Terrel Hunt had two minutes and eight seconds to salvage Syracuse’s season.

After piecing together what Hunt called his “best game ever played,” Syracuse’s bowl hopes took a sour, sickening twist. Hunt had thrown an interception with 2:49 remaining in the game. The Orange trailed by four and a comeback seemed nearly impossible.

It looked as if Syracuse would fall just short of what it’s clawed and scrapped for all season.

But SU held Boston College to a field goal, allowing only 41 seconds to tick off the clock.

“How many of you guys said it was over on the interception?” Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer said.

“Our kids didn’t.”

It was Hunt’s time to shine. Time to carry his team downfield and into the end zone for the win. Time to silence the critics.

Hunt and Syracuse (6-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast) embarked on a miraculous eight-play, 75-yard drive to stun Boston College (7-5, 4-4) 34-31 in front of 37,406 at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. Josh Parris caught the game winner with six seconds left on a gutsy call by offensive coordinator George McDonald and a pinpoint pass by Hunt. With the victory, the Orange becomes bowl eligible for the third time in four seasons.

“To be honest with you,” Syracuse center Macky MacPherson said, “I think that’s one of the top five Syracuse games ever played in the Dome.”

When it was all over, SU players and coaches frantically zipped around the field. It was complete pandemonium.

Team managers viciously attacked one another in jubilation. Sean Hickey, who sat out most of the second half nursing a high ankle sprain, tried to celebrate while making sure no one stepped on his injured foot. Marquis Spruill was so caught up in the joy of the moment that he couldn’t even remember his initial reaction after the fact.

For a while, though, as precious seconds ticked off the clock, it appeared as though there would be no brouhaha in the Carrier Dome.

Hunt’s interception seemed to be the inevitable dagger Syracuse couldn’t afford. It seemed as though the two times SU couldn’t convert inside the 15-yard line would come back to haunt Syracuse. It looked like a Ryan Norton-missed field goal might bite SU once again.

But then Hunt and the offense put together a pristine drive.

“I didn’t even look at the clock,” Hunt said. “That’s the crazy part.”

Hunt started the drive with a 15-yard pass to Parris across the middle. Then he found Alvin Cornelius for seven yards and scrambled by himself for eight.

After a pass interference call, Hunt fumbled, but MacPherson was there to scoop it up and maintain possession. Three plays later, Hunt found Cornelius on the left sideline, and he caught the ball and smartly stepped out of bounds to stop the clock.

Six seconds remained.

McDonald said the play had been in the works for six weeks. Syracuse had practiced it “ad nauseam” and the players were itching to see their labor come to fruition. The play was in SU’s back pocket for a long time, McDonald said, and he knew there was no better time to bust it out.

“I was like, ‘F*ck it,’” McDonald said. “Excuse me, I was like, ‘Let’s roll with it.’”

Last time they tried the play, Parris dropped it, McDonald said. This time, though, the redshirt freshman caught the game-winner. He reached both arms outward, soaking in the moment, and his teammates mobbed him.

Hunt’s only option was to throw to Parris, and he lofted the ball into the redshirt freshman’s hands on the left side. Parris finished with seven catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns on the day. Hunt, meanwhile, put together a 29-for-43, 270-yard performance and scored three total touchdowns.

At the start of the season, Parris and Cornelius were far from the Orange’s main targets. Hunt wasn’t even the starting quarterback. With injuries to Hickey, Jarrod West and Prince-Tyson Gulley, new faces emerged in crunch time.

“This is what college football’s all about. There’s not a waiver wire,” Shafer said. “You can’t pick up the phone and say, ‘Let’s get so-and-so.’ This is college football. You’ve got to step up to the plate and say, ‘Hey, what’s your name again? You’re in.’ Then all of a sudden you know his name when he makes a play.”

On Saturday, Parris made plays for Syracuse.

But six ticks remained. One squib kick, two completions and a fumble later, though, and Syracuse was going bowling.

“Penn State, we had the ball in our hands and we didn’t finish,” McDonald said. “Pittsburgh, we had the ball in our hands and we didn’t finish.

“Today we finished.”

When it was all over, MacPherson said he was ready to collapse. He’s just thrilled to have a chance to play one more collegiate game. He doesn’t care if the bowl game’s in Alaska; he’s just ready to go play one more time.

That’s possible thanks to Syracuse’s remarkable final drive.

The unthinkable turned into the unimaginable as a potentially gut-wrenching loss turned into a miraculous, season-saving win.

“I feel bad for the people who left,” MacPherson said, “because they missed one hell of a game.”

Published on November 30, 2013 at 7:15 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass