After dispatching Western Michigan in the season opener, Syracuse (2-0, 0-0) returned to the Carrier Dome and throttled FCS Wagner, 62-10.
The Orange jumped out to an early lead, turning a Seahawks interception into a Sean Riley touchdown reception just 3:13 into the first quarter. Syracuse never looked back, opening up a monstrous 45-7 lead before halftime.
After a record setting performance in week one, Eric Dungey continued where he left off, steamrolling the helpless Seahawks defense. Dungey finished with five touchdowns and 218 yards through the air in addition to 44 yards rushing.
Dungey’s fifth touchdown, the 47th of his career, tied a school single game record and moved the senior beyond Don McPherson into fourth place all-time in passing touchdowns for a Syracuse quarterback. Third place is certainly in striking distance for Dungey, as he is now just one touchdown shy of Marvin Graves’ 48.
Tommy DeVito relieved Dungey for the second consecutive week, but once again struggled to get in sync. The heavily-hyped redshirt freshman finished just one-for-five passing and failed to register a rushing attempt.
Dontae Strickland was the only member of the Orange to score a rushing touchdown today, tallying twice while gaining 40 yards. Moe Neal tacked on 71 yards of his own, as Syracuse, again, broke the 200-yard rushing plateau as a team.
The Syracuse defense, which allowed a whopping 621 yards in the season opener, held Wagner to just 288 this afternoon. The Orange intercepted three different Wagner quarterbacks and blocked two punts, one of which freshman Trill Williams brought back for a touchdown. After eclipsing 270 yards just one week ago, Wagner senior running back Ryan Fulse managed just 47 yards on 21 carries for the Seahawks in the Carrier Dome.
It was the first week two win for Dino Babers since arriving in Syracuse, after hiccups against Louisville and Middle Tennessee State in 2016 and 2017 respectively. While the victory broke a trend, a blowout win over Wagner will not catch many prognosticators off guard, and the Orange know that the road ahead is about to get much tougher as they embark on conference play.
Florida State (0-1, 0-1) is reeling from an embarrassing home loss to Virginia Tech in week one. The Seminoles were ranked 19th entering the contest, but managed to score just three points and fell out of the Top 25. However, FSU still has bunches of talent and first year head coach Willie Taggart will look to get Seminoles back on track against FCS Samford on Saturday night.
The Seminoles narrowly escaped a Syracuse upset bid, 27-24, last November in Tallahassee. Syracuse will hope for a different fate on their home field, as they look to snap a five game losing streak in conference play. This year’s game is currently schedule for next Saturday at noon.