Syracuse followed up its upset win over then-No. 17 Virginia Tech from last week with an ugly, up-and-down 28-20 victory over Boston College on Saturday. SU and quarterback Eric Dungey struggled, but they also strung together two wins for the first time since September of last year.

Here’s how some of the players and units faired.

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Eric Dungey’s play

Eric Dungey completed 32 of his 38 passes for a career-high 434 yards and three touchdowns. The yardage was second best all-time for a Syracuse player in a game, as was his yards of total offense (488). He nearly had another touchdown pass (if not for a backward pass) and his interception came on a play he baited the defensive line to jump but it was not called.

Syracuse’s offense was spread out only through the air and Dungey was the distributor with almost three receivers having at least 100 yards. And he did it all through a rainy first half and while constantly getting chased out of the pocket.

Steve Ishmael

Steve Ishmael had his best game of the season with eight catches for 108 yards and a touchdown — his first score of the season. The eight receptions were a career high and it’s the second time in his career that Ishmael has gone for at least 100 yards. His touchdown catch was an acrobatic grab at the edge of the end zone that he jumped up to catch and barely got a foot in bounds.

As more coverage has shifted Amba Etta-Tawo’s way, Ishmael has been able to pick up some of the load. He picked up a then-season-high 81 yards against Virginia Tech.

Parris Bennett

Parris Bennett led Syracuse with 11 tackles for his fourth double-digit tackle game in the last five weeks. He walloped BC running back Myles Willis on one play then ended the Eagles drive with an interception. A Boston College touchdown would have given BC a 17-14 lead with less than five minutes left in the third quarter. Instead, Bennett grabbed a pass that was dropped at the goal line. His play set up a Syracuse touchdown.

Sterling Hofrichter

Sterling Hofrichter seems to have put his days of shanking punts behind him. He booted four punts for an average of 38.8 yards. He pinned one inside the 20 and two went for more than 50 yards. Hofrichter’s shortest punt was his best one of the day. He picked up a poor snap, ran to his left and got off a 22-yard kick that was tipped. Hofrichter took a big hit on the play, but got the kick down the field and saved what could have been a disastrous play.

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Eric Dungey’s off-the-field decision making

On Syracuse’s first drive of the game, Dungey thought he drew Boston College offside, so he threw into dense coverage near the end zone, resulting in an interception — bad decision No. 1. Then as the pick was returned 64 yards by Williams Harris, Dungey slammed the Harris down late out of bounds, shoved another player that stood over him and then shoved Harris again — bad decision No. 2, 3 and 4. Dungey got a personal foul for his late hit out of bounds and started a scrum on the sideline.

Cole Murphy

Cole Murphy had another rough game, despite the win. He line-drived a kickoff out of bounds and missed his only field goal attempt from 40 yards away. Murphy has now missed six of his last eight field goal attempts. The last time he made more than one field goal in a game was Week 3 against South Florida, when he went 2-for-2.

Offensive line

Syracuse finished the game with nine false start penalties, most of which fell on the offensive line. Dino Babers and Dungey both said there were reasons for the false starts that will be corrected but didn’t elaborate. Dungey was also sacked five times and constantly scrambling around the pocket. The patchwork group has had Cody Conway back intermittently the last two games, but the interior has crumbled under increased pressure.

Published on October 23, 2016 at 5:14 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus