SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse bounced back in a big way from last week's embarrassing loss to top-ranked Miami.

James Mungro rushed for a career-high 184 yards and two touchdowns and the No. 22 Orangemen rolled up 575 yards of total offense Saturday night as they defeated No. 25 Boston College 39-28 to clinch second place in the Big East.

James Mungro surges behind the Syracuse line for one of his TDs. (AP)

"I thought the kids did a very good job of keeping the Miami loss in perspective," Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "The kids kept it in perspective, shook it off and showed no effects from Monday through to tonight."

Behind a safety and a field goal in the third quarter, Syracuse (9-3, 6-1) built a 19-point lead and wasn't threatened the rest of the way.

A 15-yard touchdown from pass from BC's Brain St. Pierre to Dedrick Dewalt followed by a 2-point conversion made the score 39-28 with 4:23 left. St. Pierre finished with 217 yards and two touchdowns for Boston College (7-4, 4-3).

After being shut out 59-0 against the Hurricanes, Syracuse needed to show some offense to try to make itself more attractive to the Gator Bowl, which has the second pick from the Big East but isn't required to take the league's second-place team.

"I don't think we planned to do anything differently this week that we do any other week," Pasqualoni said. "Sometimes things click and sometimes things don't click. We were hitting on all cylinders tonight."

Mungro didn't waste any time making sure it would be a special day for him and his team.

The senior's first carry -- a 15-yard gain -- put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, just the sixth Syracuse player to accomplish that feat.

His two touchdowns gave him 14 for the season, tying the school record Floyd Little set in 1965. His 29 career touchdowns stand second only to Little's mark of 35.

Besides the motivation of playing his last game in the Carrier Dome, Mungro also had the added incentive of playing against Eagles running back William Green, who entered the game tops in the nation with a 153-yard average.

Green finished with 182 yards despite feeling woozy and missing some of the game while he was given an IV.

"The way I am I compete and I want to outdo what he does out there on the field," Mungro said.

The win gives Mungro the edge, but he wasn't the only Syracuse senior who enjoyed a banner day.

Syracuse defensive end Dwight Freeney, a Bronko Nagurski Award finalist, made a momentum-changing play late in the first half when he stripped the ball from St. Pierre.

One play later R.J. Anderson found Kyle Johnson alone down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown pass that gave the Orangemen a 14-point lead.

"I think the turnover before the half was key," Eagles coach Tom O'Brien said. "We gave them an easy one there."

Johnson -- who was granted a rare sixth year of eligibility following an ankle injury last season -- ran for a touchdown and caught a scoring pass and R.J. Anderson, who threw for 247 yards and a score, guided an offense that looked potent after its abysmal showing last week.

"I was definitely looking toward our offensive production right from the jump," Johnson said. "That's something that we needed to do as an offense."

O'Brien was impressed as well.

"They just overpowered us up front. We couldn't stop their run," O'Brien said. "I think we played hard, we just could not stop them on offense."

The Orangemen held a 28-14 halftime lead after a wild first half that included two one-play scoring drives and three touchdowns of 40 or more yards.

After a 6-yard touchdown run by Johnson put Syracuse up 7-0, Green and the Eagles (7-4, 4-3) needed just a little over three minutes to tie the game.

On first down Green took a handoff at the Orangemen 40 going left, burst into the Syracuse secondary, bumped into one of his own players, shrugged off Syracuse defender Jameel Dumas at about the 5 and continued into the end zone to make it 7-7.

Anderson and Mungro each had 1-yard scoring runs in the second quarter to put the Orangemen up 21-7, but Green got BC back into the game with a 62-yard touchdown run.