Syracuse football: Despite loss, Eric Dungey climbs record books

After one of his worst games as the Syracuse Orange’s starting quarterback, it’s easy to get on Eric Dungey a bit. Throwing for 156 yards on 16-for-25 passing, with zero TDs and one pick sounds bad -- made worse by the fact that it accompanied a 28-9 loss to Wake Forest.

And yet, there’s still a lot to be optimistic about regarding SU’s sophomore passer. Consider his season statistics:

164 completions, 255 attempts, 1,886 passing yards, 64.3 percent completion rate

Those figures would rank just outside the top 10, ninth, just outside the top 10 and second, respectively. For a single season. And he’s played just six games in the still-young 2016 campaign. His 11 touchdowns aren’t record-book worthy... yet, which is the only reason they’re not included above like the other numbers.

Beyond just the season numbers, however, Dungey’s found a way to move himself right on up the Syracuse football career passing record books in short order. Dungey has started just 12 games for the Orange, and played a full effort in 11 (we’re removing the Central Michigan game from that equation). His numbers:

269 completions, 431 attempts, 3,184 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 62.4 percent completion rate

The completions put him eighth on the SU career list, a little under 100 behind RJ Anderson, while the attempts are ninth (and about a game away from eighth).

His passing yards put him ninth, and he’s a modest game from surpassing Bill Hurley for eighth. At the very least, Anderson and Troy Nunes’s career marks also look to be in jeopardy even if Dungey puts in a modest effort the rest of the way.

Dungey’s 22 touchdown passes are already in the familiar (for him in this article) eighth spot, and he’s primed to overtake Dave Sarette for seventh this week. Nunes is in fifth with 32, a mark you could conceivably see Dungey approach before year’s end. The 62.4 completion rate places him second behind only Greg Pauls (67.7).

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Obviously part of this is still somewhat due to the system he’s playing in now. But you can’t deny that Dungey has plenty of talent to guide this offense well through this season and the coming years. As he’s shown numerous times already, he can grow and mature as a passer and a ball-carrier. He’ll continue to do so, and the records will continue to fall around him -- whether the Orange win this year or not.