We conclude Underdog Week with a team you should’ve probably expected: the 2018 Syracuse Orange football team.
You’ve read countless articles about that magical 10-3 season here, and certainly every other fan base is tired of hearing about how we finished 15th in the polls that year and almost beat Clemson in Death Valley. But no matter. We’re going to relive all of that one more time (until the next time we inevitably bring it up).
After two years of injuries and sputtering to 4-8 finishes, it’s easy to forget there was a little bit of stress going into year three of the Dino Babers era. No, he wasn’t on the hot seat, but we were a little concerned about when Syracuse could get over the hump. Was 2018 going to be the year?
It would end up, yes it was — and then some.
A shaky 55-42 win over Western Michigan in the opener told us little about what was to come, and we couldn’t really infer much from the 62-10 win over Wagner either. At 2-0, we knew this team could score. The question was whether they could stop anyone from scoring. By week three, we seemed to have part of that answer.
SU’s blowout 30-7 win over Florida State — complete with Babers locker room speech afterward — at least gave a hint that 2018 was becoming something special. Getting to 4-0 after beating UConn, we were on an emotional high heading down to Clemson with a shot at making it two straight against the Tigers.
We lost that one, as you know, and then the next one too. The 4-2 Orange had a bye week to regroup, but things looked like they were about to fall apart against a hapless UNC squad. Then Tommy DeVito saved the day.
Down 27-20 late in the fourth, the former four-star recruit found Nykeim Johnson for a 42-yard score with a little over 90 seconds. Then he added a 25-yard strike to Jamal Custis to kick off overtime. Down 37-34 in double OT, DeVito got SU inside the 10, then hit Ravian Pierce for a four-yard score. SU was 5-2, and with a quarterback controversy to boot, no less.
Those Eric Dungey doubts wouldn’t reappear until he was injured vs. Notre Dame. Syracuse won three more before falling to the Irish, but were drubbed without their senior leader. Despite being bowl-eligible by this point, it still felt like a cruel prank to potentially finish yet another season without Dungey at the helm.
And then he “healed like Wolverine.” Dungey accounted for six scores vs. Boston College to close the regular season and get SU up to 17th in the polls. He’d be under center yet again vs. West Virginia in the Camping World Bowl. Fittingly, he went out a winner there too, with a 34-18 victory over West Virginia down in Orlando.
Not a single starter for Syracuse was a four-star recruit, and only two were even on the roster at all: DeVito and Trill Williams.
Yes, the ACC was having a “down” year, but it’s still not that easy to win 10 games during a college football season. And yet, despite injuries, a lack of recent success to pull from and a lot of doubters, this Syracuse team managed to put together one of the most impressive season (by W-L, anyway) in school history.
Crazier still is it could’ve been even better. Beyond the Notre Dame game, the other two losses came by a combined 11 points. Syracuse was basically a play away from upsetting Clemson and taking their spot in the ACC Championship Game.
Many of SU’s top players during that season were only sophomores. Eric Dungey was benched and/or injured three different times. Syracuse won two of those games. The Orange run defense changed over night from the first six games to the final seven. Their record-setting kicker was a walk-on until early October.
It’s all of these factors that had me completely believing in the coaching staff and the culture shift they’ve led with this program, and it’s why I and many others bought in so hard last year before it all came crashing down. That magic hasn’t left — or at least I don’t believe it has. Rather, I feel like it hit a speed bump in 2019. Now I’m hoping it finds its way back. The 2018 season suggests it can.