Syracuse Football Top 25 Players of All-Time: No. 25 Eric Dungey

No. 25 Eric Dungey – QB (2015-2018)

Some may argue that Eric Dungey does not belong on a list among the Top 25 Syracuse Football Players of All-Time, but hear me out. Eric Dungey is not only one of the most beloved players by Syracuse Football fans in its’ long storied history, but he is also one of its best statistically speaking as well.

When he arrived on campus, he was a thin but talented kid from Lake Oswego, Oregon. He was underrecruited and overlooked, but luckily SU saw his talent and nabbed him before someone else saw what they did: a winner.

He did not start right off the bat his freshman year. In fact, he only got his chance to be the starting quarterback after a devastating season-ending injury to starting QB Terrel Hunt. In his first snaps in an Orange uniform, mind you against Rhode Island, he went 10 of 17 passing, compiled 114 yards through the air, with 2 passing touchdowns, and had eight attempts rushing for 20 yards in a convincing 47-0 victory, according to ESPN.com.

Though those numbers are far from pretty, it was more than what was expected from the freshman quarterback. He looked poised and comfortable in the pocket, and looked beyond his years. He would go on to have an amazing rookie season, playing in eight games and finishing with a 3-5 record overall in games he played in that season and had an 11:5 touchdown to interception ratio in those games.

As we all know, Dungey would go on to have an amazing career on the Hill. His dual-threat ability to pass or run with the ball on any given play always kept the Orange in games they had no business being in. His work ethic and happy-go-lucky personality shined on the gridiron and made him one of Syracuse fans’ most beloved players of all-time.

Not everyone loved him though. His risky playstyle prompted much heat and debate from Orange fans as he too often risked his body for the sake of a big play, or made poor decisions to run when he should have passed. Those bad decisions or risky plays often led to him having season-ending injuries which caused a serious uproar from Orange fans. His decision-making did get better over his four-year career, but when some Orange fans look back at Dungey’s career they prefer to look at his flaws more than all the good things he brought to the program in his SU career.

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He more than once started the season off great, and then got injured ruining Syracuse’s chances that year. Luckily, by the time he was a senior in 2018, he finally put it all together and stayed healthy and more importantly- stayed on the field, and the results were outstanding. In that final campaign in 2018, Dungey led the Orange to a 10-3 record and a bowl win: one of Syracuse Football’s best seasons ever.

In that Camping World Bowl win Dungey had an up-and-down performance, but did what was necessary to secure the win. He finished 21-30 for 303 yards and one touchdown passing with two interceptions, and rushed 17 times for 22 yards, according to ESPN.com. His biggest play in that game, which was emblematic of his SU career, came with 10:54 left in the fourth quarter in a 27-18 game (Syracuse leading). Dungey dropped back to pass and the pocket quickly collapsed. Dungey scrambled to his right to avoid pressure, and then scrambled left again to avoid another would-be tackler. Just as the tackler came barreling down on him, he hoisted up a throw towards his left to his running back Moe Neal who was ten yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Luckily for the Orange and Dungey, Neal was elusive enough and had enough good blocks to make a huge play to get out in the open field for a 42 yard gain. That play led the Orange to a touchdown a few plays later that essentially sealed what had been a tight game. See the highlight in the video below at the 2:24 mark:

We’d be remiss if we forgot to mention he also led the charge in what many consider the all-time biggest win and upset in Syracuse Football history against #2 Clemson in 2017 when the Orange won 27-24. That game was one for the ages, and one Syracuse fans will never forget. There’s a reason it’s been labeled a classic and has been replayed multiple times on television over the years.

Though he only finished his career at SU with a 20-18 record, and had his college career derailed by multiple injuries, he outperformed every expectation of him. Here are some of his accolades and career records while playing for SU, stats courtesy of Cuse.com:

• 9,340 passing yards (1st)
• 239.5 Passing yards per game (1st)
• Twelve 300-yard passing games (1st),
• Three 400-yard passing games (1st)
• 11,333 yards- Total offense (1st)
• 290.6 yards- Total offense per game (1st)
• 1,822 plays- Most plays (1st)
• 35 Rushing touchdowns- by a quarterback (1st)
• Received ACC Player of the Week honors eight times (1st)
• Six 100-yard rushing games for a quarterback (2nd)
• 1,279 Passing attempts (2nd)
• 786 Completions (2nd)
• 35 Rushing touchdowns- in general for any position at SU (Tied for 2nd)
• .615 Completion percentage (3rd)
• 58 Touchdown passes (3rd)
• 133.07 Pass efficiency rating (4th)
• 1,993 rushing yards- in general for any position at SU (23rd)

Dungey may not have had a career like Donovan McNabb or Don McPherson, but he sure earned his right to be on this list. He was a competitor who never backed down when things got hard. He battled injury after injury, yet kept coming back better and stronger than ever. That is something statistics won’t show, yet still are important when evaluating a player’s career.

Though Eric Dungey never had much of a pro football career after Syracuse, he arguably had one of the best college football careers a Syracuse QB could have. Had he been able to stay healthy and avoid injury, who knows how good Syracuse’s record would have been over his four years or how many more statistical records he could have broken. One thing for sure is that Eric Dungey belongs on this list of the Top 25 Syracuse Football Players of All-Time and only time will tell if he should have been higher on this list.