SU Football Rolls Past BC for Nine Win Regular Season

By Luke McGrath

CitrusTV Football Reporter

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – No. 20 Syracuse (9-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast) dominated its way to a 42-21 win over Boston College (7-5, 4-4) for the Orange’s ninth win of the season, its highest regular-season win total since 2001. The victory also marks the first time the Orange have won back to back road ACC games since joining the conference in 2013.

After both sides had missed field goals on their first drives, the Eagles opened the scoring with a three-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Brown to Jake Burt with 3:14 to go in the first for Burt’s first career touchdown. But SU answered back on the next play with a 75-yard touchdown pass to Sean Riley just nine seconds after the Eagles had scored.

On the ensuing kickoff, punter/kick off specialist Sterling Hofrichter forced and recovered a fumble to give SU the ball on BC’s 36-yard line. After a 34-yard connection between Eric Dungey and Jamal Custis, Dungey punched it in to give the Orange a 14-7 lead. And Syracuse would remain in front for the rest of the contest, taking a 14-point lead into halftime, and allowing just one score in the second half, a far cry from the 42-14 thrashing SU suffered in the Dome last year against the Eagles.

“I can still remember back to not feeling so great after last year at the dome and talking about this class and what I thought they had the capabilities of achieving and you know I remember some people giggling, even smirking about making a statement like that based off of the score last year,” SU head coach Dino Babers said. “But I really did believe and I really had faith that these guys were a little bit different,” Babers said.”

Dungey certainly stepped up for the Orange. After leaving last week’s game against Notre Dame in the first quarter with a back injury, many doubted his ability to play this week. He was a game-time decision but took the field and played one of the best games of his career.

He finished with 362 yards on 21 of 34 passing and three touchdowns through the air plus 34 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. His six touchdowns in one game is a career-high for Dungey and just the third time it has been done in program history (Zach Mahoney in 2016 and Jim Brown in 1956).

His six touchdowns today elevated Dungey to first in program history for single-season touchdowns with 32 combined between passing and rushing. But Babers thought he was even better off the field.

“I thought that he was at his best on the sidelines today,” Babers said. “The conversations that I had with him today on the sidelines were not like I was having conversations with a senior, it was like I was having conversations with a graduate assistant, it was like I was having conversations with a young position coach that has an exciting future in front of him but he’s not long in the tooth.”

The Orange now have to wait to see where, when and against who they will be suiting up against in their first bowl game since 2013.

Lumcgrat@syr.edu | @L_McGrath14