Syracuse (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) will travel to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on Saturday when it takes on Boston College (3-3, 0-3) at 12:30 p.m. The Orange is coming off a 31-17 upset with over then-No. 17 Virginia Tech, while the Eagles are coming off a bye week. In BC’s last game, Clemson crushed the Eagles, 56-10.

Here’s what SU head coach Dino Babers said on Wednesday’s ACC coaches teleconference.

The win over Virginia Tech could potentially be program changing

After beating a ranked opponent for the first time in four years, there’s been a real buzz with Syracuse football. Babers had a fiery postgame locker room speech go viral and is appearing on “SportsCenter” later today.

As a new head coach at Syracuse, Babers talked about how important this win might be even several years down the road.

“Anytime you take over a new program, there’s gonna always be that game that everyone goes back to that turns the program,” Babers said. “And hopefully, three, four, five years down the road, people will point back to this game.”

In his previous two coaching stops (Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green) Babers didn’t stay for more than two years, leaving for better head coaching opportunities.

Boston College has a “total defense”

Boston College comes in with the fourth-ranked defense in terms of yards allowed. The unit also ranks 10th in rushing yards allowed and fifth in passing yards allowed.

The big number that pops out with the unit is sacks. The Eagles are tied for 17th in the country with three sacks per game, and have three players who have three or more sacks. For SU, only Chris Slayton has three sacks, and he’s played in one more game than any player on the BC defensive line. But Babers the Eagles effectiveness comes from more that just their line.

“That defense is a total defense, I don’t think it’s just edge rushers and the secondary guys,” Babers said. “The linebackers are outstanding and the scheme is difficult.”

Going into last weeks game, Virginia Tech ranked third in total defense and second in passing yards allowed.

Rain in Boston College will be different from at Wake Forest

The weather forecast for Saturday in Chestnut Hill calls for rain and winds up to almost 20 miles per hour. The Orange struggled when it played at Wake Forest earlier this season in a windy and rainy game that was brought on by Hurricane Matthew, with the offense scoring just seven points.

But Babers said the two situations aren’t comparable

“I think those conditions were different. I’ve been in rain games before, I’ve been in wind games before. That was a hurricane,” Babers said chuckling. “Now, we were on the outskirts of it but the wind and the rain were unusual.

Babers did say he thinks his team will be able to handle wet and windy conditions better if they do happen.

Published on October 19, 2016 at 12:12 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer