CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Perhaps the reason Paul Pasqualoni looked so defeated Saturday, with his head bowed and normally husky voice muffled, was because, for the first time this season, he had no choice but to accept despair.

‘You’re always optimistic,’ Pasqualoni said, his words ringing hollow thanks to the somber look on his face. ‘At 1-6, we were optimistic.’

But now, at 4-7, Syracuse has no reason to be optimistic. A 41-20 loss to Boston College in front of 36,221 at Alumni Stadium on Saturday ensures that, for the first time in 16 years, Syracuse (2-4 Big East) will finish with a losing record.

And no matter what happens at the Carrier Dome in two weeks against Miami, the Orangemen’s bid to return to a bowl game will go unfulfilled.

Once again, the culprit was a porous Syracuse defense. The Eagles (6-4, 1-4) undressed the Orangemen for 28 second-half points and 511 total yards. It marked the third straight week and sixth time overall Syracuse allowed 500 yards.

‘We have to take full blame,’ cornerback Will Hunter said. ‘In the second half, we just couldn’t give our offense the ball when we needed to.’

It started early in the third quarter. After the Orangemen rallied from a 13-3 deficit to tie the game, 13-13, at halftime, the defense watched helplessly as the Eagles dictated the second-half tempo.

On its first drive of the third quarter, Boston College waltzed down the field in four plays, finishing a game-turning drive with a 5-yard touchdown run from Derrick Knight for a 20-13 lead.

‘You could see defensively we were playing well (in the first half),’ senior safety Keeon Walker said. ‘We were thinking we had control. But when they came down and scored on us, it did take a little bit of the air out of us.’

That became obvious when Boston College scored on its next two possessions. Although Syracuse tied the game, 20-20, the Eagles put the game out of reach with a touchdown catch from tight end Sean Ryan and a run from backup Brandon Brokaw.

Indeed, allowing breakout games to BC second-stringers became a trend for Syracuse on Saturday. In addition to Brokaw’s 48 yards and two touchdowns, Ryan caught six passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. He had collected 16 receptions for 149 yards in the previous nine games.

Perhaps that epitomizes how Syracuse, on Saturday, failed to stop either the run or the pass. Eagles’ quarterback Brian St. Pierre threw for 284 yards and a touchdown, while Knight rushed for 171 yards on 19 carries.

‘The first half, we did a good job of stopping the run,’ cornerback Steve Gregory said. ‘They were catching us a little bit with some underneath passes and some dump-off passes. But then in the second half, they started to establish the run a little bit. That’s something we have to stop.’

‘I’m just disappointed in the run game,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘We needed to stop the run, and we give up 200 yards.’

Pasqualoni should have been pleased with his own running game, though, because it kept Syracuse close. Running backs Walter Reyes and Damien Rhodes rushed for a combined 160 yards, helping Syracuse win the time-of-possession battle, 33:46 to 26:14.

Quarterback Troy Nunes, who was victimized by a number of fourth-quarter dropped passes, including at least four on one drive, played adequately, throwing for 131 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

He was also victimized by his own defense, which rarely afforded the offense good field position.

‘When we started getting down, and they started scoring points, then we put ourselves in a position where we had to pass the ball,’ wide receiver David Tyree said. ‘And the conditions weren’t really favorable for passing.’

But the 40-mile-per-hour winds, occasional snow showers and 40-degree temperatures at kickoff will soon be forgotten. The end of a 15-year streak, though, will forever be a black mark in the annals of Syracuse football history.

‘We’re in an elite group,’ Tyree said. ‘And now we’re not in an elite group anymore.’

Published on November 17, 2002 at 12:00 pm