Dungey too much for Eagles
Orange QB sends BC to third straight loss
Boston College coach Steve Addazio has consistently said Eric Dungey of Syracuse is the best quarterback in the ACC and yesterday his opinion was confirmed. The dual threat senior rushed for three touchdowns and passed for three more to lift Syracuse to a 4221 victory over Boston College in the teams’ regular season finale before 34,959 on Senior Day at Alumni Stadium Dungey, who was injured in last week’s loss to Notre Dame, completed 21-of-34 passes for 362 yards with one interception. “He played at his absolute best,” Addazio said. “I thought he was incredible today, he’s a heck of a football player and he stepped up and had just a phenomenal day making plays when there weren’t any plays to be made.” Syracuse improved to 9-3, their best record since 2001, and secured second place (6-2) in the Atlantic Division behind No. 2 Clemson. The Orange will likely receive an invitation to the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 28 against a Big 12 opponent. BC (7-5, 4-4) could still warrant consideration for the Hyundai Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas. Another option would be the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md., also on New Year’s Eve. Addazio’s teams are 1-3 in bowl games and have finished the regular season with seven wins four times in six years. The Eagles were ranked in the AP Top 25 three times this season before losing their final three to Clemson, Florida State and Syracuse. “You can always grow and I think you need to grow and right now we want to go and get win number eight and that would be a great thing,” Addazio said. “We certainly had our crack this year to get one or two more in there and we didn’t get that done but that doesn’t demean what we’ve done.” BC quarterback Anthony Brown completed 17 of a season-high 37 attempts for 251 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Syracuse had 559 yards of total offense with 28 first downswhileBChad356and moved the chains 18 times. “Today was very uncharacteristic and there are things we need to clean up as a team,” Brown said. “There was so much we left on the field and we have to make sure we finish this thing off right.” BC lost the services of three dominant players for most of the second half. Defensive ends Wyatt Ray and Zach Allen, two of the most formidable pass rushers in the country, left the game with undisclosed ailments. Tailback AJ Dillon, who’s had an ongoing ankle problem since Sept. 29, rushed for 56 yards in the first half but did not play in the second. “We lost arguably our three best players,” Addazio said. “AJ has not been able to be at full speed since the fourth game of the season and that’s just the way it is. “You can’t lose all your firepower on both sides of the ball like, not all of it but a big chunk of it. “BC went to work on a 14point halftime deficit when Dungey was intercepted by Taj-Amir Torres on the Orange’s first possession of the third quarter and returned it to the Syracuse 31. Brown made it 28-21 on a 29-yard touchdown pass to Ben Glines down the left sideline with 13:26 to play in the third. Syracuse cornerback Trill Williams picked off Brown on the 34 and Dungey converted the turnover into a 3521 lead with 4:52 to play in the third. Dungey completed two third-and-long passes on the 11-play, 76-yard drive and ended the trip with a 22yard toss to Jamal Custis. Dungey hit wide receiver Taj Harris on a 2-yard fade route to the right corner of the BC end zone to go up 4221 with 9:07 to play.