Syracuse (1-0) dominated Colgate (0-1) in a 33-7 win in Dino Babers’ first game as SU’s head coach Friday night.

Eric Dungey threw for 355 yards, Amba Etta-Tawo had 210 receiving yards and Moe Neal scored a 49-yard touchdown run on the first carry of his career.

After nearly nine months of waiting, Babers’ team was finally on the field. Here’s what we learned from the game.

Eric Dungey will still run

Six plays into Syracuse’s second drive of the game Eric Dungey faked a handoff to running back Dontae Strickland out of shotgun and ran it himself up the middle. Then he dropped back to pass but chose to scramble to 1 yard short of a first down. Dungey quickly got under center, snapped the ball and kept it himself yet again, this time running around the left side of the line for the first.

Less than a week removed from Babers’ statement that he had to “strip down” Dungey and convert him into a “thrower first” and coming off an offseason where Dungey vowed to stay in the pocket more, Dungey ran the ball 10 times for 25 yards.

“It’s not my focus,” Dungey said. “My job is to throw the ball.”

He had more carries than any of the team’s running backs, and Moe Neal was the only one with more rushing yards than Dungey. Neal had nine carries, Dontae Strickland had nine, Jordan Fredericks had four and Zack Mahoney had three.

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MORE COVERAGE

• Syracuse football rolls to 33-7 win over Colgate in Dino Babers’ SU debut
• Eric Dungey has career game after meeting his brother, who returned from the Army, for 1st time in 2 years
• Transfer wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo dazzles in Syracuse football debut
• WATCH: Dino Babers’ press conference after his 1st game as Syracuse’s head coach
• Gallery: Syracuse rolls to 33-7 win over Colgate
• Syracuse-Colgate football: A graphical breakdown of the Orange’s dominant win
• Storify: Syracuse community reacts to Dino Babers’ 1st game as head coach
• Syracuse football poll: Vote for player of the game and grade SU’s performance

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Dungey’s longest run of the day came a few plays after his spurt of three when he kept the ball on the option, raced around one defender and stiff armed another before trotting out of bounds at the Colgate 22 for a 12-yard gain. Half of Dungey’s runs came on that drive.

“Dungey’s legs are a valuable part of what he does,” Babers said. “We’re not taking his legs out of the game. We just want to make him the Russell Wilson of the ACC. We want him to be smart and get down when he does those runs and not stay up and take an unnecessary shot.

“It would be unfair to him and unfair to the team to not give him an opportunity to bring those legs into the game because his legs are special. You’re just making him normal, and we don’t want to be average.”

Red zone offense needs to improve

Syracuse’s first-team offense was able to charge down the field on most of its possessions. And while it scored on seven of its 10 possessions, four of those scores were field goals.

Of those field goals, three came in the red zone — a difference of 12 points if touchdowns and PATs were scored instead.

“Having the ability to not score touchdowns in the red zone greatly affected the game,” Babers said, “and that is something we need to clean up.”

Jessica Sheldon | Photo Editor

On the first trip, Syracuse had 1st-and-goal at the 8-yard line but stalled. Dontae Strickland ran for no gain. Dungey lost two yards and Jason Emerich committed a false start to push SU back to the 15 on third down.

Then Dungey threw his first incompletion of the game — a throw over the middle for Ervin Philips that was knocked away. Kicker Cole Murphy trotted onto the field.

The next time, a holding penalty on lineman Omari Palmer changed a 3rd-and-2 to 3rd-and-12. A 5-yard pass and field goal ensued.

One drive later, Etta-Tawo made a 40-yard catch to bring the Orange to Colgate’s 23-yard line. A pass to Steve Ishmael put SU in the red zone. But again, the offense stalled.

Devin Butler will play

Babers wasn’t sure on Wednesday if freshman running back/wide receiver Devin Butler would play at all this season. “He’s right on the cusp,” Babers said, citing depth at both spots as a reason Butler might redshirt.

But when Steve Ishmael was called for a personal foul on SU’s first drive of the third quarter, it was Butler who came in to replace the veteran. Butler stayed on for three plays, came off, then was back in for one play in the drive.

Butler didn’t record a statistic but did come back into the game late in the fourth quarter with the likes of freshman Sean Riley and Adly Enoicy. He lined up a outside receiver each time, though he did practice with the running backs for part of training camp.

Published on September 3, 2016 at 12:57 am

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus