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Boston College - Syracuse Matchup
The Boston College Eagles will meet the Syracuse Orangemen this week in the Carrier Dome. These teams
had very different experiences last week. Eagles improved their record to 4-2 with a 38-13 drubbing of
Temple while Syracuse was roughed up by Virginia Tech, 51-7. This is a crucial game for both teams as
they battle for positioning in the Big East which will help determine who goes to which bowl game at
the end of the year. Here is a summary of each team:
| The Quarterbacks |
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Quinton Porter -- 56.5% comp, 1,044 yards, 11 TD, 3 INT |
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RJ Anderson -- 59.7% comp, 888 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT |
| Top Rushers |
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Derrick Knight -- 886 yards, 6.2 ypc, 3 TD |
| |
Horace Dodd -- 293 yards, 5.3 ypc, 7 TD |
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Walter Reyes -- 721 yards, 6.7 ypc, 11 TD |
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Damien Rhodes -- 123 yards, 3.5 ypc, 0 TD |
| Top Receivers |
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Grant Adams (WR) -- 16 catches, 239 yards, 2 TD |
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Joel Hazard (WR) -- 15 catches, 169 yards, 0 TD |
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Sean Ryan (TE) -- 12 catches, 154 yards, 4 TD |
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Johnnie Morant (WR) -- 24 catches, 428 yards, 2 TD |
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Jared Jones (WR) -- 16 catches, 156 yards, 0 TD |
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Walter Reyes (RB) -- 14 catches, 103 yards, 0 TD |
| Top Defenders |
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Josh Ott (LB) -- 50 tackles |
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Mattias Kiwanuka (DE) -- 4 sacks, 12 QB hurries |
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Will Blackmon (CB) -- 30 tackles, 3 INT, 6 passes broken up |
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Rich Scanlon (LB) -- 64 tackles, 4.5 for lost yardage |
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Diamond Ferri (SS) -- 49 tackles, 3 for loss |
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Anthony Smith (FS) -- 50 tackles, 3 INT |
| The Kickers |
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Sandro Sciortino -- 5/10 FG, 21/21 PAT |
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Colin Barber -- 7/9 FG, 17/17 PAT |
| The Punters |
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Jeff Gomulinsky -- 40.4 yards per kick |
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Brendan Carney -- 41.6 yards per kick |
| The Kick Returners |
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Will Blackmon -- 24.7 yds per KO return, 10.0 per punt return |
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Nat Hasselbeck -- 6.4 yards per punt return |
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Johnnie Morant -- 29.6 yards per kickoff return |
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Steve Gregory -- 20.6 yards per kickoff return |
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Marcus Clayton -- 8.3 yards per punt return |
| Final Analysis |
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Offensively, Boston College and Syracuse are very similar. Both teams possess excellent running backs
(Derrick Knight and Walter Reyes are 1st and 3rd in the nation in rushing yards per game, respectively).
Neither team has a particularly strong passing game. Syracuse has had better success with the kicking
game. Both teams have a dangerous kickoff returner
(Will Blackmon for BC and Johnnie Morant for Syracuse). Syracuse protects their quarterback slightly
better (3 sacks allowed vs 7 for BC). The major difference between these teams is defense. Syracuse
has allowed 100 more total yards per game than BC. Some of this is due to the fact that the Orangemen
have played slightly better offensive teams (average national rank of 40 as opposed to 66 for BC).
Still, I give BC the advantage on defense. The offense and special teams are about even. Obviously,
Syracuse will have the Dome field advantage so BC would be well-advised to get ahead early and take the
crowd out the game. This one should be very competitive. I'll go with the better defense.
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| Boston College 24 Syracuse 20 |
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Syracuse by the Numbers
These teams have split the last five meetings with each
team going 3-2 at home.
A total of 23 ex-Orangemen currently play in the NFL
including four Dolphins and three Colts.
|
| Statistic |
BC |
SU |
| Offense - Run |
14 |
8 |
| Offense - Pass |
66 |
93 |
| Defense - Run |
35 |
85 |
| Defense - Pass |
12 |
78 |
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