Cole Murphy clinched the win by making a 35-yard field goal.
Syracuse sent Scott Shafer off as a winner on Saturday, topping Boston College, 20-17, inside the Carrier Dome in the head coach's final game with the Orange. With the win, SU snapped an eight-game losing streak and finished the season at 4-8.
After Boston College tied the score at 17 on a Colton Lichtenberg 43-yard field goal with less than three minutes to play, Syracuse drove 51 yards on nine plays to set up a Cole Murphy 35-yard field goal attempt with three seconds on the game clock. Murphy drilled the field goal, his second conversion on two tries on the day.
The Orange also got two touchdown passes from Zack Mahoney, who finished with 88 yards passing -- 79 more than Eagles quarterback Jeff Smith. It took Smith until midway through the fourth quarter to get his first and only completion. As that suggests, the game was mostly the defensive struggle that it was expected to be. Syracuse and Boston College combined for less than 500 yards of total offense, and there were 15 punts.
Not long after Murphy's kick sailed through the uprights as time expired, SU offensive linemen Rob Trudo and Nick Robinson lifted Shafer onto their shoulders. According to multiple reporters on Twitter, some fans chanted "Thank you, Shafer" as he walked toward the tunnel. Throughout it all, Shafer appeared to shed tears.
