Two weeks ago, Rutgers wide reciever Jeremy Darling gashed the Syracuse defense for 166 rushing yards on 29 carries and a touchdown. Last week, Connecticut tailback Jordan Todman tallied 130 yards on 27 carries plus two scores.
Boston College freshman running back Andre Williams did the same to the Orange defense Saturday, rushing for 146 yards on 43 carries and tallied the go-ahead TD in the third quarter to lead BC to a 16-7 victory at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.
On BC’s first possession of the second half, Williams helped cap off a 10-play, 78-yard TD drive, which helped the Golden Eagles take a 13-7 advantage.
BC basically put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter.
The Golden Eagles drove 63 yards on 16 plays to the SU 4-yard line. Kicker Nate Freese, who made three field goals in the game, connected from 22 yards out and gave the Golden Eagles a 16-7 advantage.
That drive took 7:18 off the game clock and gave the sputtering SU offense — which totaled just 238 yards — little time to score twice.
On the next SU possession, the offense got to the BC 43-yard line but was forced to punt.
The Orange regained possession with under three minutes remaining but quarterback Ryan Nassib was picked off by linebacker Mark Herzlich.
BC kneeled twice to end the game.
The lone Syracuse score came on the first drive of the second half.
SU drove 80 yards on 12 plays to setup a five-yard rushing TD by running back Antwon Bailey, who finished the game with a team-high 75 yards on 18 carries.
Nassib was very inconsistent completing just 15 of 24 passes for 147 yards and an interception.
The Orange finished the season losing three of its last four games. SU also failed to earn a FBS-home victory this season — Colgate and Maine play in the FCS.
Despite the disappointing finish, SU still ended with its best season since 2003 and 2004 when the Orange went 6-6 overall.
The Orange, bowl eligible for the first time since ’04, will now wait to see which bowl game they will be invited to play in. Invitations will be handed out in the next couple of weeks.