Against Florida State on Saturday, Syracuse (4-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) played three offensive series without Eric Dungey while the training staff tended to the junior quarterback’s unspecified leg/foot injury. Backup Zack Mahoney entered. On the first of those three drives, SU started at the Seminoles’ 38-yard line and didn’t score. The other two resulted in three-and-outs.

Dungey wore a boot on his right foot after the 27-24 loss to FSU. The Orange play Wake Forest (5-4, 2-3 ACC) this coming Saturday and need to win two of the remaining three games left on the schedule to lock up a bowl bid. Dungey would help.

“He’ll be ready to go,” head coach Dino Babers said during his weekly press conference Monday.

At first, Babers answered yes to a question that asked if he was still awaiting further medical assessments regarding Dungey; SU does not typically disclose injury-related information until the weekly injury report issued Thursday night. But later, when pressed on how he would manage his starting quarterback during practice this week, Babers supplied a few more details.

“He’s not going to be able to do all the reps,” Babers said, “but he’s got a lot of game experience. We’ll just practice the other guys.”

Those “other guys” include Mahoney, who completed 7 of 12 passes for 36 yards against FSU while Dungey sat out, and true freshman Tommy DeVito, who hasn’t seen the field yet. If DeVito, an Under Armour All-American and Elite 11 quarterback, stays on the sidelines for the rest of the year, he would redshirt and enter next season with four years of eligibility remaining.

But if Dungey were to aggravate that injury and miss extended time, as he did last year when he did not play during the final four games of SU’s season, someone would have to fill in.

Could DeVito be that someone?

“If we think that gives us the best opportunity to win based off weighing all the situations,” Babers said, “yeah.”

Babers has taken that stance since DeVito arrived. He doesn’t see it as “burning” DeVito’s redshirt, but rather as “an opportunity to step up and help the family.” DeVito has been practicing, Babers said, and “would be OK” if he played. The preparation for DeVito has been the same as any other SU quarterback, Babers said.

Still, SU’s ideal world has Eric Dungey running the offense for at least the rest of 2017. After returning from the injury against FSU, Dungey threw two touchdowns and rushed for another while amassing a career-high 109 yards on the ground. The banged-up performance led Dungey’s teammates to laud him for his toughness after the game.

“I’ve never seen anybody that’s as reckless, the way he gives up his body,” Babers said Monday. “… (Dungey) healthy is our best opportunity for a win.”

More SU football notes:

• Syracuse’s Nov. 18 game at Louisville will kickoff at 3:30 p.m., the ACC announced Monday. The game will be televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU, depending on what happens in the league’s games this weekend.
• SU has thrown an interception on the first drive of all four road games this season. When asked if SU’s struggles to start strong are based on anything or if they are just a happening, Babers replied: “It better be a happening because we’re doing a lot of things for that not to happen.”

Published on November 6, 2017 at 4:30 pm

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