CHESTNUT HILL – If you felt like BC’s football season needed a bit of a jolt following a three-game losing streak and rapidly declining expectations, Saturday was your day.

Grayson James replaced Thomas Castellanos at quarterback in the third quarter after Castellanos had just 14 yards in the first half. Kye Robichaux and Jordan McDonald combined for 335 rushing yards and three touchdowns and the defense got pressure on Kyle McCord throughout the day in a 37-31 win over Northeast rival Syracuse.

The win – which came in front of 44,500 fans, the 40th sellout at Alumni Stadium since 1994 –  bumps the Eagles back over .500 (5-4, 2-3 ACC) with three games remaining and more importantly, ended a three-game losing streak.

“I think it was probably the first time in a while…I would say all the way back to the beginning of the season where we played a complete game,” said Bill O’Brien. “There were obviously some things we’ve got to clean up obviously, but run the football, stopping the run, fourth down defense. Obviously, they’ve got a great passing offense. Their passing offense is one of the best in the country, we did the best we could and we held up when we had to.

“It was a really good win for Boston College.”

James only threw the ball six times, completing five of those passes for 51 yards and a touchdown, but the offense scored touchdowns on the first three drives he was in the huddle for.

“I just felt like at that time it was the best decision for the team,” O’Brien said of the switch. “Little bit of everything went into that. I felt like a decision needed to be made. I try to look at the team. That’s my job. I have to make the best decisions for the team and I thought that was the best decision for the team at the time.”

In a 14-14 game coming out of halftime, Castellanos (2/7, 14 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was sacked on third down and came up limping as the Eagles went three-and-out. Syracuse swiftly moved downfield and a four-yard touchdown run by LeQuint Allen put the Orange up by seven.

That’s when James came in and handed off three times in a row, with the third one going for 41-yards as Robichaux (career-high 28 carries and career-high 198 yards) scampered into the end zone. Liam Connor’s PAT made it 21-21.

Just before all of this happened, Donovan Ezeiruaku gathered the defense around and gave an inspired talk. One play after the Robichaux score, Ezeiruaku had a strip-sack of McCord. The veteran pass rusher also had a chance for an easy scoop-and-score touchdown, but the ball hit his hands and he accidentally kicked it forward through the back of the end zone for a safety.

“That’s a bad look on me,” Exeiruaku said with a big smile after shaking his head. “I pride myself on being an athlete, but the guys gave me a few words of encouragement. They said ‘9 is better than 7,’ so I guess I did that one for the team…just trying to fire up the guys (with the talk). The last couple of weeks, before the bye, we didn’t do a good job of finishing. That second half we didn’t do what we needed to do as a defense to get us a win, so just kind of firing the guys up, gettin a little vocal.

“Just so we can go out there and finish and I think we did a pretty good job.”

James’ biggest moments came on the ensuing 12-play, 67-yard drive that lasted over six minutes and included two different gotta-have-it third down throws and ended with a McDonald (15/133) 13-yard touchdown run and a 30-21 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

McCord (31-48/392 yards/2 TD’s) kept coming back and hit Darrell Gill for a 12-yard TD early in the fourth to cut it to two. The offensive line, running game and James responded with a 10-play, 78-yard drive that ended with James hitting Jeremiah Franklin for an 18-yard touchdown on 4th-&-1.

Syracuse turned it over on downs its next possession, BC punted and the Orange booted a 25-yard field goal with 1:16 left. Syracuse recovered the initial onside kick attempt, but an illegal block was called. The Eagles recovered the next one, James kneeled out the win and walked off the field a winner at home for the second time this season.

“I prepare myself every week for a chance to be able to play when or if that ever may come,” said James. “Today I was able to go in there, have fun, perform for my team and get us a big win in a rivalry game…they (the running backs) definitely helped ease me into the game running behind that awesome O-line. They kind of just had their way with that front and that’s kind of what we had planned for going into the game.

“I just want to do what’s best for Boston College football. Whatever that is. Whether that’s me, Tommy, anybody who is on the field. I want to win. I know everybody in this program wants to win and that’s all the focus is. Whatever that is, I know the team’s going to be behind that decision and we just want to go win.”

BC actually led 14-0 with 8:55 left in the first half after a nine-yard touchdown catch for Lewis Bond from Castellanos. Before that play, Castellanos was sitting at -6 passing yards. The Eagles went up 7-0 in the first on a 34-yard touchdown run for Robichaux. The ‘Cuse offense struggled early, punting three times in the first quarter while Daveon Crouch came up with a forced fumble that was recovered by Quintayvious Hutchins.

Unfortunately for the defense, BC missed a field goal on its first possession, and went three-and-out on its other drive in the quarter. Syracuse got a fantastic back-shoulder TD ball from McCord to Oronde Gadsen and a three-yard TD run from Allen to make it 14-14 .

The Eagles had the ball at the BC 25 with 2:10 left in the half, but three plays into the drive Castellanos threw a ball behind Reed Harris that went off his hands and was intercepted, setting the wheels in motion for what could be a future-altering change if it becomes permanent.

“I’m going to look at the film and see where we’re at,” O’Brien added. “Both guys do some really good things, right? I mean, we kind of have a luxury there. We have two guys that have played a lot of football in Division 1. Grayson’s come up big for us twice this year in games that we really needed. Western Kentucky and today.

“So, we’ll look at it and we’ll see where we go from there. The game just ended, so give me 24 hours, I’ll figure it out.”