Recap: Syracuse 27, Pittsburgh 24

Saturday, October 7

Syracuse, NY

12:30 pm

Syracuse University

3-3 , 1-1

Pittsburgh

2-4 , 0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Pittsburgh

Syracuse

Photo by: Charles Wainwright

10/7/2017 3:12:00 PM | Football

Box Score Cuse TV: Highlights Cuse TV: Dino Babers Press Conference Cuse TV: Players Press Conference Cuse TV: Alumni Celebrate Orange Central Cuse TV: Hometown Hero Katherine Quartaro Cuse TV: Orange Out T-Shirt Contest Photo Gallery Postgame Notes Quotes

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Quarterback Eric Dungey threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to lead Syracuse (3-3, 1-1 ACC ) to a 27-24 Homecoming Weekend triumph against Pittsburgh (2-4, 0-2 ACC ) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, Oct. 7.

It was the Orange's first Homecoming win since defeating No. 11 Louisville 45-26 on Nov. 10, 2012, and the victory snapped a four-game losing streak for Syracuse against the Panthers.

The Orange reached the 500-yard mark in total offense for the third time in six games this season, outgaining the Panthers, 500-358. Dungey was responsible for 413 of those yards, including 365 through the air.

HOW IT WAS DECIDED
Dungey engineered an Orange rally from a 10-3, first-half deficit. He connected with Devin C. Butler on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 34 seconds left before halftime. He then helped Syracuse go ahead for good with a 10-yard run to paydirt in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Dungey teamed with Steve Ishmael on a 35-yard scoring strike with 11:07 left that proved to be the winning points.

Pittsburgh's Qadree Ollison scored on a 19-yard run to close the gap to 27-24 with 7:15 to play, and the Panthers had one last opportunity after stopping Syracuse on fourth-and-1 at the Pittsburgh five with 52 seconds remaining. With no timeouts left, the Panthers gained one first down on the ensuing series before a sack by junior Ryan Guthrie extinguished any hope for the visitors.

A telling factor in the game was Syracuse's performance on both sides of the ball on third down. The Orange defense kept Pittsburgh from converting a third down until midway through the fourth quarter as the Panthers failed on their first 10 tries.

Syracuse's offense was only 1-for-9 on third down in the opening two quarters, but converted its first on the touchdown drive that ended the first half and then was successful on four tries on its third-quarter touchdown series.

The Orange ended the game 8-of-20 (.400) on third down. The Panthers were 3-of-13 (.231).

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— Syracuse Football (@CuseFootball) October 7, 2017

BABERS' TAKE
"It was good to finally get that monkey off our back. It was our third close game. We went all the way into the second half, with five minutes left to go, wondering who was going to win the game," Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. "We see the team rally together and have all three units play well together in the last five minutes – special teams, offense, and defense. It was exciting. The kids are excited and we're happy that we were able to do our part to make sure that everyone had a happy Homecoming."

OF NOTE
Dungey was 33-of-49 passing. He also ran 12 times for 48 yards. His 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the 19th of his career, tying the program mark for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback held by Bill Hurley (1975-79) and Donovan McNabb (1995-98).

Alex Kessman's 56-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for Pittsburgh was the longest ever in the Carrier Dome and matched the longest field goal by an opposing player against the Orange. USF's Delbert Alvarado hit a 56-yarder against Syracuse at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium on Nov. 11, 2006. The previous Dome record was 55 yards by North Carolina's Dan Orner in 2002.

Syracuse's Cole Murphy was successful on both of his field-goal tries, splitting the uprights from 26 and 38 yards. The kicks gave him 49 career field goals and put him in a third-place tie with Nate Trout (1996-99) and Ross Krautman (2010-13) on the Syracuse career ledger. Murphy also kept Pittsburgh All-America return man Quadree Henderson at bay by booming all six of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

Panthers quarterback Max Browne was forced to leave the game in the second half with an injury. He was replaced by Ben DiNucci, who guided Pittsburgh on a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Brown was 15-of-22 for 161 yards before departing.

Syracuse linebacker Parris Bennett had a game-best 14 tackles, including nine solo stops. It was the third week in a row Bennett finished with double-digit tackles. He leads the Orange with 56 stops on the season (9.3 per game).

PIERCING THE PITT DEFENSE
Junior tight end Ravian Pierce had a career afternoon against the Panthers. The 6-3, junior-college transfer from Southwest Mississippi Community College had a personal-best nine receptions for 99 yards. His previous high was three catches, something he achieved twice previously. Pierce came up one yard short of posting the first 100-yard receiving game for a Syracuse tight end since Chris Gedney (103 yards) at West Virginia on Oct. 17, 1992.

Eight of Pierce's receptions came after the intermission.

UP NEXT
The Orange are home again next week to host defending national champion Clemson on Friday, Oct. 13. Game time is 7 p.m. on ESPN. Tickets to watch the Orange and Tigers start at $45 and are available online (Cuse.com/tickets), by phone (888-DOME-TIX) and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B).

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