CJ Lewis flashed so much potential over his first three seasons at Boston College. The Connecticut native has put it all together in 2020 to become one of the primary targets for QB Phil Jurkovec.
• Lewis caught 14 passes for 156 yards and one touchdown in 20 career games entering the season. Through seven games in 2020, Lewis has totaled 18 receptions for 285 yards and four touchdowns.

Air it Out
• Boston College has picked up where it used to excel -passing the football. Known for having some of the nation's top quarterbacks from Doug Flutie, Glenn Foley, Matt Hasselbeck to Matt Ryan, BC was always known to have one of the top passing offenses in the country.
• After ranking in the 100s for the majority of the last 10 years, first-year offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has installed a pro-style passing attack with significant, improved results. BC is 29th nationally in passing offense, averaging 268.4 yards per game, after ranking 113th in the country a year ago (176.0 yards per game).

Players Mentioned

Anthony Brown

AJ Dillon

Zay Flowers

Phil Jurkovec

CJ Lewis

Hunter Long

Isaiah McDuffie

Max Richardson

Kobay White

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