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Message: [QUOTE="BillSU, post: 2853918, member: 6809"] you playin with me bees? You know who I'm talking about. When Dino Babers was examining potential head coaching destinations at the end of 2015, a freshman quarterback for Syracuse football caught his eye. Eric Dungey, then a string-bean, would scratch and claw and fight for every yard he could gain -- even if it meant hurdling a 6-foot-2, NFL-bound safety, for instance. And that was one of the factors that led Babers to ultimately accept a contract offer from former SU athletic director Mark Coyle that December. Babers, speaking after the Orange's 42-21 win at Boston College on Saturday, shared that nugget, not for the first time this season, but perhaps the most thoroughly. He also hinted at the flip side of that perspective. "I'm looking at him and I go, 'Raw. Not refined. But a lot of courage,'" Babers said. "That move of faith, some of that was based on Eric Dungey. "I think Eric Dungey needed us and I think that Syracuse needed Eric Dungey. It's like a marriage. Together we're making this thing work." That winter, Dungey too was facing a pivotal moment in his career. After being forced onto the field when starting quarterback Terrel Hunt tore his Achilles tendon in Syracuse's season-opener, Dungey watched as the coaching staff that recruited him was fired before his first campaign ended. Gone was Tim Lester's multiple scheme centered around downhill running and West Coast passing concepts, as was the uber-personable quarterbacks specialist himself, who sold Dungey on traversing the country to play college ball. Dungey needed direction, and he got that in Babers and his hurry-up spread offense. He got that in former offensive coordinator Sean Lewis and quality control coach Matt Johnson. Dino Babers' postgame news conference after Syracuse football at Boston College (2018) What he didn't get until this fall was the winning that he so passionately coveted. But the experience and growth Dungey picked up in 2016 and 2017 could be just as beneficial as the exposure in 2018 when it comes time to sell himself at the professional level. "I think he's got a lot more to become because I just don't think his stuff is ending here," Babers said. "There's not a lot of guys like him, there really isn't." Babers has witnessed Dungey's development from that thin scrambler to a linebacker-sized, dual-threat weapon who lowers his shoulder and knocks strong safeties out of games. Dungey is perhaps the largest single contributor, aside from Babers, in the Orange rising into the top 20 and making bowl eligibility -- which hadn't been achieved since 2015 -- seem like the meager benchmark he's always referred to it as. While Dungey recovered from back spasms in time to turn in a six-touchdown performance, flexing his muscle as he went, Babers said it's conversations on the sideline that he'll remember from Dungey's final regular-season game. Dungey, who said in the offseason that he was hoping to gain more control at the line of scrimmage, continually made good decisions in the zone-read game against the Eagles and appeared to check into a tight formation on one red-zone trip before dropping a picture-perfect fade to freshman wideout Taj Harris. "The conversations that I had with him today were not like I was having conversations with a senior," Babers said. "It was like I was having conversations with a graduate assistant. It was like I was having conversations with a young position coach who has an exciting future in front of him, but he's not long in the tooth, he doesn't have a lot of experience." The debate of Dungey's professional potential is an interesting one that's been occurring behind the scenes. Before being challenged by Tommy DeVito after the North Carolina game, the senior's accuracy and ball security were in legitimate question. The four-plus games he's played in since then have been markedly better. He's completed 62.3 percent of his passes since that week, accounting for 14 touchdowns to three turnovers, and the bolstered precision has led teams to stop backing the box, in turn opening up the running game. This version of Dungey is a product of Dungey starting under Babers for three years completed with a renewed emphasis on fundamentals. And it might be sharp enough to overcome the injury history and lack of elite measurables for Dungey to become the first Orange quarterback drafted since Ryan Nassib in 2013. Said Babers: He's going to have an opportunity to play in the National Football League." But I still don't know if he's going to be invited to the combine, although I expect he would be. Otherwise it's Pro Day at SU. GOSU :) [/QUOTE]

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