Syracuse’s nightmare 2025 season ends with 34-12 loss to Boston College
Syracuse fell flat in its season finale against Boston College, allowing 28 points in the second half to finish its disastrous season at 3-9. Madison Cox | Staff Photographer
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It was 364 days ago. Syracuse’s first regular season under Fran Brown ended in a field storm, securing a program-altering year with an upset over a top-10 team.
Fast-forward almost exactly a year later, and the Orange were just hoping to turn the page to next season.
SU has endured plenty of embarrassments in 2025. There was its loss to North Carolina, where a walk-on true freshman completed just four passes in 60 minutes. Later, there was a defeat at then-No. 18 Miami to clinch a Bowl loss, ending the Rickie Collins experiment for good. A historic blowout against then-No. 9 Notre Dame in the penultimate game of 2025 cemented the Orange as a laughing stock of College Football.
A battle for the Atlantic Coast Conference’s last-place slot Saturday acted as the nail in the coffin on SU’s forgettable season. Syracuse (3-9, 1-7 ACC) fell to Boston College (2-10, 1-7 ACC) 34-12, finishing the season on an eight-game losing streak.
The skid is SU’s longest since 2020, when it went 1-10. It also marked the Orange’s largest win dropoff between two seasons in program history. After an insufferable two months, all Brown can do is look to the future.
“I believe, and not even do I believe, I’m almost promising that I know we’ll make it out of this,” Brown said postgame. “I know our football team will be five times better than we were this football season.”
With Syracuse’s victory over then-No. 6 Miami last year, the Hurricanes were knocked out of the ACC title game in favor of Clemson. This season, the result of Syracuse and Boston College was part of a crazy tiebreaking combination. As ACC foes watched from a distance, a small crowd took in the contest from the JMA Wireless Dome.
Just as you’d expect in the ACC bottom feeders championship, both teams emerged sluggish out of the gate. BC and SU each committed multiple penalties to slow the contest down. It’d been 70 days since Syracuse’s last win. For BC, it was 91. Someone needed to take control. The Eagles struck first on a 30-yard field goal deep into the opening frame.
To kickstart its offense, SU flipped back to its 2023 days. Tight end, and former Michigan quarterback, Dan Villari set up in the wildcat formation. Villari said he was asked about possibly switching to the formation in the beginning of the week and quickly agreed.
With Joe Filardi at quarterback, the Orange found life in the altered setup. They drove to the BC 30 and converted a 49-yard field goal.
Entering Saturday, Syracuse tallied over 100 rushing yards in 8-of-11 games. Yet it hadn’t produced a single 100-yard rusher in a game. The Orange eclipsed 100 yards on the ground in the second quarter and took their first lead since the North Carolina game at 6-3. In the closing seconds of the half, BC evened it at 6-6.
When Syracuse’s wildcat offense stalled to kickstart the third quarter, the Eagles quickly took flight. A 54-yard shot from Grayson James to star wide receiver Lewis Bond put BC over midfield, and two plays later, Turbo Richard cashed in through the left seam for a 16-yard score.
Bond continued to take over, finishing with 171 yards on eight receptions, solidifying his place as an all-time great BC wide receiver. But the Eagles stalled in the red zone, and a 40-yard attempt went wide left to keep SU in the game. Another wasted offensive possession for the Orange ignited Boston College’s offense again — the Eagles scored a rushing touchdown at the end of the third quarter to mount a 20-6 lead following a major pass interference call on cornerback Demetres Samuel Jr. One last time, Syracuse never recovered.
“(I’m) using this as motivation,” Samuel Jr. said. “Remember the feeling from this season, how it went, but you just don’t ever want to go through that again. I don’t think none of us ever been through nothing like this. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”
Postgame, there was no field storm. Instead, fans cleared the lower levels with over 13 minutes remaining in the contest, and seniors circled on the sidelines for one final goodbye.
It’s no secret Syracuse’s season turned sour once quarterback Steve Angeli went down at Clemson. A 3-1 record quickly evaporated to 3-9. The squad vying for an early run at an ACC Championship game bid and another step following a 10-win year fell back down to earth.
And now the final chapter has officially closed. All that’s left to salvage a washed season is using it for a future revival.
“I gotta learn from this storm right now and be ready to adapt to it and do it the right way next year,” Brown said.
