Recap: Syracuse Improves to 4-0 with 51-21 Triumph Over UConn

Saturday, September 22

Syracuse, NY

4 PM

Syracuse University

4-0

Connecticut

1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Connecticut

Syracuse

Photo by: Charles Wainwright

Recap: Syracuse Improves to 4-0 with 51-21 Triumph Over UConn

9/22/2018 7:32:00 PM | Football

Box Score Highlights Dino Babers Press Conference Players Press Conference Joe Morris Jersey Retirement Military Appreciation Day Photo Gallery Postgame Notes Quotes

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – If you looked away, you missed something.

That pretty much was the challenge spectators faced from the get-go in Syracuse's 51-21 victory against Connecticut on Saturday, Sept. 22 in the Carrier Dome. The Orange improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1991, while the Huskies slipped to 1-3 on the year.

Senior quarterback Eric Dungey completed 21-of-27 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns and also ran 16 times for 77 yards and three touchdowns. Syracuse tallied a season-high 636 yards of total offense, including 341 on the ground.

FAST AND FURIOUS
Dungey guided the Orange to touchdowns on the team's first three drives of the contest. The 21 points were accumulated in just a total of 5:19 of playing time, while covering a combined 184 yards. Dungey scored on runs of two and nine yards, and then connected with freshman tight end Gabe Horan on a 7-yard touchdown pass.

Redshirt freshman Andre Szmyt tacked on a 33-yard field goal to cap Syracuse's fourth drive at the end of the first quarter, the Orange were up 24-7.

Connecticut played Syracuse even in the second quarter. Quarterback David Pindell, who got the Huskies on the board with a 75-yard touchdown run in the first period, found Xavier Scott on a 2-yard scoring pass to narrow Syracuse's advantage to 24-14 with 11:41 until intermission.

The Orange answered with Dungey again, moving 70 yards in eight plays in a march the quarterback finished with 1-yard TD plunge. Syracuse led 31-14 at the break.

HOW IT WAS DECIDED
Despite Syracuse's lead, Connecticut remained within shouting distance into the third quarter. Faced with fourth-and-24 at its own 21, Connecticut punter Luke Magliozzi kicked 48 yards to junior Sean Riley, who fielded the ball at his own 31 and raced 69 yards for a touchdown. Szmyt's extra point increased the Syracuse margin to 38-14.

Szmyt added a 27-yard field goal on Syracuse's next possession and the Orange took a 41-14 lead into the final quarter.

THE LIFE OF RILEY
Riley stayed busy into the fourth quarter and contributed another touchdown when Dungey hit him on a slant over the middle that turned into a 49-yard score.

Riley completed the afternoon with 290 yards all-purpose yards, the fourth-best single-game total in team history. He had six receptions for 120 yards, two punt returns for 110 yards, two kickoff returns for 49 yards, and one rush for 11 yards.

UNDER PRESSURE
Syracuse's defense maintained steady pressure on Connecticut for most of the game. Leading the charge was junior defensive end Alton Robinson, who tallied three of the Orange's season-high six quarterback sacks. Robinson's three quarterback takedowns added up to 15 yards in losses.

Junior defensive end Kendall Coleman had two tackles for losses totaling 13 yards. The Orange ended up with nine tackles for losses (including the six sacks).

BABERS BITE
"Just like I told the football team, we're going to take that 4-0 check and we're not going to cash it. We're going to put it in the bank and we've got to start again," Orange head coach Dino Babers said. "If we keep having that attitude, when it's all said and done, maybe we'll have enough saved up in the piggy bank to go buy something at the end of the season that we'd like."

OF NOTE

Junior running back Moe Neal turned in the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. He ran 13 times for 116 yards.
Two fumble recoveries by Syracuse led to a total of 10 points. On Connecticut's first possession, redshirt senior defensive back Antwan Cordy forced Pindell to fumble and redshirt sophomore defensive end Josh Black recovered. Syracuse scored on the ensuing drive. In the fourth quarter, junior linebacker Andrew Armstrong recovered a Connecticut miscue to set up a Szymt field goal.
Riley's 69-yard punt return for a touchdown was Syracuse's first since Brisly Estime ran one back at Florida State in 2015.
Horan's touchdown reception marked the first catch of his career. Horan prepped at C.W. Baker High School in nearby Baldwinsville.
Dungey's three TD runs equaled his personal best and matched the program single-game record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
Dungey moved up Syracuse's career rushing touchdowns list. His three ground scores upped his total to 24, good for a seventh-place tie with Delone Carter (2006-10) and Damien Rhodes (2002-05). Dungey passed the great Jim Brown (1954-56) who had 23 during his career.
Szmyt made all six of his extra-point tries, extending his streak of consecutive made PATs to 24.
Szmyt added a third field goal to his total in the fourth quarter, a 25-yarder. The redshirt freshman has made 10 of his 11 tries this season.

UP NEXT
Syracuse returns to ACC play next week when it travels to Clemson to take on the third-ranked Tigers Saturday, Sept 29 at noon in Death Valley. The game will be televised on ABC.

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(9/22/2018) Syracuse vs. UConn