CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Eric Dungey popped up from the ground, threw his right arm forward to signal a first down while letting out a yell and wrapped his arms around one of his offensive linemen.

He had just sealed a Syracuse win with a 4-yard first down run with a minute left in the game. And Dungey’s reaction was a stark contrast from the quarterback that earlier in the game blindly shoved two players on the sideline starting a scrum, seemingly apologized to several of his teammates for his actions and sat dejected on the bench with a towel over his head.

Dungey and Syracuse had their struggles on Saturday. But led by the quarterback’s career day, the Orange weathered both. Dungey completed 32-of-38 passes for 434 yards and three touchdowns — excluding a backward pass to Ervin Philips for a score. SU (4-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) came close to blowing a fourth-quarter lead, but outlasted Boston College (3-4, 0-4), 28-20, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to snap an eight-game road conference losing streak.

Syracuse strung together two wins in a row for the first time since September of last year. Boston College hasn’t won an ACC game in its last 12 tries.

Dungey’s 434 passing yards were a career high (second-best ever for SU) and his 488 yards of offense amounted to be the second-highest single-game total in SU history.

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“We had mistakes. We weren’t perfect,” Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. “But we’re human, and we’re excited to be at .500.”

The game was ugly from the start. Rain steadily poured down as four penalties happened before the game could even total two snaps.

Dungey’s first touchdown pass (which was actually a backward throw credited as a run for Philips) was sandwiched by an interception and fumble.

The interception came on the Orange’s first drive and led to a BC field goal when cornerback William Harris returned the ball 64 yards and the Eagles got another 15 yards on Dungey’s late hit out of bounds that started a scuffle.

The touchdown came a drive later to put SU ahead, 7-3. But when the Orange found the red zone on its next offensive possession, Dungey lost the ball pulling out of the snap from under center — giving up the ball again. He pulled out early, he said, and lost grip of the wet ball.

Dungey took to the bench on the sideline with a towel draped over his head. Co-offensive coordinator Sean Lewis and backup quarterback Zack Mahoney came over to calm him down.

Dungey ran his hands and the towel over his face and through his hair repeatedly.

“Just kind of frustration,” Dungey said of his feelings on the sideline. “We need to understand we don’t always do a good job.”

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Eric Dungey on sideline scuffle: ‘Some guy’s standing over me talking smack’
• Graphical breakdown of SU’s win over Boston College
• Poll: Will Syracuse make a bowl game this year?
• Outside recievers Amba Etta-Tawo and Steve Ishmael shine in Syracuse football’s 28-20 win over Boston College

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When the two left, SU receiver Amba Etta-Tawo and Dungey talked from across the bench.

“(I’m) saying the game’s not over,” Etta-Tawo said. “It’s not over until the clock ticks zero, so there’s a lot of football to be played. Just keep your head up and worry about the next play.”

Fortunately for Dungey and the Orange, it got better.

He found Philips on a 10-yard slant for the rest of SU’s scoring in the second quarter and the rain cleared up during halftime.

In the third quarter, Dungey lofted a pass to Ishmael in the back right corner of the end zone for a touchdown to cap an 86-yard drive that started when linebacker Parris Bennett snagged an interception near the goal line. The potential 14-point swing put the Orange ahead, 21-10.

“Something that we’ve gotten better at as a defense and as a team,” Bennett said, “just making sure the negative plays don’t affect the next play.”

Boston College erased the score with a 75-yard touchdown run by quarterback Patrick Towles two plays later.

Dungey had another slip up of his own, coughing up the football on a sack with less than five minutes left in a one-score game. But the defense bailed him out with a breakup in the end zone on fourth down.

The quarterback got the ball back and picked up the crucial first down himself to hold on.

It wasn’t pretty, but Syracuse put itself within two wins of a bowl game appearance with four games left in the season.

Published on October 22, 2016 at 6:01 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus