Dillon leads rout

It usually took this many Syracuse players to stop BC freshman A. J. Dillon. Photo by Charles Wainwright.

The Eagles ended their regular season with a 42-14 rout of Syracuse yesterday in the Carrier Dome. BC’s point total was its highest ever against the Orangemen, and the Eagles gained 581 yards in offense. Freshmen running back A. J. Dillon continued to shine, rushing for 193 yards on 23 carries and scoring 3 touchdowns, including a 22-yard score on his first carry.

It was about as easy a game as BC has had in a long time. While Syracuse gained more than 400 yards in the game, the Eagles limited the Orangemen to 2 touchdowns, both in the first half. BC scored twice in each of the first 2 quarters to lead 28-14 at the half, and then added a touchdown in each of the final 2 quarters.

Also scoring for the Eagles were Jeff Smith on a 64-yard run, Will Harris on a 30-yard run following a fumble recovery, and Travis Levy on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Darius Wade.

BC finishes the regular season with a 7-5 record, 4-4 in the ACC. The Eagles won 5 of their last 6 games. The 4 conference wins this season ties for the most in a season under coach Steve Addazio. The Eagles also won 4 in 2013 and 2014.

Dillon finished his regular season with a total of 1,432 yards, averaging 5.3 yards a carry. He’s the first freshman at BC to rush for more than 1,000 yards.

With 6+ wins, the Eagles qualify for a bowl game for the 4th time in 5 seasons. We will learn which bowl next Sunday, following the conference championship games. Clemson and Miami play for the ACC championship Saturday.

Highlights