We’re in the home stretch of Boston College’s football season now after a second bye week. A battle of first year head coaches, Syracuse comes to town now in the Fran Brown era.
When: Friday, November 9th, 2024
Where: Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, MA
Last Season (6-7 overall, 2-6 in ACC)
BC won last season’s contest back 17-10 with four interceptions on now back-up quarterback, the less experienced Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, who was thrusted into the starting lineup at the last moment. Enough was enough last year for the Orange faithful. Dino Babers was fired two weeks later with the team at 5-6. They would go on to win their last regular season game before getting shut out in their bowl game and quickly hiring Fran Brown
Incoming Talent
In comes Brown from Georgia as the new Head Football Coach. He served as Defensive Backs coach for the Bulldogs since their 2022 title run and is regarded as one of the nation’s top recruiter. On the defensive side, Elijah Robinson comes in as Defensive Coordinator from Texas A&M.
With these two come a whole lot of talent to infuse into the Syracuse roster.
Key Transfers in: Kyle McCord (QB, OSU), Fadil Diggs (DE, Texas A&M)
The marquee name here is the Jersey native McCord who started most of the season for Ohio State. Syracuse also brings in six additional players from the SEC. A pair of former Georgia receivers figure to recoup the loss of last season’s top receiver, and a pair of Georgia offensive lineman isn’t too shabby either. Diggs is a strong force as a pass rusher and was part of an A&M team under Robinson that was among the best in stopping the run. All together, Brown brings in 19 total transfers to offset many Babers recruits out the door.
Returners
Brown’s quick hire certainly helped Syracuse retain some of the better talent on the team. On offense, running back LeQuint Allen is coming off a 1000 yard campaign that saw him land on the second team All-ACC team. TE Oronde Gadsden Jr. dominated in 2022, but was sidelined nearly all of last season due to injury. He figures to be a big component of the offense and earned preseason conference honours.
Defensively, senior linebackers Marlowe Wax, another second teamer, and Derek McDonald will be key contributors. Wax enters his final season nearing a number of program record tallies and has started 38 straight games and played in all 49 games he’s been with Syracuse. Senior safety Justin Barron was another standout performer and DB Duce Chestnut boomerangs after a stint at LSU — we’ll count him as a returner here. This rounds out a group that has a strong blend of returning veterans and new faces.
Win Total o/u: 7.5
Syracuse has one of the easier schedules in the conference avoiding the ACC upper echelon. With a brand new coach bringing in a whole host of new faces, Syracuse might just be showing a real investment in football again. They have a pretty wide range of predictions but most expect them to at minimum secure a third straight bowl game.