Dino Babers finally didn’t have to close his eyes to see it any more.

A packed Carrier Dome. A relentless defense. A game faster than SU fans have seen on turf, like he described at his introductory press conference on Dec. 7.

All of that was there. Almost.

“The game that I was imagining in the press conference is the game coming in the second year between game four and six,” Babers said. “You never know what’s going to happen with our style of play in the first game.”

Syracuse was, at least for one game, most of what Babers promised at his introductory press conference on Dec. 7.

Thirty-one thousand three hundred thirty-six fans witnessed SU’s defense swarm for three tackles for a loss and two sacks and the starting offense run 70 plays in 26 minutes, 42 seconds of possession. Syracuse (1-0) beat Colgate (0-1), 33-7, in a game nearly nine months in the making and the first under Babers — the 30th head coach in SU football history.

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The Orange settled for three field goals in the red zone and Zack Mahoney lost a fumble with less than five minutes left in the game.

“Coach, he already was saying ‘No, we’re not fast enough,’” quarterback Eric Dungey said. “There’s tons room for improvement. Just glad we got the win.”

Babers first reached the field 66 minutes before kickoff. He paced with his arms behind his back. He high-fived all the Orange players stretching in a circle spanning from the endzone to the 35-yard line. He studied his team and Colgate with his right hand to his chin and his left hand holding up his elbow.

Only one fan broke Babers from his concentration — a middle-aged man in a worn out blue Syracuse T-shirt. Babers had brushed the fan off a few minutes earlier but came back, smiled for a picture, and then was gone again.

Much like its head coach in pregame, Syracuse was on the move.

The Orange’s first drive took just one minute, 45 seconds, spanned 79 yards and ended in an Eric Dungey 43-yard touchdown pass to Amba Etta-Tawo. Its third drive lasted just 11 seconds when freshman running back Moe Neal burst through the line for a 49-yard touchdown run.

Dungey’s first incompletion didn’t come until the second quarter — 13 completions into the game. Ervin Philips tied the program record with 14 catches in the game. Etta-Tawo hauled in 210 yards in his SU debut.

“It’s just kind of the way the offense goes,” said Dungey, who finished the game with a career-high 355 passing yards and 34 completions.

Jessica Sheldon | Photo Editor

The Orange consistently snapped the ball before the chains could make it down the field. A referee had to wrap his arms around Dungey to prevent the quarterback from snapping the ball before the line of scrimmage was set. Fans booed on the first drive when a Colgate player was injured, stopping the no-huddle run.

It wasn’t quite the 22.48 seconds per play pace that Bowling Green had before running out the clock in the MAC championship game under Babers, though. (It was actually 22.89 seconds per play.)

“That’ll be the slowest game that you ever see us play,” Babers said before pausing for two seconds. “Did you see the paint drying? I did.”

Colgate defensive back Nick Alvarez thought SU got to the line “as fast as we saw on film” from Bowling Green, “which is impressive for a team in their first game in a new system.”

The biggest hiccup and break from concentration was a 75-yard game-opening drive by Colgate that was extended when linebacker Shyheim Cullen ran into the punter on the fourth play.

But from then on, the Orange defense blanked the Raiders and even had prime chances at two interceptions that were dropped.

“I think what you saw tonight was both sides,” Babers said. “You saw a little bit of the good and a little bit of the bad and hopefully walked away with a glimmer of you could see the light at the end of the tunnel and what this could become once you work all the kinks out.”

While it wasn’t Babers’ perfect dream, it was a start.

Published on September 2, 2016 at 10:05 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus