Syracuse (3-5, 1-3 Atlantic Coast) lost to No. 17 Florida State (7-1, 5-1), 45-21, on Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee, Florida. The Orange pulled within seven on quarterback Eric Dungey’s second rushing touchdown which made it 21-14 in the second quarter, but that was the closest SU would get in the eventual blowout.

Here’s a look at which direction some players are trending after the loss.

Stock Up

Sophomore linebacker Jonathan Thomas

In a game in which Syracuse’s defense struggled tackling, Thomas had the best game of his career in that department. He finished with seven tackles in the absence of linebacker Parris Bennett, the Orange’s leading tackler who left the game in with an upper-body injury in the third quarter.

Junior tight end Josh Parris

Parris had been almost entirely invisible throughout much of this season, recording multi-catch games just three times entering Saturday. But against the Seminoles, Parris’ four receptions led the Orange and save for a 62-yard Dontae Strickland catch and run, his 35 yards would’ve been tops on the team, as well. While racking up 22 yards on back-to-back irrelevant plays in the fourth quarter, having a new face show up in the stat sheet is one of the few positives for SU.

Stock Down

Whoever was supposed to cover Travis Rudolph

The sophomore wide receiver torched the Orange for three touchdowns and 191 yards on five receptions. Rudolph’s eye-popping day started with a highlight-reel 75-yard touchdown reception in which he made four SU defenders look silly. He caught the ball between Corey Winfield and Antwan Cordy, juked past Cordell Hudson, stiff armed Winfield and broke a Rodney Williams tackle at the goal line.

It was the first embarrassing play for a secondary that got burned again and again, including another Rudolph touchdown that went for 45 yards. SU allowed 354 yards in the air, the pass defense’s third worst performance of the season.

Freshman quarterback Eric Dungey

Though Dungey didn’t throw any interceptions, he had one of the worst performances of his seven-game career in the air. He completed just 11-of-24 passes, the lowest percentage in a game he’s had and his 120 yards are the fewest since Week 3. His fumble on Syracuse’s second possession of the third quarter immediately led to an FSU touchdown three plays later that put the Seminoles up 35-14. He had 13 rushing attempts, more than anyone else on the Orange, but his 46 yards were less than spectacular.

Published on November 1, 2015 at 2:38 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds