With all the talk this week of treason and Double Agents, with Boston College coming to town, who would have thought Syracuse had a spy of its own?

All week, Syracuse football defensive tackle Christian Ferrara studied the BC offense on film and picked apart its weaknesses.

‘He knew every play was going to run before it happened,’ defensive tackle Louis Gachelin said. ‘Christian knew formations, the motion of the quarterback and the checks they made. He knew what was going on and let the defensive line know.’

The defensive line put Ferrara’s craftiness to good use, as the Orangemen demoralized Boston College, 39-14, on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. The drubbing sent Boston College – which last week accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference – packing for perhaps the last time as a Big East team. It delighted the Homecoming crowd of 45,313, which chanted ‘A-C-C!, A-C-C!’ during the game.

All day, the Orangemen (4-2, 1-1 Big East) seemed one step ahead of the Eagles (4-3, 1-2) on defense. SU shut down the Derrick Knight, who came into the game leading the nation in rushing at 147.7 yards a game. The Orangemen limited him to 51 yards and sacked quarterback Quinton Porter five times. Syracuse had only three sacks all year coming into Saturday’s game.

‘(The Eagles) gave you an opportunity to (pressure the quarterback) because of their scheme,’ SU defensive coordinator Chris Rippon said. ‘There wasn’t a lot of adjustments and craziness that went on, so we were able to focus in without checks and we were able to rush the passer more.

‘We played pretty good against Toledo, but consistently, it’s been two years (since the defense played this well). I saw Dwight (Freeney) on the sideline. I was ready to suit him up and send him out there for old-time’s sake.’

But the Orangemen didn’t even have to use Freeney, who used to play defensive end for Syracuse. Gachelin, Ferrara and the rest of the front seven provided all the damage that was needed. Outside linebacker Kellen Pruitt, Ferrara, defensive end James Wyche and Gachelin all had one sack. Defensive end Josh Thomas and outside linebacker Kelvin Smith each had half a sack.

Syracuse set the tone of the game only two minutes into the first quarter. On a Brendan Carney punt, cornerback Steve Gregory took dead aim on Nat Hasselbeck, who was waiting to receive the kick. Hasselbeck took his eyes off the punt and muffed it. Half a second later, Gregory pummeled him. The bounding ball sent hordes of BC and Syracuse players into the end zone to retrieve it. It was ruled a touchback, but the intensity of the play gave the SU defense plenty of motivation.

In their next six drives after Gregory’s hit, the Eagles were limited to one score while throwing an interception and punting four times. Last week, Virginia Tech suffocated the SU offense, clogging gaps and gang tackling ball carriers for losses. This week, it was Syracuse that dominated defensively.

SU quarterback R.J. Anderson’s 52-yard touchdown pass to wideout Johnnie Morant in the second quarter made the defensive effort stand. As did the second touchdown between the pair, when Anderson lobbed a throwback to the left corner of the end zone.

Anderson played his best game since SU’s opener, completing 20 of 27 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns.

But the defensive pressure made it so the Orangemen could breathe comfortably on offense. Syracuse held the Eagles to 70 yards rushing. It was SU’s stingiest game of the year, and perhaps the best overall effort for the unit. It also pressured Porter into two interceptions.

The plays were all made possible with a little extra practice this past week and a Syracuse defensive tackle giving the Eagles a taste of their own medicine.

‘We detected some of the bad habits which we exploited, and got in the backfield,’ Gachelin said. ‘Christian, he did a good job of studying them.

‘There’s no hard feelings between me and Boston College. I’m just glad we gave them a good butt-whoopin’.’

Published on October 19, 2003 at 12:00 pm