Syracuse was rolling. True freshman Eric Dungey looked like he had been playing in front of the Carrier Dome faithful for years. With SU up 10-3 over CMU in the second quarter Dungey threw a short pass to running back Dontae Strickland who took the ball 25 yards for a touchdown.
As SU fans roared, the Orange’s quarterback laid in the backfield. Chippewa defensive lineman Mitch Stanitzek had drilled Dungey in the head well after SU’s quarterback completed his pass to Strickland. That hit ended both players’ afternoons. Dungey didn’t return due to injury and Stanitek was ejected. Receiver Steve Ishmael also left the in the second quarter and did not return with a neck injury.
The Orange resorted to both Austin Wilson and Zack Mahoney in the absence of Dungey. The unit did not look the same without the freshman quarterback though. Later in the second quarter Wilson threw a fade to receiver Jamal Custis in the end zone putting SU up 24-10. Those were the only points Syracuse would put on the board for the remainder of regulation.
In the second half, CMU went on two 90 plus yard touchdown drives to tie the game. The first TD came in the third quarter on a short run from Devon Spaulding making the score 24-17. The second one came at the end of regulation. Syracuse took a timeout with 15 seconds left in the game following a Luke Arciniega sack. Central Michigan did not have any timeouts left at that point and on the ensuing play quarterback Cooper Rush threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to receiver Ben McCord to tie the game. Postgame Scott Shafer said he called the time out because, “I didn’t feel good about where we were at.”
Central Michigan had plenty of other chances to score points in the second half, but Syracuse’s defense came up big. Parris Bennett recovered a Cooper Rush fumble in the third and Zaire Franklin picked off Rush in the fourth to keep the Orange in the game.
In overtime SU’s defense held Central Michigan to a field goal on the first possession of the extra period. On the ensuing possession walk on quarterback Zack Mahoney pitched the ball to Jordan Fredericks who scampered into the end zone winning the game for SU. The final score from the Dome was 30-27 in favor of the Orange. Syracuse is 3-0 for the first time since 1991.
After the game Scott Shafer said, “We’re 3-0. We found a way.” Syracuse certainly did find a way to win this one without having its exciting true freshman quarterback under center for most of the game. Next week the banged up Orange welcomes LSU to the Dome. Syracuse is yet to lose a game, but after today’s contest this season is starting to feel a lot more like 2014…yikes.
Posted: Connor Morrissette
One response to “Injuries Overshadow SU‚Äôs 30-27 Overtime Win Against Central Michigan”
Good morning Conner;
The hit on Eric Dungey was vicious and uncalled for and was glad to see the officials make the call to eject the Central Michigan player from the game.
I was wondering if you watched the sequence of events before during and after they helped Eric off the field? In three short weeks A TRUE FRESHMAN QB ERIC DUNGEY has won over the hearts of the fans in attendance and has become the face of the ORANGEMEN Coach Shafer .ran on the field and held the players head while trying to comfort him telling him that things would be ok.
I couldn’t believe we watched a WALK-ON QB come in the game AND LEAD THE TEAM TO THE WINNING SCORE IN OT. If all of the people who like to write negative things about the program don’t think that that was impressive,I feel should go bury their heads in the sand somewhere,because nothing this team does on the field will ever be good enough.
Syracuse is 3-0 for the first time since 1991 and 1-0 in the ACC.,which puts Syracuse temporally in 1st place. So much for all of those pundits predicting Syracuse the worst team in the ACC
The game wasn’t pretty, the defense got tired but hung in there to make key plays stopping CMU late in the game. I’m hoping Eric Dungey is ok and plays on Saturday. I believe the players will be ready for LSU on Saturday and plays them tough in another close hard fought game.
The last two opponents (CMU and Wake Forest)have out played Syracuse, both teams have gained more yards, gained/earned more 1st downs and controlled time of possession and yet in the end Syracuse has come away with the wins. Could this be early signs telling us that this team could be a team of destiny?
Syracuse has had 1 turn over in 12 quarters of play, is led by a true freshman QB, has 8 freshmen playing on the defensive side of the ball and for me is playing exciting football. We have 9 games to go and things are looking pretty good for the Orangemen. Over the last couple of years I’ve said that the “WINDS OF CHANGE” are starting to blow across the fields at Syracuse University. Get on board people because it’s going to be one hell of a ride over the next 3-4 years.
Did any of you out there ever think that we would see the team being led by a freshman QB and having a walk-on QB come in and lead Syracuse to win number 3 in Over time?