Not sure I would say it exactly that way. Dungey ran well against them last year. They changed their scheme to deal with his running ability (but that plan only works if you have an elite secondary). Not exactly transferable to any other ACC team.
He actually is a fairly accurate passer. Hard to say 64% season average completion pct. is not accurate. Yesterday, he was 27 for 41 for 250 yards (6.1 avg.).
Clearly not his best game but for a few passes he spun it ok. The issue to me is what happened on those passes. Was it just a few poor throws out of 41 or did it have something to do with a physical problem. The fact they occurred late in the game makes me wonder.
Bye week can't come soon enough.
In baseball you can't tell a pitcher's control simply by looking at their strike percentage. A pitcher can throw strikes but have terrible command, in that they miss their target and throw a meatball right down the middle.
Similarly, you can't just look at a QB's completion percentage and determine how accurate they are. For one, not all throws are the same - deep throws will necessarily be a lower percentage than dump offs or WR bubble screens.
More importantly, a throw can be completed but not accurate. If a WR is wide open but has to jump up and fully extend to snare a pass, giving the DB time to recover and make an immediate tackle, those are missed yards. If a WR has a step on a DB going across the middle, the difference between catching it in stride and having to turn or bend for the ball makes all the difference.
Dungey is well below average in accuracy when you look at these kinds of passes. He almost never hits a receiver in stride, or puts a receiver in optimal position to run after the catch. The difference in the WR bubble play from in the FSU game from the 1st half with Dungey to the 2nd half with Devito was stark. Devito was hitting guys right on the numbers with velocity, allowing them to make a move before the defenders were close. Watch a Syracuse game and take note of the completed passes where receivers have to jump up or stretch or stop their momentum to gather the ball. It isn't every time (this is P5 level football afterall), and Dungey does put some balls right on the money, but he is incredibly inconsistent and below average at it.
I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, but we have yet to see Dino's offense. He and Dungey are an odd marriage, and he would never handpick a QB with the skill set of Dungey to lead his offense. But Dungey was, by far, the best option here and Dino has, to his credit, altered his way of doing things to maximize the hand he was dealt.
I think we'll see a lot of differences in the playcalling and other nuances of the offense next year, as Dino will have a throwing QB with experience in the system for the first time in his tenure at Syracuse. Dungey, through his particular gifts and talents, has raised the floor of what the Syracuse offense can do, but his limitations has also limited the ceiling. Clemson knew Dungey couldn't beat them throwing and didn't let him run, and the Syracuse offense ground to a halt. Next year, they won't be able to do that. Devito won't move piles on the goal line, which we will miss, but he'll be able to attack the field downfield and is still nimble enough to make defenses pay if they drop back into coverage too much.
I'm enjoying the heck out of this season, but I think next season has Top 15 ranking potential. They will be monsters on offense with all the young and maturing talent they'll have.
