Preview: Orange and Eagles Meet for 53rd Time

SYRACUSE (3-5, 0-4 ACC) VS. BOSTON COLLEGE (4-4, 2-3 ACC)
Game Details: 12 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 2
Location: Syracuse, N.Y. | The Dome
Game Links: Tickets | Listen | Watch | Live Stats
Television: ACC Network
Radio: Syracuse Sports Network from Learfield IMG College
Twitter: @CuseFootball | @Cuse
Syracuse Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Notes (PDF)
Boston College Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Notes (PDF)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse (3-5, 0-4 ACC) looks to snap a three-game losing skid and pick up its first conference win of the season on Saturday, Nov. 2 when its hosts ACC Atlantic Division rival Boston College (4-4, 2-3 ACC) at noon in the Dome. The game will air live on ACC Network. Wes Durham (pxp), Roddy Jones (booth analyst) and Eric Wood (field analyst) have the call.

The rivalry between the Orange and Eagles dates back to 1924, with Syracuse holding a 32-20 advantage in the all-time series.

The game is Dino Babers' 99th as a collegiate head coach. Babers is 58-40 overall in eight seasons with Eastern Illinois (2012-13), Bowling Green (2014-15) and Syracuse (2016-present). Each school recorded a 10-win season under Babers' direction and he has captured three AFCA Regional Coach of the Year awards in his career, including taking home Region I honors in 2018.

The Orange can guarantee a .500 home record with a win Saturday. The Orange are currently 2-2 in the Dome this season with two home games left. It would mark the third consecutive year Syracuse won at least half its home games.

BALL SECURITY
Syracuse enters the Boston College game having not turned the ball over in the month of October. The Orange have been turnover-free in each of their last three games, the most consecutive games without a miscue in the Dino Babers era.

Since running back Jawar Jordan's fumble on the second-to-last drive of the Holy Cross game on Sept. 28, Syracuse has run 242 offensive plays without giving away the football. That streak includes the entirety of games versus NC State (76 plays), Pittsburgh (78 plays) and Florida State (84 plays).

The streak includes 117 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, including 95 by starting quarterback Tommy DeVito. DeVito's current interception-free stretch is the fourth-longest active run in the FBS behind Georgia Southern's Shai Werts (161), South Carolina's Ryan Hilinski (137) and Oregon's Justin Herbert (131).

THROWING UP THE FOURS
Syracuse is outscoring its opponents 56-31 in the fourth quarter this season, including a 49-3 margin over the last five games. Four of the Orange's nine rushing touchdowns have come in the final frame, including three of running back Moe Neal's four ground scores.

SACKS OF BERRIES
Reserve defensive lineman Brandon Berry has made the most of his increased playing time this fall and leads the Orange with 5.5 sacks, which ties for seventh in the ACC. All of Berry's sacks have come in the last four games, including a personal-best 2.5 against Holy Cross on Sept. 28. Before this current run, Berry had one total sack in his previous 28 career games.

SECOND-HALF SURGE
The Orange defense is allowing only 10.6 points per game after halftime compared to 16.6 prior to intermission. Over the last four games, the unit has been even better, limiting the opposition to an average of 5.0 points an outing following the break.

Florida State's two second-half rushing touchdowns on Oct. 26 were the first second-half TDs allowed by the Orange since Sept. 21 versus Western Michigan. Syracuse had previously shut out Holy Cross in the third and fourth quarters on Sept. 28 and allowed one second-half field goal apiece to NC State (Oct. 10) and Pitt (Oct. 18).

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Boston College enters Saturday's game losers in three of its last four contests, most recently by the score of 59-7 to No. 2 Clemson. The Eagles are coached by Steve Addazio, who was a Syracuse assistant coach from 1995-98. Addazio took over at BC in 2013 after a two-year stint at Temple. He is 42-42 as the leader of the Eagles.

Running back A.J. Dillon is one of the top players in the country and much of what BC does goes through him. The junior ranks fourth nationally in rushing yards per game (130.5). He is one of five players who've already eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the season and he is second nationally with 197 rushing attempts. Dillon ran for 76 yards at Clemson to become BC's all-time leading rusher with 3,741 yards.

Anthony Brown's season ended due to an injury suffered in the Louisville game on Oct. 5. Dennis Grosel has replaced him as the starting quarterback. The Eagles have attempted less than 20 passes in each of Grosel's two starts.

Defensively, Boston College ranks 126th in total defense (487.1). They have managed just eight sacks so far this season. Linebacker Max Richardson is second in the ACC in tackles per game (9.9).

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday marks the 53rd meeting between Syracuse and Boston College. The Orange own a 32-20 advantage in the all-time series and have won six of the last nine pairings.

The Boston College series is the fifth-most frequent in team history. The rivalry dates back to 1924. Only Pittsburgh (75), Penn State (71), Colgate (67) and West Virginia (61) have played more games against the Orange.

This is the just the second time in the Orange's seven seasons in the ACC that the Syracuse-Boston College matchup is not the regular-season finale. The teams met in the second-to-last game of the 2016 campaign, otherwise every other contest as ACC opponents has come on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

UP NEXT
The Orange have their second open date of the season on Nov. 9 before returning to action on Saturday, Nov. 16 for an ACC divisional crossover game with Duke. The contest will mark Syracuse's second-ever trip to Durham and first since 1939. Start time and television information for the game is expected to be announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday, Nov. 4.

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Berry

Tommy DeVito

Moe Neal

Syracuse University Athletics