Syracuse Football had a tight loss to Miami last week. However, there’s one thing we can’t ignore from this loss: the heart of Eric Dungey. Inside the Loud House explains.
Syracuse Football has had some of the highest highs its had in awhile this season. The Orange look like a team on a mission led by starting quarterback Eric Dungey. Overall, the team only sits at 4-4, but they easily could have been 6-2 at this point.
This past weekend, the Orange showed that they can compete with anybody; including an undefeated top 10 opponent, Miami. The week before, as many of you know, Syracuse Football defeated Clemson at home in one of the biggest upsets in college football this season. In both games, it was Eric Dungey who led the Orange and kept them in the game when they had no business being in it at all.
As impressive as the Clemson win was, the loss to Miami this past Saturday may have been even more impressive. The reason I say this is because Dungey wasn’t at his best. In the first half alone Dungey through four, count them, four interceptions.
Yeah, we can point to the fact that not all those interceptions were his fault, as some of them were simply miscommunications with his receivers, or because the field was a mess due to the rain that was happening on Saturday. Ultimately though, the fault still falls on Dungey for those picks. He still threw the ball even though in each case there was a risk of being intercepted.
His second half performance though was one for the ages. Dungey bounced back with a tremendous performance after being down by 10, 13-3 at halftime. The Syracuse Football team rallied to get within one point in the fourth quarter, 20-19, mostly behind the legs of Eric Dungey. For the game he ran for 100 yards on 20 carries, according to ESPN.com.
Though he only had 13 completions in this game and we barely saw him throw the ball at all in the second half; the Orange made a game of it. Syracuse’s defense was huge as well all game long which gave Dungey and the offense a chance to redeem themselves late. He would not disappoint.
Even though the comeback comeback came up short, I can’t stress this enough: Dungey put it all out on the line last weekend in order to try to defeat Miami. He was hit a bunch of times, knocked to the ground, tackled after long runs, and looked absolutely gassed by the end of the game. However, he would not give up.
The farther along the game went, the harder he fought. Even when Miami scored what looked like the clinching touchdown in the final minutes, he put on his helmet, and went back out there. He knew that Syracuse still had a chance, even down eight points with under three minutes to go. So out he went to be the comeback kid.
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Did he help the Orange score a touchdown on that final drive? No. However, he did get the Orange to midfield and gave them a shot at continuing the game. Unfortunately, his efforts fell just a little short because he ran out of gas. It still took heart though to go back out there and try one more time.
All day long he had absorbed big hits, but after he each one he would still get up off the ground and keep fighting. He would still try to run the offense as fast as he could, to the best of his ability. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the quarterback of Syracuse football and one that we should be extremely proud of!
Now I know not everyone will appreciate the fact that Dungey lost this game pretty much by
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himself in the first half. However, he did try everything he could in the second half to try and correct his mistakes. Had he had a better or even decent game, then the Orange probably would have beaten Miami. That didn’t happen, but you know what Orange fans? He gave Syracuse Football a chance and that’s all we can ask.
Coming into this year Syracuse looked like a a long shot for a bowl game. Now the odds are very high that they will. Dungey is a big part of that equation. He had one bad game. All greats have them.
This guy never gives up, he never surrenders, and he will go down as one of my favorite quarterbacks in Syracuse football history. He’s got spirit and a passion for the game which is something that can’t be taught.
So as big as the Clemson win was, and as impressive as Dungey played in that one game, my favorite performance by Dungey when his career ends will probably be this Miami game. In my book, wins aren’t everything. As long as he puts it all out on the line week-in and week-out that’s all anyone, or I, can ask from him.