A pulled muscle in the lower back of Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey all but eliminated any hope the Orange had of competing with the No. 3-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Yankee Stadium in 2018.
That season, Dungey was the heart and soul of a Syracuse offense that averaged 40.2 points per game, good for 11th in the nation. But once he went lame in the first quarter against the Irish, the offense sputtered its way to a measly field goal and Notre Dame left the House That Ruth Built with a grand slam, 36-3 victory against a top-15 opponent.
Coming off a 10-win season, there was optimism that after Dungey graduated, his replacement in Yankee Stadium — Tommy DeVito — would allow the Orange to remain a top-tier program in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Instead, Syracuse has experienced a steady free fall ever since, finishing 5-7 in 2019 while averaging 28.2 points per game. The 2020 edition has been much, much worse, with the Orange averaging just 17.5 points per game (118th among Football Bowl Subdivision programs).
The Orange is currently 1-9 under fifth-year head coach Dino Babers and is at the closing stage of the team’s worst season since head coach Greg Robinson was at the helm from 2005-08 and averaged 2.5 wins per year.
“That 10-win Syracuse season feels like a million years ago,” tweeted Stewart Mandel, a national college football writer for The Athletic. “It was actually 2018.”
A major point of tension is the revolving door at quarterback. DeVito left the Oranges’s Oct. 10 game against Duke with a leg injury and was lost for the season. Since then, senior signal-caller Rex Culpepper and true freshman JaCobian Morgan have taken turns as the starter.
But don’t be surprised if a third quarterback — Dillon Markiewicz, another true freshman — gets the nod against Notre Dame because the Syracuse coaching staff may want to see what the 6-5, 216-pound Texan can do before the season ends. But no matter who starts, the Orange may not end up with a 1,000-yard passer — a rarity in modern college football, which is filled with up-tempo offenses and quarterbacks poised beyond their years.
