The ball landed out of bounds, and the play was over. But Eric Dungey was still lying on the ground. As backup quarterback Zack Mahoney started warming up and the Orange fans went into a nervous silence, Dungey writhed in pain grabbing at his right knee.

Mahoney came in for one play, which ended in a botched snap on third down and then a field goal attempt. By the next series, Dungey was back in the game, sporting a black knee brace.

“I just banged my knee up earlier in the game and then it just kind of tweaked up on me,” Dungey said. “The training staff did a good job on me and I wanted to go back in so I did.”

After taking a beating last week against Wake Forest, Dungey was again battered in Saturday’s game. But he remained aggressive with his running game and courageous remaining in collapsing pockets as Syracuse (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) beat No. 17 Virginia Tech (4-2, 1-2), 31-17, on Saturday in the Carrier Dome.

Dungey became the first player in program history to throw for over 300 yards and rush for over 100, with 73 of those running yards coming in the second half, after his injury. He also rushed twice near the goal line late in the game, including scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a one-yard plunge where he pushed through the Hokies defense.

“He had guts. It was real gutsy,” head coach Dino Babers said. “I would love to play a game where our quarterback never gets touched … but right now at this moment in time, we have to be calculated and we need his legs in our offense.”

Dungey has missed games in the past due to injury, including missing the last four games of last season. In the offseason he vowed to be smarter in terms of protecting his body, and Babers wanted him to play like the Russell Wilson of the ACC.

And while Dungey has made smarter decisions this season, his timely rushes were one of the biggest reasons SU won Saturday.

SU was facing a third-and-5 from the VT 16-yard line late in the game, and Babers called a timeout. Even after the timeout, after players were already lined up, Babers was talking to Dungey by the 20-yard line.

Dungey took the snap, paused for a second, and then burst up the gut for a nine-yard pick up. Two carries later, he punched in the go-ahead score.

Babers and Steve Ishmael called the performance inspiring. His play was crucial in Syracuse’s biggest regular-season win since before the Scott Shafer era.

“You see your quarterback fighting, taking hits. He hurt his knee, he’s still coming back, that motivates us,” receiver Ervin Philips said. “That motivates us. He’s fighting. Why can’t we fight with him?”

Published on October 15, 2016 at 11:31 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer