Syracuse AD John Wildhack said ahead of the BC game last night that he didn’t see Dabo Babers’ team quit against Virginia Tech. Before I read Wildhack’s comments I had watched just two clips of the BC game; I watched the entire Virginia Tech game on replay; and I read former Orangemen QB Eric Dungey say that while Syracuse was losing by 30 to the “Hokies” he saw a Syracuse player, he thought it was Carlos Del Rio-Wilson yukking it up on the sideline.
What I saw in those two games was a black-and-white contrast between the Orangemen players and their opponents in demeanor.
Nothing was so stark as on BC’s first interception last night. After the play the BC sideline went NUTS, mobbing their teammate in celebration as if they had already won the game. In both games I saw the Syracuse sideline nonchalant. I saw Dabo Babers exude a calm that belied urgency. He seemed disconnected. I never saw him emotional, either to urge his team on or to chastise them. There was no fire, not in the coaches, not in the players.
This is Babers’ eighth season in central New York. Syracuse has now lost five straight games. Boston College has now won five straight. The “Eagles” players are all-in on their coach and on their team. Syracuse is checked out, from the athletic director to the coaches to the players. It is beyond time that Syracuse check out on Dino Babers.