Syracuse had two chances to get one win.

Its odds of becoming bowl eligible were high and the cloudiness and uncertainty that swirled around the team back in August seemed a distant memory.

But after suffering a crushing defeat to Pittsburgh — the less menacing of the final two foes — the Orange is down to its final opportunity to earn a bowl bid. With the Florida State beatdown long forgotten and the missed chance against Pitt in the rear, Syracuse (5-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) takes on Boston College (7-4, 4-3) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Carrier Dome with a shot to accomplish its initial goal of getting that elusive sixth win.

“You be very frustrated,” safety Durell Eskridge said after the loss to Pitt, “but at the end of the day we’ve got another chance to come out and meet our goal and beat Boston College.”

The Eagles have ripped off four wins in a row, averaging more than 37 points per game in the process. One main reason for Boston College’s resurgence has been running back Andre Williams, who has emerged as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

At the start of the season, the Eagles were picked to finish dead last in the ACC. New head coach Steve Addazio didn’t garner much media attention at the ACC Football Kickoff in Greensboro, N.C., in July. He sat there and talked to a few intermittent reporters while Dabo Swinney and Jimbo Fisher lured in larger crowds.

Boston College finished 2-10 the year before and showed no signs of a turnaround. But now BC has seven wins and is in the upper echelon of a conference that will send at least 10 teams to a bowl.

Despite the daunting challenge ahead of Syracuse, head coach Scott Shafer isn’t dwelling on the loss to the Panthers. His sole focus is on knocking off Addazio’s Eagles.

“We’ve got to fight,” Shafer said. “This will be the best challenge our kids have had all year.”

Defensive tackle Jay Bromley called it probably the worst loss he’s seen all season because Syracuse was “so close.” But one crucial injury, two blunders on special teams and three hours later, a winnable game manifested into a loss.

SU has essentially moseyed along as it was supposed to on paper. Losses to Penn State and Northwestern to start the season. Dominant wins over Wagner and Tulane. Lopsided defeats against then-No. 3 Clemson and No. 2 Florida State. Gritty wins over North Carolina State and Maryland came as a bit of a surprise, but make sense in hindsight.

The Orange was right where it was supposed to be. But the mistakes piled up against the Panthers and ended up proving costly.

“We came up 6 inches short,” Shafer said. “We came up half a second or a quarter of a second short. That’s life, man.”

Now the seniors have one more opportunity to reach that bowl game. Linebacker Lewellyn Coker said it’s critical to not blow the importance of the game out of proportion. That’s when things can go awry.

It’s football, Coker said. There’s no reason to make it more than what it is.

But he acknowledged that there is some extra gravity knowing that Saturday could be the last game Coker and his fellow seniors ever play.

“It’s always hard for the seniors when it’s coming down to the last game,” Coker said.

Syracuse’s objective is to ensure that Saturday isn’t the last game the seniors play in an SU uniform.

Bromley candidly spoke at the podium after the loss to Pittsburgh. He said the Orange had it in its hands but let it slip away. Instead of continuing to shoot itself in the foot, Syracuse simply needs to “put the gun away.”

Like his teammates, though, Bromley didn’t dwell on the past. That’s not the message Shafer preaches. All year he’s talked about controlling the controllables, and this is when that message will prove most important.

“We’ve got one shot. We’ve only got one week left to get it done against a good Boston College team,” Bromley said, placing emphasis on the word “good.” “A better Boston College team.”

BC rose from the cellar of the ACC to qualify for a bowl game. Now Syracuse will try to bounce back from a hauntingly winnable one-point stinger to claim what it’s been searching for since the season began.

“Our backs are against the wall,” center Macky MacPherson said. “We’re in a corner. It’s do-or-die time.”

Published on November 30, 2013 at 10:52 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass