Eric Dungey waited four years for a team like this. Four years for a season like this. Four years to play in a game like this.
And nine minutes into Saturday’s showdown against third-ranked Notre Dame, the Syracuse senior quarterback went down in what looked like excruciating pain, forced from the game and taking the No. 12 Orange’s hopes with him in a dismal 36-3 defeat at Yankee Stadium.
“It always stinks when you see a brother, when you see a teammate, go down like that,” offensive tackle Koda Martin said.
This was the furthest the injury-prone Dungey had made it into a season. He was in the midst of a memorable campaign, having set a career-high in rushing yards (690) and rushing touchdowns (12). He was the engine to the fourth-ranked scoring offense in the country, one of only three active signal-callers in college football with at least 8,000 passing yards (8,665) and 1,000 rushing yards (1,929) in his career.
But after a four-yard run on Syracuse’s third drive of the game, as he was walking up to the line of scrimmage for the next play, Dungey fell to the turf, holding his lower right back. After the game, he was carted to the team bus.
Syracuse (8-3), bowl eligible for the first time since 2013, described the injury as an “upper-body” ailment, though it certainly looked like Dungey’s back was the source of his pain. Coach Dino Babers didn’t have an update after the game, and Dungey wasn’t available for comment.
“It hurts, he’s a big part of this team, a very important player to this program,” defensive end Kendall Coleman said. “It’s definitely tough. It kind of hits you like, ‘Woah.’ ”
It was just 10-0 at the time of the injury. But it felt more like 100-0. Backup Tommy DeVito had no chance against Notre Dame’s elite defense, picked off twice and sacked six times. He didn’t get much help. Nykeim Johnson dropped a would-be 42-yard touchdown pass. Taj Harris was unable to hold onto another throw after getting hit by Alohi Gilman, resulting in a Gilman interception and a Notre Dame touchdown. The Orange’s defense was gashed for 463 yards.
“The kids did not handle the surroundings well,” Babers said. “It was disappointing. That being said, the cool thing about young guys is they get older. The next time we have an opportunity to do something like this — and lord willing, there will be a next time — they’ll handle it a lot better. We were a little young in the tooth for this one.”
There probably won’t be a next time for Dungey — not at Syracuse at least.