Dungey Throws Three TD Passes in 28-20 Win at BC

Saturday, October 22

Chestnut Hill, MA

12:30 pm

Syracuse University

4-4 , 2-2

Boston College

3-4 , 0-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Syracuse

Boston College

Photo by: Charles Wainwright

Dungey Throws Three TD Passes in 28-20 Win at BC

10/22/2016 12:39:00 PM | Football

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Orange even their record at 4-4

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. – Quarterback Eric Dungey threw for three touchdowns and Syracuse (4-4, 2-2 ACC) overcame two long Boston College (3-4, 0-4 ACC) scoring plays to emerge with a 28-20 victory Saturday, Oct. 22 at Alumni Stadium. The victory snapped the Orange's eight-game ACC road losing streak and raised their record to 3-1 against the Eagles since joining the conference in 2013.

Dungey finished the afternoon 32-of-38 for a career-high 434 yards, the second-best, single-game passing yardage total in the Syracuse annals. He adeptly spread the ball around as four Orange players had at least 78 yards receiving. Amba Etta-Tawo had 10 catches for 144 yards. Steve Ishmael hauled in a personal-best eight passes for 108 yards. Erv Philips ended up with 78 yards on seven receptions, and Brisly Estime added to the passing total with five catches for 93 yards. Etta-Tawo, Ishmael and Philips were all on the receiving end of Dungey touchdown throws.

Eric Dungey with 434 passing yards today, the second-highest single-game total in Syracuse history
???? #OrangeIsTheNewFast pic.twitter.com/07YWoBpPlW
— Syracuse Football (@CuseFootball) October 22, 2016

In addition to his monster passing numbers, Dungey also led Syracuse on the ground with 54 yards on 17 carries to finish the game with a personal-best 488 yards of total offense.

The Orange delivered the decisive blow in the fourth quarter. Dungey and Etta-Towa teamed up on a deep ball that resulted in a 68-yard touchdown. The long throw, a familiar play this season, featured a one-handed, catch-and-carry by Etta-Tawo as he outran the BC defense to the end zone. The scoring pass gave Syracuse a 28-20 lead with 9:18 left in the contest.

The Eagles threatened once more after a Dungey fumble gave Boston College the ball at the Syracuse 43-yard line with 4:28 to go. The Eagles advanced to the SU 14, but the Orange defense rose up and forced Boston College to give the ball up on downs with 1:50 left. The Orange picked up a first down on the ensuing series and Dungey took a knee twice to clinch the victory.

Business trip successful ?? pic.twitter.com/yKMMnLNamD
— Syracuse Football (@CuseFootball) October 22, 2016

Syracuse led for the majority of the game and solidified its 14-10 halftime advantage after a bizarre play in the third quarter. Boston College quarterback Patrick Towles hit Michael Walker for a potential catch inside the SU 5-yard line, but Walker bobbled the ball and he tipped it into the hands of Orange linebacker Paris Bennett. Following the change of possession, Dungey moved the Orange 86 yards in nine plays. His lob into the end zone was hauled in for an 11-yard score by Steve Ishmael and put Syracuse ahead, 21-10.

Boston College answered quickly when Towles turned a second-down keeper into a 75-yard touchdown run on the Eagles' last drive of the third period. Shortly after, Mike Knoll converted a 39-yard field goal that pulled the Eagles to within 21-20 before the game was settled on Etta-Tawo's score.

Syracuse racked up 532 yards of total offense against the nation's sixth-ranked defense, including 434 through the air versus a BC secondary that entered the game fifth in the FBS against the pass. On the flip side, the Orange pass defense was stellar all afternoon, holding BC to season lows for completions (7) and passing yards (64).

Despite dominating the statistics, it was Boston College that got on the board first. Dungey was intercepted on the first series of the game by William Harris who returned the pick 62 yards. Dungey was flagged for a personal foul after the play and the Eagles took over on the SU 15. However, the SU defense, which has been superb in the red zone this season, limited the hosts to a 30-yard field goal by Knoll.

Philips played a key role in Syracuse's response to the early deficit. He capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive by taking a pitch from Dungey and running into the end zone from the 3-yard line to put the Orange up, 7-3. In the second quarter, Philips helped finish off a nine-play, 80-yard march with a 10-yard touchdown reception from Dungey on a slant over the middle. Cole Murphy's second extra point gave Syracuse a 14-3 margin.

The Eagles answered immediately. Myles Willis returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to narrow the gap to 14-10. The score remained that way for the rest of the second quarter and the Orange answered every challenge in the second half to get back to .500 with four games left in the regular season.

Etta-Tawo raised his season receiving total to 1,074 yards to join Rob Moore (1989), Marvin Harrison (1995) and Alec Lemon (2012) as the only players in team history to post a 1,000-yard receiving season. For Dungey, the BC game marked his sixth 300-yard passing performance of the season, tying the SU mark established by Ryan Nassib in 2012.

In addition to his interception, Bennett had a squad-best 11 tackles, the fourth time in the last five games he recorded double-digit stops. Zaire Franklin and Corey Winfield each contributed seven tackles. Winfield also broke up a pass.

Towles was 4-for-14 passing for 45 yards and an interception. Backup quarterback Darius Wade entered the game in the fourth quarter and went 3-for-6 through the air for 19 yards. Towles led the Eagles with 104 yards on 10 carries, while Davon Jones added 66 yards rushing on 14 attempts.

After eight straight games to open the season, the Orange have a bye next weekend. Syracuse returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 5 when it travels to Clemson for a showdown with the Tigers in Death Valley.

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