Remembering times past: Luke Kuechly’s jersey was retired at Saturday’s BC-Syracuse game. Also in attendance was BC icon Doug Flutie.

Towles on the move

Two plays — an 85-yard kickoff return by Myles Willis and a 75-yard rumble by QB Patrick Towles, both for touchdowns — put BC in the position of almost beating Syracuse Saturday. But those two plays were not enough to overcome deficiencies on both offense and defense that resulted in a 28-20 loss to the Orange, the Eagles’ 12th straight ACC defeat.

Towles’s run, at the end of the 3rd quarter, brought BC to a 21-17 deficit. A 39-yard field goal by Mike Knoll, who was 2-for-2 in the game, made it a 1-point game with 10 minutes to go. Within a minute, Syracuse scored on a 68-yard touchdown pass to extend its lead to 28-20.

The Eagles recovered a fumble on the Syracuse 43, with 4:38 remaining. Darius Wade, who had replaced Towles at quarterback because of injury, brought BC, with the help of a personal foul penalty against Syracuse, to the Orange’s 14-yard line. A rush for no gain and sack of 11 yards put the Eagles back to the 25-yard line, 3rd-and-21. A 7-yard pass completion made it 4th-and-11 and an incompletion handled the ball over to Syracuse, who ran out the clock.

The Eagles gained 287 yards in total offense, giving up 532 yards. BC rushed for 223 yards and gained only 64 yards through the air. Towles was the leading rusher with 104 yards, but was 4-for-14 passing with no touchdowns and 1 interception.

It was perhaps because of the almost desultory tone of the rest of the game that coverage in today’s Boston Globe focused predominantly on a sideline scuffle that occurred in the first 3 minutes of the game. Syracuse had driven deep into BC territory on the game’s first possession when BC’s William Harris intercepted a pass and returned it 64 yards to the Syracuse 39. Syracuse QB Eric Dungey tackled Harris out of bounds on the Syracuse sideline, spurring Eagle linebacker Matt Milano to “intervene” and other Syracuse players to do the same. Players from both teams pushed and shoved each other, leading to offsetting penalties on each team for unsportsmanlike conduct, and a personal penalty on Dungey. BC’s possession led to a field goal and the Eagles’ only lead of the game.

After 4 straight home games, the Eagles travel to Raleigh, N.C., next weekend to meet North Carolina State. Kickoff Saturday, October 29, is 9:30 am PT.