Kye Robichaux and Jordan McDonald combined for 331 rushing yards and three touchdowns as host Boston College beat Syracuse 37-31 in an Atlantic Coast Conference clash on Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
A 16-point third quarter lifted the Eagles (5-4, 2-3 ACC), who broke a three-game skid in a game of vastly contrasting styles.
Anchored by Robichaux (28 carries, 198 yards, two touchdowns) and McDonald (15 carries, 133 yards, one touchdown), Boston College logged 313 of its 378 total yards on 51 rushing attempts.
Quarterbacks Thomas Castellanos and Grayson James combined for just 65 yards through the air, but both threw touchdowns.
Kyle McCord threw for 392 of Syracuse’s 431 total yards during a 31-for-48, two-touchdown performance. Jackson Meeks (105 yards) and Oronde Gadsden II (102) were 100-yard receivers for the Orange (6-3, 3-3).
LeQuint Allen scored on a 4-yard run to finish an eight-play drive turning Syracuse’s 14-0 deficit into a 21-14 lead with 8:36 left in the third quarter. With James quarterbacking, Robichaux’s third run in a 49-second span — aided by an unnecessary roughness penalty — tied the score at 21.
The go-ahead points came on the next play from scrimmage when Donovan Ezeirauku strip-sacked McCord and knocked the ball through the end zone for the first Boston College safety since 2012.
The ensuing drive spanned 12 plays and 67 yards in 6:55, ending with McDonald bouncing to the left for a 13-yard touchdown in the final minute.
Syracuse covered 75 yards on its own 10-play drive to start the fourth, moving within 30-28 on McCord’s 12-yard pass to Darrell Gill Jr.
The Eagles ensured their lead with 6:51 remaining in regulation as James faked a handoff and found a wide-open Jeremiah Franklin for an 18-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1.
After Liam Connor missed a 29-yard field-goal attempt on Boston College’s opening drive of the game, Quintavious Hutchins recovered Allen’s fumble on the following series. The host Eagles scored first on Robichaux’s 34-yard run down the right side with 2:43 left in the first.
Two series later, the hosts doubled their lead after forcing McCord to throw an incomplete fourth-down pass. Five straight McDonald rushes set up Castellanos for his first completed pass of the game — a 9-yard touchdown to Lewis Bond.
McCord led back-to-back touchdown drives to make it 14-14 at halftime. The Ohio State transfer hit Gadsden for big bookending plays, scoring on a 17-yard pass to the right.
After the Eagles went three-and-out, McCord’s 25-yard run and a connection with Meeks helped Allen find the end zone on a 3-yard run with 2:10 left before intermission.
