CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — When Riley Dixon took the field with Syracuse in punt formation with the clock stopped just under three minutes to go in the first half, he wasn’t sure if he was going to punt, or try and run for a first down.

“I had confidence that Riley could read it. If he didn’t like it, he could punt it,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said. “If he liked it, he could take it and give us a first down.”

When Dixon caught the ball, he gripped it with two hands as he sprinted past the 40-yard line and then midfield. He was tackled by four orange jerseys after gaining 15 yards. The senior punter then jogged off the field, playfully shoving cornerback Corey Winfield as the Syracuse coaches motioned for the offense to get back on the field.

The fake punt led to seven Syracuse points later in the drive, making up the 14-7, second-quarter deficit at the time. It was the third fake punt or field goal for Syracuse in the past three games. But the highlight was only a blip in a wild 44-38 triple-overtime loss for Syracuse (3-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) at Virginia (2-4, 1-1).

“Virginia gameplanned for us,” Shafer said. “I can guarantee you that. When we had field goal formation, they had four guys back most of the time, so that was gameplanned.”

But even with the extra attention, the faux Heisman hopeful would not be stopped. He ran a rugby-style punt, but had the edge, even though Shafer said he’s shown that this year already.

Against LSU, Dixon leapt over a defender, inching ahead 5 yards on a fourth-and-4. Two weeks later, he got 9 yards on a fourth-and-6 that helped Syracuse on a drive that sliced the Bulls lead in half.

The added benefit of having an athletic punter, Shafer said, means the defense chooses to usually play it safe, instead of attacking the kicking game as much. In this case, though, Dixon had room to run, and the risk was worth the reward.

Said Shafer: “The drum beats on for Dixon for Heisman.”

Published on October 17, 2015 at 9:07 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3