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Just when it seemed like Sean Tucker had been swallowed in the backfield for a loss, Garrett Shrader emerged. The SU quarterback struggled in the first half completing just four of 13 passes, but he elected to pull the ball away from Tucker on a read-option and take off himself.

Tucker was blown up, something he attributed to just part of being a running back, but Shrader escaped and shifted through the Boston College defense. Just like Tucker had done on the previous drive, Shrader broke into the secondary and scored a near-50-yard rushing touchdown that gave SU a 14-6 lead.

“He’s got a lot of grit, and I like that,” former SU quarterback Eric Dungey said moments after Shrader’s touchdown. “He runs the ball hard and you can tell he’s out there to win.”

Now, a year after going 1-10, Syracuse (5-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) is one game away from bowl eligibility.

A last-second, 45-yard touchdown pass to Damien Alford last week at Virginia Tech started the push, lifting the Orange back to .500. A 51-yard Tucker touchdown run ignited SU to continue that push on Saturday afternoon against BC. 

“Sean broke it and took off, and we were only one play away,” Shrader said. “That really carried momentum.”

Despite an ugly first half for SU that featured as many false start penalties (four) as passes completed by Shrader, SU’s defense didn’t wear out, and its offense eventually came to life in its 21-6 win. Tucker finished with a career-high 207 rushing yards, his seventh consecutive 100-yard game. He’s now third on SU’s all-time list for most rushing yards in a single season (1,267), leapfrogging Floyd Little, Walter Reyes in 2002 and others with Saturday’s outing.

“We knew they were gonna stack the box coming in, so it wasn’t gonna be easy but just gotta keep plugging away and soon enough you’ll definitely pop one,” Tucker said.

The Orange now have three chances — against three tough opponents in a previously AP Top-25 ranked NC State, No. 17 Pittsburgh and Louisville — to secure one win after their bye week and become bowl eligible.

Syracuse’s offense has been in rhythm over recent weeks, with 30 points at FSU, 37 against Wake Forest and 41 against Virginia Tech. But on Saturday, it put forth its first scoreless half since the Rutgers game in early September.

It featured more punting yards (174) than yards of offense (114 in 33 plays) against a BC team that’s its last three straight games. It featured four of six SU drives ending in three-and-outs. But SU’s defense held the Eagles to three points by half and eventually Tucker’s touchdown got SU going. 

“The Orange are moving in the right direction,” Dungey said between the third and fourth quarter. “They’re trying to find their identity right now, and Shrader’s a great leader. I’m excited for the future he has here.”

It started when Shrader kept the ball for a three-yard rush up the middle. He scrambled to the left on the next play, juking out a man for a gain of 14 and then 11. Then Tucker showed patience. He waited for a hole to develop before bursting up the middle, untouched by the Eagles’ defense to give SU a 7-6 lead.

“That was practice-like, what he did today,” head coach Dino Babers said. “I’ve seen him do this, not to take away from what happened, but I’ve seen him do that before.”

Shrader scored his touchdown run on the next series, and SU’s defense was lucky to force a three-and-out when Dennis Grosel overthrew a wide-open deep shot to Zay Flowers on third down.

Courtney Jackson filled in at punt returner because of Trebor Pena’s absence, and he cut to the left for a 64-yard return and touchdown, putting the game out of reach for the Eagles.

“What a momentum swing,” Babers said. “The punt return was big, the Shrader run was big, the Tucker run was big. Those were like deep passes, except you don’t get to see the ball in the air.”

Early on, though, Shrader and SU looked disjointed. On one series in the second quarter with Syracuse backed up deep in its own half, Shrader tripped over his own feet as he tried to scramble. The play resulted in a loss of 12 yards. Then he fired a quick, short pass to a wide-open Sharod Johnson, but the receiver dropped the pass after it hit him in the hands. SU punted.

On another drive later in the second quarter, Shrader’s pass toward Alford was too high and nearly picked off on the deflection. The offensive line false-started on third-and-10 to back SU up even further. And then Chris Bleich, who returned from an injury against the Eagles, stopped blocking his man on third down. He held his stance for a few seconds before taking off downfield, presumably because he thought a screen pass or quick throw was coming. But Shrader held the ball, and he was forced to scramble with two defenders in his face and then throw the ball away to avoid a safety.

Syracuse’s most productive first-half drive came when Shrader threw a precise pass up the seam to Alford on third-and-9. Two false start penalties slowed down the drive, and Shrader had to burn a timeout when he didn’t realize the play clock was running out. Babers said the false starts were because BC’s linemen were shouting “move” and shifting, something that SU’s lineman hadn’t prepped for because they didn’t find it when watching film. It even tricked some of the Orange’s veteran lineman, Babers said.

SU still got down to a third-and-goal situation deep in BC territory when pressure once again got to Shrader, unimpeded. Bleich didn’t block anyone, and Shrader tried to — but couldn’t — throw a quick pass as he was hit. The Eagles scooped up the fumble and ran it back to the 40-yard line, and untimely red zone turnover. Shrader said afterward that a missed assignment led to a defender going through the “A-gap.”

In the second half, it looked like the bleeding might worsen when Grosel combined with his favorite target, Flowers, who made an impressive catch over Duce Chestnut for a gain of 40 yards. 

But SU’s defense held BC to a field goal on the opening second-half drive. SU’s offensive line opened up more holes, Tucker said, and that’s when the Orange offense — which finished with nine runs of 10-plus yards — went to work.

“Back to the defense being able to keep those touchdowns off the board and keeping them to field goals, and keeping us within reach, within hope of one quick strike,” Babers said. “Whether it goes through the air, whether it goes on the ground, I think we had the people who are capable of doing it.”

Published on October 30, 2021 at 6:53 pm

Contact Roshan: [email protected] | @Roshan_f16