The Syracuse Orange’s 50-7 Friday night win over Central Connecticut may not have given us a ton of information on what to expect this year. But it was an opportunity for several players to move up the school record books.
We’ll be highlighting the most notable Orange statistical accomplishments in this space each week. It’ll probably stay away from the run game and defense, to keep this positive.
Passing
Eric Dungey put in a pretty nice all-around game, featuring several career accomplishments too. His three passing touchdowns have him at 29 all-time now, which is sixth in Syracuse history and just three behind Troy Nunes in fifth. His five total scores (he had two on the ground) give him 42 in his career — fifth all-time, but a distant 23 behind Marvin Graves.
With 328 passing yards vs. CCSU, he’s now at 4,305 as a member of the Orange, eighth all-time and just 273 behind Nunes. That was also his seventh career 300-yard effort, tying Ryan Nassib for the most such performances in school history.
Adding in Dungey’s 51 rushing yards, he had 379 total yards in the contest. That gives him an even 5,000 for his career, which is SU’s eighth-best figure behind Perry Patterson.
He also stacks up well nationally right now. The 379 total yards are ninth in the country, while passing yards are 16th. Dungey is 13th in completions (28) and 11th in completion percentage at a high 77.8.
Receiving
We were wondering how Steve Ishmael would step into Amba Etta-Tawo’s shoes before the season started, and it ends up he did just fine in game one. The senior had 12 catches for 134 yards, which both led Syracuse on Friday. The 12 grabs were tied for the fifth-best in a single-game (a mark shared with March Sales, Alec Lemon and Etta-Tawo twice). Putting up a career-high in catches and yards also moved him up SU’s career lists. Ishmael’s 126 receptions are ninth in school history (six back of Sales) and his 1,678 yards are ninth -- 102 behind Sales. Ishmael’s currently top-15 in the country in receiving yards.
Not to be outdone, Ervin Philips also tallied some accomplishments. His six grabs got him to 140 on his career, now second all-time behind Lemon’s 201. Erv also had a touchdown catch on Friday, which (at 12) puts him one away from the top 10 in school history.
Total offense
Yes, caveats abound for the opponent, but Syracuse is far from the only team to play an FCS team in week one.
The Orange are top-25 in scoring offense right now, fifth in passing yards (431 total) and 15th in total offense (586). First downs were a struggle at times last year, but SU’s 34 on Friday put them tied for fourth overall right now. They were also pretty effective in other trouble areas like third downs and the red zone. Syracuse converted 57.89 percent of third down tries (18th-best) and were one of just two teams to go eight-for-eight in the red zone. Would add a caveat on that last one, however, since they were 69th in touchdown percentage in the red zone. “Nice.”
SU also ran 93 plays despite the contest being over at halftime. That average (comparing to the handful of teams that have played two games already) puts them fifth in the country.
Spot any other statistical achievements from Friday? Share below.