SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It took Boston College true freshman Emmett Morehead three collegiate snaps to do what Dennis Grosel had only done three times all season: complete a pass that travels 20 or more yards through the air.
After replacing the struggling Grosel in the second quarter, Morehead took a five-step drop and uncorked a 44-yard dot for Zay Flowers, who has often been left diving, somersaulting and holding his head in frustration on deep balls this year.
This time, the pass was right where Flowers, and no one else, could get it. A BC offense that was fueled by its vertical aerial attack in 2020 finally had signs of life after averaging 11.3 points per game in its first three ACC games. With another 6-foot-5, strong-armed quarterback under center.
Until he wasn’t. An upper-body injury kept Morehead out late in the first half and most of the third quarter. When he returned, BC was on the brink of giving up its third straight touchdown play: all of which spanned 48 or more yards.
Morehead had his moments down the stretch, but a botched snap and an array of sacks resulted in him watching from afar as Grosel got one last shot to pilot a comeback. He came up empty, and the Eagles’ now-four-game losing streak and injury-riddled season continued with a 21-6 defeat in the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse (5-4, 2-3 ACC) entered the week with the eighth-best rushing attack in the country. But, in the first half, BC (4-4, 0-4) did everything it could to limit the Orange’s 1-2 punch of quarterback Garrett Shrader and running back Sean Tucker, even without middle linebacker Isaiah Graham-Mobley—the team’s leading tackler. The Eagles were also missing fourth-year starting cornerback Brandon Sebastian. But Vinny DePalma, JT Thompson II and the rest of the BC defense didn’t bat an eye.
Even when Syracuse got things going on its second drive of the game, in large part thanks to a couple of passes to redshirt junior wideout Sharod Johnson, the Eagles buckled down where it mattered most and forced another turnover. A week removed from creating four takeaways at Louisville, BC came up with another huge one with its backs against the wall.
Defensive end Marcus Valdez hit Shrader while he was trying to get a throw off, jarring the ball loose in the process. DePalma scooped it up and returned it for 21 yards. Once again, however, the Eagles couldn’t convert a turnover into points. BC was using the quick passing game to keep Grosel clean and to stay ahead of the sticks, but on 3rd-and-2, Grosel took a deep shot for Jaelen Gill. The pass was overthrown.
The next series, Morehead’s number was called. BC head coach Jeff Hafley said postgame that, regardless of how the Eagles were playing, Morehead was going in on the third series of the game.
“We felt last week he was almost ready but just not quite there yet,” Hafley said. “And we thought he could give us a spark with some of the things we saw—him throwing the ball in practice and hitting some of the deep balls.”
Morehead did exactly that. He gave BC the shot in the arm it needed, at least at first. After just missing Flowers on second down, Morehead connected with the speedster the following play, slingshotting the Eagles into the red zone, where they were just 2-of-4 Saturday.
A third-down incompletion forced BC to settle for a 31-yard Connor Lytton field goal and take a 3-0 lead.
That’s the way things stood for the rest of the half. The Eagles held Syracuse to 12 total yards in the second quarter. Tucker, who piled up 62 rushing yards in the first frame, had two carries. Shrader missed six straight passes, and the Orange was 0-of-4 on third down.
As has often been the case this season, though, BC’s offense couldn’t capitalize. Morehead was sacked twice—the second of which sidelined him for a bit less than a quarter of game time—and the Eagles’ most promising series stalled in Syracuse territory before they could get in field goal range.
The boo birds were out in the Dome as the teams entered the locker room at the half. It wasn’t long until Orange balloons were bouncing around the arena, and Syracuse fans were celebrating Homecoming Weekend to the tune of a 21-point third quarter.
BC kicked off the second half with a 13-play, 73-yard drive that saw a flurry of powerful Pat Garwo III runs and Grosel finally hook up with Flowers downfield for a gain of 40 yards. Yet, in a goal-to-go situation, the Eagles’ offense went backwards, and Lytton trotted out to drill a 21-yarder.
That’s when the Orange’s barrage began.
“We missed two tackles that led to 14 points on plays that we were stopping the whole entire first half,” Hafley said. “It was nothing new. And then we hit a low punt, and they returned it for a touchdown.”
The first mishap came on a 51-yard Tucker touchdown run. The nation’s leading rusher finished with 207 yards on the ground, and he did it mostly with elusive speed. Following a series of Shrader runs, the dual-threat quarterback handed the ball off to Tucker. DePalma was blocked by the tight end, Kam Arnold was taken out of the play by an O-Lineman, who rose to the second level.
And Tucker had a free pass to the end zone.
“Sean Tucker’s a great player,” DePalma said. “He’s one of the top backs in the country. He’s fast, he’s explosive, he runs hard. … Run defense a lot of times comes down to getting off blocks, running to the ball and tackling effectively so we’ve gotta do that better.”
The next time Syracuse was at midfield, Shrader kept the rock. Fooled by the zone-read, Valdez came crashing in on Tucker. So was Arnold, who was stuck trying to chase down the Mississippi State transfer quarterback along the right sideline after DePalma whiffed on a tackle. Shrader crossed the paint for a 48-yard touchdown that put the Orange up, 14-6.
In came Morehead again, but a three-and-out brought out Grant Carlson, who for the second time this season was caught hopelessly trying to prevent a touchdown return. Only this one wasn’t because of a dropped snap but rather a low punt. Courtney Jackson caught it and skirted past Elijah Jones and Joey Luchetti en route to a 46-yard score.
BC was in the red zone twice in the fourth quarter with the game still in reach. Both times, the Eagles failed to score a touchdown. They registered one total yard of offense in the period.
The first opportunity was spoiled by an Alec Lindstrom snap that soared over the head of Morehead, resulting in a loss of 22 yards. Earlier in the drive, Morehead had found CJ Lewis for a 28-yard reception that put the wheels in motion.
After riding with Morehead three straight drives, Hafley went with Grosel for what would be the Eagles’ last possession.
“Just felt that was something he had experienced before,” Hafley said. “So just the guy with the experience in that type of situation, we felt like the best bet was to go with Dennis.”
Gill catapulted BC to the Syracuse 19-yard line with five minutes remaining, courtesy of a 33-yard punt return. Grosel immediately moved the chains with a 10-yard pitch and catch to Flowers, who registered his fifth-career 100-yard receiving game. But Grosel missed him the very next play on 1st-and-Goal. Flowers was open in the left corner of the end zone. He looked right for Gill, but his pass fell incomplete. He completed his second-down throw to Spencer Witter for a gain of eight but not his third-down attempt.
And, on 4th-and-Goal from the Syracuse 1-yard line, Travis Levy was stuffed.
From there, Syracuse milked the clock and secured its fifth win of the year, a season after cratering to a 1-10 record. BC is going in the other direction. Hafley’s Eagles have taken a significant step backward. Following a year in which BC shattered all expectations, the Eagles have fallen short of them in 2021.
Of course, Phil Jurkovec’s season-ending injury is the big asterisk. But it doesn’t change the fact that the Eagles have scored a combined 40 points in four ACC contests.
“At this point, it’s any way to win games,” Grosel said.
“When you’re losing four in a row, and you start struggling to make plays and score points, whether it’s me or [Emmett], I don’t really care. Let’s just get it going and get a win in the win column. Any way to do that, we’re gonna do that and send the best guys on the field.”
