Despite blowing a lead in the fourth quarter, Syracuse (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) held on to upset No. 17 Virginia Tech (4-2, 2-1), 31-17, at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. It’s the Orange’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2012, when it beat then-No. 11 Louisville.

First-year SU head coach Dino Babers is now 32-0 when entering the fourth quarter with a lead.

Here are three quick takeaways from the win.

Holding on

After entering the second half with a 17-3 lead and the fourth quarter with a 17-9 lead, the Orange blew it in the fourth, letting Virginia Tech tie the game at 17-17 with 13:53 left. It looked like the game was going to slip out of Syracuse’s hands until SU shot back with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

On the ensuing drive after VT’s tying score, the Orange drove 75 yards the other way to take the lead again. SU quarterback Eric Dungey hurried under center to lunge into the end zone at the goal line.

The defense followed up with a three-and-out stop, including a pass breakup on third down that would have gone for a first if caught.

The Orange drove 37 yards this time to score — on a run where Dontae Strickland broke weak tackles near the goal line — and went up by 14 before the defense forced a fumble with less than four minutes left in the game, all but sealing the victory.

Shutting them down

Syracuse’s defense turned in the best half of its season (considering the opponent), holding Virginia Tech to just three points in the first half. The Hokies went 3-for-10 on third down and were held to 213 yards, despite running a no-huddle offense.

Syracuse’s biggest stop in the first half came on Virginia Tech’s first drive of the second quarter as the Hokies were trying to respond to SU’s score that put the Orange up 14-3.

With Virginia Tech at Syracuse’s 38-yard line, linebacker Zaire Franklin stopped VT quarterback Jerod Evans twice in a row on third and fourth downs. The first run up the middle went for no gain and on fourth down, Franklin burst into the backfield on the left side run to tackle Evans two yards behind the line of scrimmage.

De’Jon Wilson picked up a sack in the first half, starting in place of Kendall Coleman, who was suspended for the first half after being called for targeting against Wake Forest a week earlier. Redshirt freshman Christopher Frederick made two big tackles in place of starter Cordell Hudson who was out with an injury.

Inspector Gadget

Dino Babers has never been shy of running trick plays or going for it on fourth down. But coming into the game, Syracuse had been unsuccessful on most of its attempted gadget plays, including a pass by Sterling Hofrichter against Notre Dame and a throw to Eric Dungey over the middle of the field against South Florida.

Then on the first play of the second quarter, Eric Dungey pitched the ball back to Strickland. The line run blocked and Virginia Tech’s secondary froze, reacting to the pitch. Strickland cocked back and lofted a pass deep to receiver Brisly Estime who ran untouched to the end zone for the 84-yard score.

The play put the Orange ahead 14-3.

SU tried a wide receiver pass in the second quarter when Dungey threw behind the line to receiver Ervin Philips, who then ran forward a few steps before hurling it to receiver Steve Ishmael for a first down.

The Orange tried a similar play near the end of the third quarter. Dungey threw it back to Philips, who was then chased down by two defenders and dropped for a 10-yard loss before he could throw it again.

Published on October 15, 2016 at 7:27 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus