Orange Expecting Physical Game with Boston College

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – There will be no subtlety in this one.

Syracuse (3-5, 0-4 ACC) is getting ready for a good old-fashioned, Eastern football clash when its hosts Boston College (4-4, 2-3 ACC) Saturday in the Dome. The Orange and Eagles have played 52 times previously dating back to 1924.

"Boston College is right there," head coach Dino Babers said during his Monday press conference. "We had a couple of the guys talking about this game as soon as we finished with the Florida State game. They understand that this game is different. The hitting in it is different, and it will go right along with the other rival we played [Pittsburgh] that we're not going to mention because this is Boston College week. We understand what that means and it's going to be a physical contest."

Last season, the Orange got the better of the Eagles behind a career performance from quarterback Eric Dungey in his last regular-season game. Dungey accounted for all six Syracuse touchdowns, throwing three and running for three more, in a 42-21 victory that propelled Syracuse to a berth in the Camping World Bowl.

Two years ago, the roles were reversed and Boston College left the Dome with a 42-14 triumph behind then-freshman AJ Dillon, who scored three touchdowns and rushed for 193 yards on 23 carries. Dillon is now the leading rusher in Boston College history with 3,741 yards.

"Our guys are excited and they understand that the older guys are going to have to lead in a situation like this," Babers said. "The younger guys don't know and it's not their fault that they don't know. But once they get a taste of it, they'll understand."

On the heels of three straight losses, Babers wants his team to heed the wisdom of his former coach and mentor Dick Tomey – try less harder.

"Our guys are getting out there and they want to win so badly that they jump or they move and they make a mental mistake of something they've done right a thousand times, and then they blank for a second," Babers said. "That whole attitude of just try less harder, take a deep breath, and relax. It all goes back to what Coach Tomey talked about, because they [the players] all have the skills or they wouldn't be here."

Dillion is the engine that drives the Eagles. The New London, Connecticut native has already surpassed 1,000 yards rushing this season. He has 1,044 on 197 carries to go along with 10 touchdowns. As a unit, Boston College is averaging 255.6 yards a game on the ground with 18 touchdowns.

"We're dealing with a fantastic back in AJ Dillion, and even their backup [sophomore David Bailey], I think rushed for about 122 yards against NC State, and we couldn't move the ball against those guys at all.," Babers said. "They have two very, very talented running backs. I really feel that based off of Coach [Steve] Addazio and their football team that's what they want to do. They want to run the ball. That's how they decided they want to win football games and we have to line up, match their physicality, and stop the run. If we don't do that, it will not be good and that's the No. 1 thing. There's no trick – or treat – that's going to be going on this weekend. Everyone knows what's going to happen."

Babers said the most important thing for the Orange is to get back to basics and continue to improve.

"We need to reel it back in a little bit," Babers said. "We talked about eliminating mental mistakes and playing physical. We didn't turn the ball over last game, but we didn't get a turnover either. There's good things happening, but there's not enough good things. The big thing for me is that I want to make sure there's growth with these young men. We're going to figure out why it happened, but everything happens for a reason.

"I think this adversity that we're going through is going to make them better and we need to work our way through it and persevere. I believe we will by staying together and not giving any fault to anyone else. I think that's the growth that they will have and they're going to keep that experience with them forever. The whole experience of what they thought would happen, what people told them would happen, and then what exactly happened. You have to work hard. Nothing's a gift. As a life lesson, this will go a long way and it will make them better."

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Orange Expecting Physical Game with Boston College

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