UPDATED: Sept. 5, 2017 at 11:47 p.m.

The current face of Syracuse football, quarterback Eric Dungey didn’t have a robust knowledge of the school when he arrived on campus more than two years ago, because he was from Oregon.

His memories went back to somewhere around the start of this decade, when SU’s last quarterback to be drafted, Ryan Nassib, was running the offense and writing his name in the school’s record books. So when Dungey got to campus and looked up to see an image of Nassib, an under-recruited, West Coast kid like he was, on the weight room’s wall, he found instant motivation.

Now Dungey’s trying to repeat — or perhaps rewrite — history.

He tied a mark among Syracuse quarterbacks Friday that only Nassib had before reached: seven games of at least 300 yards passing. That’s a stat measured by the achievement of Dungey’s arm, an aspect of him often overlooked because of the attention paid to his legs. It’s an aspect that, according to the people who’ve watched it develop, could guide him down a path similar to Nassib’s — if his legs don’t get in the way.

“This kid not only has Saturday’s in him, but Sunday’s, too,” said Taylor Barton, a trainer Dungey worked with in high school.

Barton didn’t see Dungey as a Division I talent when he first worked with him at camps. Neither did most D-I schools. But as Dungey grew into his body, Barton saw increasing potential. They corrected footwork and shortened Dungey’s throw to rid it of wasted motion. They hurled footballs from midfield to hit the crossbar and Dungey connected with more accuracy than most quarterbacks.

Andy Mendes | Digital Design Editor

Others saw the dedication in Dungey’s interactions. Elvis Akpla, Dungey’s offensive coordinator at Lakeridge (Oregon) High School, said Dungey took extra time to ask every offensive weapon how they wanted the ball delivered to them. At SU, Terrel Hunt, Dungey’s predecessor as the Orange’s quarterback, saw a younger version of himself in Dungey’s constant questioning. It reminded Hunt of when he used to ask Nassib for pointers.

Now that mindset will be applied with Dungey’s cast of receivers, which no longer includes Amba Etta-Tawo, the unit’s leading receiver last season with 94 catches and 14 touchdowns. He’s now on the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. Senior Steve Ishmael appears to be the one with an elevated role after posting career-highs in both receptions (12) and receiving yards (134) in Week 1. After redshirting last year, junior Jamal Custis grabbed three balls for an average of more than 13 yards per catch in his newfound starting role.

“We just got the rust off a little, so it feels good,” Dungey said. “We just got to be on the same page with the receivers and once we get that down, it’ll be a smooth road.”

Custis said he and Dungey spent extra time this offseason working one-on-one. They discussed specifics of when and where Dungey would throw the ball on certain routes. The placement on Dungey’s 29-yard pass Custis caught with one hand against Central Connecticut State displayed the benefits.

To date, Syracuse hasn’t seen what that kind of attention to detail and desire for improvement can do for Dungey over the course of a full season. He played nine games last season and eight his freshman year in 2015. He started 2017 off with a three-touchdown, 328-yard performance on 28-for-36 passing, connecting with eight different receivers. Project those numbers over the course of a 12-game campaign and that’s good for nearly 4,000 yards and 36 touchdowns.

Babers said Monday it was Dungey’s best game in college, that it earned the highest rating he’d ever given to a quarterback after a season’s first game.

“What would he be able to do to affect a season if we can keep him for 12 games going at that level?” Babers said.

The answer to that question could exist largely in the ratio of runs to passes Dungey attempts. He has said he will run less this year, but admitted after Friday night’s game that saw him somersault over a tackler and lead the team with 51 rushing yards that “you can’t play football and not get hit.”

“A lot of quarterbacks (run) and it affects their accuracy and their numbers and their percentages drop,” head coach Dino Babers said Friday night. “He does that stuff and he throws for high percentages.”

Sports editor Sam Fortier contributed reporting to this story.

The story has been updated for appropriate style.

Published on September 5, 2017 at 11:29 pm

Contact: jtbloss@syr.edu | @jtbloss