TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With 56 seconds left in the first half and Syracuse trailing by a touchdown, Ryan Norton dribbled a squib kick that was easily recovered by Florida State at its own 42-yard line. Eric Dungey had just run for a touchdown and the Orange would get the ball to start the second half.

Scott Shafer got in Norton’s face as he returned to the sideline and the Seminoles marched down the field in 47 seconds to take a 28-14 lead into the break. Syracuse’s offense didn’t score again.

On a day where No. 17 FSU (7-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast) was down starting quarterback Everett Golson and Heisman hopeful running back Dalvin Cook, its backups — and a star wideout — carried the Seminoles to a dominating 45-21 victory over Syracuse (3-5, 1-3) at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Here are three quick observations from the game:

Red-nosed reindeer

FSU wide receiver Travis Rudolph evaded four SU defensive backs en route to a 75-yard touchdown the first play from scrimmage after Syracuse’s first score.

SU’s Corey Winfield and Antwan Cordy fell to the ground after Rudolph corralled a deep ball in double coverage. Cordell Hudson went flying on a juke. Rudolph sent Winfield flying with a stiff arm before easing into the end zone.

It tied the game at seven, but it only started Rudolph’s monster day of 191 yards and three receiving touchdowns. The very next drive resulted in a 45-yard bomb to Rudolph that put FSU ahead for good – leaving Hudson and Chauncey Scissum following well behind in pursuit – which yet again exposed an SU secondary that has struggled for the majority of the season.

Mixed bag

Dungey, Syracuse’s freshman quarterback, struggled mightily throwing the ball, only tallying 120 yards with a 45.8 completion percentage.

He did run for two scores, both from 1 yard out, which accounted for all of Syracuse’s points on offense but was unable to spark a unit in dire need of a boost to keep up with Florida State’s backup-driven machine.

Several times, Dungey was on a visibly different page as his receivers, once hitting Sean Avant in the back of the leg on a floated ball to Jordan Fredericks and another time leaving a slant well in front of Brisly Estime, who appeared to slow his route.

Deep non-threats

Including a 25-yard gain where Steve Ishmael mounted All-American cornerback Jalen Ramsey, SU’s starting wideouts only contributed two catches for 27 yards. Estime had a lone catch for just 2 yards. He did return a punt for a touchdown with the game well out of reach.

A week after combining for 136 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions, Syracuse’s top two targets were nonexistent. Dungey didn’t help in establishing a downfield rhythm and instead relied on the ground game, which got the Orange offense nowhere when it needed to go somewhere.

Published on October 31, 2015 at 3:28 pm