MIAMI — Adrift in an ocean of green jerseys, Eric Dungey had nowhere to run. He peeked over his left shoulder, saw Miami defensive linemen racing toward him and looked down field. He overthrew Ervin Philips and the ball sailed into no man’s land, where a Hurricanes defensive back caught it.

Dungey lay flat on his butt at the 30-yard line, without having seen the disappearance of his third interception of the game. The Miami sideline erupted with cheers Saturday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium. By that time, Dungey had had a grand total of 12 passing yards, thrown 1-for-10 and carried a minus-39.9 quarterback rating. On its ensuing possession, Miami pushed its lead to 13 in a 27-19 victory.

“Those are my fault,” Dungey said. “Miscommunication, but I’ve got to communicate.”

Each of Dungey’s four first-half interceptions left Syracuse with an unnerving sight: Miami players jumping up and down, clutching their fists. They combined with a restless Miami (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) defensive front to hold Syracuse (4-4, 2-2) to its lowest offensive output since a 45-14 loss to Florida State last season.

The Hurricanes entered Saturday fifth in sacks per game and third in tackles for loss. It was a mismatch for Syracuse, which has allowed more sacks per game and tackles for loss than every ACC team not named Florida State. The result was a Syracuse loss that puts the Orange at 4-4, exactly where it stood this time one year ago.

For most of the game the heart of Syracuse — junior quarterback Eric Dungey — could not be protected. The SU offensive line could not solve the UM blitz to shield its QB. Overall, the offense could not bail out another strong defensive game, as Syracuse’s defense held a third straight opponent to under 30 points. The Syracuse offense, though, has not eclipsed 30 points since week 3.

“We had some difficulty shaking people off, giving them great field possession and putting our defense in a bad situation,” Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. “We came back and played a better half of football, but when you’re playing a team like this, you have to score touchdowns, not kick field goals.”

Despite a second-half resurgence to pull within four, Miami harassed Dungey to the tune of six QB hurries, four sacks and four picks. Dungey took the blame, while Babers said none of the turnovers were his quarterback’s fault.

Regardless, it speaks to a larger issue that was somewhat disguised in Syracuse’s upset win over Clemson: Syracuse struggles against blitz-heavy defenses. Middle Tennessee State, No. 24 LSU, No. 16 North Carolina State and now No. 8 Miami all have brought pressure to disrupt the SU offense. Babers’ answer has always been that the line is young and ever-evolving, though a strong performance against Clemson’s potent front four suggested otherwise.

Just after a Miami touchdown in the first half, a herd of Miami defensive linemen hunted down Dungey, who stood alone by his team’s 40-yard line. He had barely eluded a sack and stood with his hands on his hips after the ball floated into the hands of a Miami defensive back. He jumped on his toes in frustration in a game Philips and Steve Ishmael, the country’s leading receiving duo, combined for only nine catches and 98 yards.

“It really wasn’t Dungey,” Babers said. “It looks like it was four interceptions on the quarterback, but there were a lot of other things. He was battling and making plays where we should have been able to make plays on the balls.”

Senior kicker Cole Murphy made four field goals, including a career-long 53-yarder to pull Syracuse within one in the fourth quarter. The SU offensive line showed new life in the second half, buying the offense some time, especially the run game. Sophomore running back Moe Neal ran for Syracuse’s lone touchdown of the game, a 15-yarder in the third. It succeeded a pair of Dungey broken-down first-down pickups on the ground, one of 28 yards, the other 14.

Following Neal’s score, Babers smiled. Miami head coach Mark Richt put his hands on his knees. Syracuse, again, seemed on the precipice of history against a top-10 team. Syracuse could exhale.

But the Hurricanes signal-caller Malik Rosier tossed a deep ball for a touchdown on Miami’s next possession, sucking the life out of Syracuse in what would have been a historic win. With a massive upset over then-No. 2 Clemson last week, Syracuse defeated a No. 2 team for the first time in 128 years of football. Saturday afternoon, Miami nearly became its next victim. An upset would have been Syracuse’s first stretch of back-to-back top-10 wins since 1959, the year Syracuse won the national title.

The Orange positioned itself to win late but fell short. Miami rolled to its 11th straight win, while Syracuse enters its bye week needing to win two of its next four to ensure bowl eligibility.

“We have to make sure we don’t turn the ball over,” Babers said. “We have to score touchdowns when we’re in the red zone. It’s coming back to the same thing, same thing.”

Published on October 21, 2017 at 7:29 pm

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