Defensive struggles that have persisted for much of the season doomed Boston College to a 28-20 defeat despite the Orange bestowing a litany of gifts upon the Eagles, whose bowl hopes are fading away.

CHESTNUT HILL — A season’s dreams perhaps hung in the balance on Saturday afternoon. And were broken.

In desperate need of a win over Syracuse on Saturday to have a realistic chance of reaching a bowl game — and breaking an ACC losing streak that is well into its second year — defensive struggles that have persisted for much of the season doomed Boston College to a 28-20 defeat despite the Orange bestowing a litany of gifts upon the Eagles.

Truly dominant a year ago when leading the entire nation in total defense and ranking fourth in scoring defense, the BC defense was shredded for 532 total yards by the Orange, with Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey completing 32 of 38 passes for 434 yards and three touchdowns.

The nail in the coffin on Saturday, and perhaps in BC’s bowl hopes, was a 68-yard touchdown pass to Amba Etta-Tawo over Kamrin Moore early in the fourth quarter after the Eagles had scored 10 straight points to claw within one.

“We got hit with a couple of big plays,” said BC coach Steve Addazio, whose team is now 3-4 overall, 0-4 in the ACC, and 0-12 over the last two seasons. “We’re working hard to eliminate those. … When you play man coverage you put yourself in jeopardy.”

After holding teams to an average of 15.3 points last year — including Florida State to 14, Louisville to 17, and Notre Dame to 19 — BC has allowed 150 in four ACC games, an average of 37.5. And had it not been for three Syracuse turnovers and alarming 16 penalties by the Orange, Syracuse could well have scored a lot more on Saturday.

“At the end of the day it just comes down to everyone having to do their job, and I think that they made a couple more plays than we made,” said linebacker Matt Milano. “We had the opportunity, but we just didn’t get it done.”

As Saturday’s game wound down, it was one of those many Syracuse gifts that allowed BC a final gasp.

Trailing 28-20 with 4:28 remaining, Dungey was careless and got stripped by Wyatt Ray. Kevin Kavalec fell on the loose ball, giving the Eagles possession at the Syracuse 43. Six plays later, however, Darius Wade — playing in place of Patrick Towles after Towles pulled a hamstring on a 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter — threw high on fourth-and-14 from the 18, ending BC’s comeback bid.

That marked the fourth time BC got inside the Syracuse 25, yet the Eagles managed just six points on those possessions.

Perhaps the most egregious missed opportunity came with 4:29 left in the third quarter and BC trailing 14-10. Towles threw a strike to Michael Walker at the 7-yard line, but Walker bobbled the ball and it was picked off by Parris Bennett.

“They left me loose, didn’t guard me,” said Walker, “so I kind of scrambled a little bit and just kind of moved too fast, didn’t secure the catch.”

Later in the second half, after falling behind 21-10, BC rallied to within a point.

Towles ran for his touchdown as time expired in the third quarter, and Mike Knoll kicked a 39-yard field goal with 10:02 left in the fourth.

But then came Etta-Tawo’s catch over Moore.

“That game was anybody’s game, and we had an unbelievable opportunity,” said Addazio. “We had an unbelievable opportunity going in where we turned the ball over, and that was going to be a touchdown. And in the beginning of the game we had an opportunity to run that ball, and that was going to be a touchdown.”

That came after the first of Syracuse’s gifts.

The Orange marched to the BC 35 on the opening possession of the game, but then Dungey threw a pass that was picked off by William Harris. Harris returned the ball 64 yards before being slammed out of bounds by Dungey, adding 15 yards to the play and placing the ball at the Syracuse 14.

A melee ensued, and it appeared a member of the Syracuse staff threw a BC player to the ground.

“I can’t comment on all the exact details,” said Harris, “but some guys got tossed around a little bit.’’

After things calmed, BC wound up with third-and-5 from the 9. Towles scrambled, and could have easily ran for the first down. Instead, he threw an incomplete pass after he’d crossed the line of scrimmage and was whistled for an illegal forward pass. Knoll then converted from 30 yards for a 3-0 BC lead.

Syracuse ran off 14 straight points before an 89-yard kickoff return by Myles Willis got BC within four at 14-10.

Now staring BC in the face are three more ACC games in a row, and the Eagles last won an ACC game nearly 700 days ago.

“You pour your heart and soul into winning the football game — that’s all you do, player, coach, everybody,” said Addazio. “We’ve got another game next week, and we’ve got to rock and roll and get ready to play.”

Eric Avidon can be reached at 508-626-3809 or eavidon@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericavidon.