Instant Juice: Syracuse 24, Florida State 27

babers
Babers and Syracuse dropped a game down in Florida
babers
Babers and Syracuse dropped a game down in Florida

A quick take on Syracuse’s heartbreaking 27-24 loss to Florida State on Saturday afternoon:

WHAT HAPPENED: With Syracuse at the FSU 25-yard line and time for one final play, Cole Murphy’s 43-yard field goal attempt missed wide left, and the Orange squandered a golden opportunity to topple the Seminoles on the road. The Orange was down 27-17 with just over six minutes left in the game, but scored scored at touchdown with 2:55 left as Eric Dungey rushed in from three yards out to cap a 14-play, 75 yard drive to make the game close.

» Related: Syracuse football showing improvement in all three phases

ANALYSIS: This one hurts. Syracuse left points on the board in this game that came back to hurt them at the end. Earlier in the game, Murphy had a 48-yard attempt blocked that took three points off the board. At the end of the first half, a muffed punt at the FSU 11 should’ve given SU some points heading into intermission. But the Orange couldn’t convert on 4th down at the doorstep, and missed out on points again. The loss dropped the Orange to 4-5 on the season, with a razor thin margin in its last three games to become bowl eligible for the first time in four seasons.

HERO: Cam Akers rushed 22 times for 199 yards and a pair of scores, including a long of 63 yards. Eric Dungey, despite missing much of the first half with an apparent ankle injury, toughed out a 278 yard passing day for two scores, and another 22 rushes for 109 yards and a TD on the ground.

ZERO: There was some poor officiating on the field today, specifically on the play that sprung Akers for his 63-yard scamper. On that play, the officials missed what appeared to be a fairly obvious hold. On another key fourth-and-1 in the second half, the officials again missed a call, this time on what appeared to be a neutral zone infraction.

WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse returns home to face Wake Forest on Saturday, Nov. 11.

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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.