Instant Juice: Syracuse 28, Boston College 20

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Syracuse coach DIno Babers waits in the tunnel of the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Photo Credit: Kicia Sears, The Juice Online.
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Syracuse evened its record at 4-4 on Saturday

A quick take on Syracuse’s 28-20 win against Boston College on a wet Saturday afternoon in Chestnut Hill:

WHAT HAPPENED: With Syracuse up 21-20 with 9:18 left in the fourth quarter, Eric Dungey threw deep to Amba Etta-Tawo, who came down with a spectacular one-handed grab for a 68-yard touchdown to give SU a 28-20 lead. Boston College had one final chance to tie after Dungey fumbled the ball at midfield with 4:28 left, but the Orange defense held after a timely sack from Josh Black and a fourth down incompletion in the end zone. The win evened SU’s record at 4-4 and kept Boston College winless in the ACC.

» Related: Dino Babers’ viral video puts spotlight on Syracuse football

ANALYSIS: Statistically, this should’ve been a dominant Syracuse performance. The Orange outgained the Eagles 524 to 287 in total yardage, and 434-64 through the air. But the game ended up coming down to the final few minutes because of far too many Syracuse mistakes. SU turned the ball over three times, with Dungey fumbling twice and getting intercepted once. And the Orange was penalized 16 times for 135 yards.

HERO: Etta-Tawo notched 10 catches for 144 yards, becoming just the fourth player in SU history to go over 1,000 yards in a single season. Despite the turnovers, Dungey’s 434 passing yards was good enough for the second-highest single-game performance all-time. Steve Ishmael (108), Brisly Estime (93) and Erv Phillips (78) all benefited.

ZERO: Special teams had another poor outing, allowing an 89-yard punt return to Myles Willis in the second quarter combined with Cole Murphy missing a 40-yard field goal. Without those two plays, it could’ve been a significantly less stressful afternoon for SU.

WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse will have a bye week before traveling to Clemson on Sat. Nov. 5.

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.