With one catch and a drag of his left toe, Amba Etta-Tawo validated everything leading up to his Syracuse debut.

Eric Dungey lofted a ball into tight coverage down the right sideline and Etta-Tawo somehow came down with it and touched a foot inbounds for a 40-yard gain. The play was reviewed, but Dino Babers already knew the call would stand. After it became official, the head coach darted over to Etta-Tawo and crouched down before aggressively clapping his hands.

“I’m really, really excited about his grab on the sideline,” Babers said. “There was a lot of technique involved, a lot of technique that he’s worked on since he’s transferred here and you saw all of that in that one play on the sideline. And I know it wasn’t a touchdown, but to me that was his best play of the night.

“As soon as one ref called it in and the other ref called it out, the other ref said, ‘No, no, no he was in’ and the guy said, ‘I think he was out’ and it went to replay. I already knew Amba was in. All I wanted to do was make sure he didn’t bobble the ball.”

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Etta-Tawo’s previous single-game career-highs in catches and receiving yards were six and 109, respectively. Coincidentally, both came against Syracuse on Nov. 9, 2013 when he was playing for Maryland. Almost three years later, the grad transfer annihilated those numbers on the same field. He plastered 210 yards and 12 catches on Colgate while adding a 43-yard score in Syracuse’s (1-0) 33-7 thumping of the Raiders (0-1) on Friday night in the Carrier Dome.

“It’s just kind of the way the offense goes,” Dungey said. “Amba did a great job today.”

Etta-Tawo didn’t speak to the media during training camp because of a team policy that players have to play for Syracuse before participating in interviews. As a result, he remained under the radar despite receiving mainly first-team reps during the preseason since other players weren’t allowed to comment on him specifically either.

His 40-yard haul-in during the third quarter was the fourth time he had a connection with Dungey of 28 or more yards. His 210 total yards via the air slot him fifth all-time on the Syracuse single-game receiving yards list and tied for fourth on the Orange’s single-game receptions list.

In his last two seasons with the Terrapins, Etta-Tawo totaled a combined 438 receiving yards, 222 in 2014 and 216 in 2015. Two years ago, he had 10 catches on the entire season. Friday served as his coming out party, Syracuse’s first chance to test its new deep threat in an offense that certainly caters to his speed and pass-catching prowess.

“From Day 1, we knew that this type of offense is there’s room for a lot of plays,” Etta-Tawo said.

He made those plays every chance he could, starting with the Orange’s first touchdown of the season on a 43-yard grab in tight coverage and capping it off with his best play of the night when the game was already decided.

And on a night when Babers was under the spotlight to prove what all the hype was about, it was another newcomer emerging from the shadows to show he’s right there too.

Published on September 3, 2016 at 12:05 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman