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.

This effort seemed to be missing something, much as the Eag_le_s did in last night’s game against Clemson.

BC’s game against #3 Clemson, on the main stage of college football Friday night, started the way it needed to if the Eagles were to have a shot at victory. There was a quick three-and-out by Clemson and soon thereafter a muffed punt that gave BC the ball at Clemson’s 9. Three plays and 5 yards later, the Eagles had to settle for a field goal and took a 3-0 lead.

By the time BC scored again, a touchdown late in the 3rd quarter, the Tigers had amassed 35 points. Clemson would go on to score 3 additional touchdowns to make the final score Clemson 56 – BC 10. It was the Eagles’ 11th straight loss in the ACC.

The Tigers doubled BC in total offense, gaining 503 yards to BC’s 251.They had 12 fewer plays (60-72) than the Eagles and had the ball for only 22 minutes. That combination of statistics was the product of more explosive plays by Clemson, e.g., 2 touchdowns on runs of 59 and 45 yards, 2 touchdowns on passes of 56 and 29 yards.

Clemson’s 56 points were the most given up by the Eagles since 1999, when they lost to Colorado in a bowl game, 62-28. Earlier this season, Virginia Tech beat BC 49-0, the largest margin of defeat by BC since 1950. While defense was supposed to be a strong element for this year’s Eagles, the two games against Clemson and VaTech have belied that.

Next Saturday is a bye week for the Eagles. They play again October 22, Syracuse in Chestnut Hill, game time to be announced.

A video of selected plays:

Hockey update

BC’s #5 men’s hockey team defeated host Denver, 3-1, in the consolation round of the Icebreaker Tournament Saturday night. The Eagles (1-1) started their season the night before with a 2-1 loss to Air Force in the opening round. Air Force beat Ohio State to take the tournament title. The women’s team got its first win last night, beating Maine 2-1, and are a symmetrical 1-1-1.

QB Patrick Towles (l) and WR Charlie Callinan enjoy a post-touchdown exchange.

Yes, it was another cupcake opponent, but the Eagles did what they needed to do — dominate and win. BC beat Buffalo 35-3 and achieved a winning record, 3-2, for the first time this season.

In rainy conditions, which squelched even the chance of a good Parents Weekend crowd, the Eagles gained 400 yards and allowed the Bulls (1-3) only 5 first downs and 67 yards total offense. (Announced attendance was 24,203, which must have been tickets sold, not bodies in seats.)

QB Patrick Towles was 14 of 25 for 234 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. WR Jeff Smith had 5 receptions for 65 yards, but the touchdowns went to WR Charlie Callinan and WR Michael Smith. Running backs Jon Hilliman, Davon Jones, and Richard Wilson accounted for the Eagles’ other 3 touchdowns.

Highlights

Next opponent is not a cupcake. Clemson, which defeated #3 Louisville last night, comes to Chestnut Hill for the Friday night game on ESPN. Game start is 4:30 pm PT.

Hockey update

The BC women’s team is not starting out as it did last year, when the Eagles swept Minnesota Duluth at home. Traveling out west to open this season, BC limped home 0-1-1. They tied Duluth 3-3 Friday and lost 5-2 yesterday. They have a two-game series against Maine at home this weekend.

BC’s men’s team has an exhibition today against Canadian team Carleton.