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SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 22, 2016Eric DungeyAmba Etta-TawoSyracuse - 28, Boston College - 20 Q. How did you make that one-handed catch? That was incredible? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: You know, it's something that we practiced early in the week. A lot of guys like to hold your hand now, so Coach just said fight through it, and I just held my hand up, and it just stuck to the ball. Q. Eric had his own struggles at the beginning of the game, as you guys did as a team, the interception, the play on the sideline, the fumbled snap. How did you think he responded to that later in the game? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: Eric is the man. Even if he messes up he's going to bounce bag, he's going to fight back. He's never going to stop fighting. That just shows you the greatness of this team; even when facing some adversity, we always fight back, try to find a way to make it happen. Q. Right after that fumble you guys were talking on the sideline. What were you guys talking about? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: Saying the game is not over. It's not over until the clock ticks zero, so there's a lot of football to be played, just keep your head up and worry about the next play. Q. You became the fourth player in program history to reach a thousand yards in a season. How does it feel to do that your first year at Syracuse? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: I mean, it feels good. It's good to be named among those greats. But at the end of the day, I'm just happy we got the win. I'm just happy for the guys, happy for the team, the coaches. They put in a lot of work, so I'm just happy that we came out on top. Q. Wake Forest you guys really struggled with the weather. I know this wasn't exactly the same, but how did that game maybe help prepare you guys for this, and what do you think allowed you to maybe play a little better in the elements? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: I mean, yeah, we've been here before. We've played in elements, like you said, just going back to focusing on the ball and just doing what we can do best. Q. What were some of the biggest challenges in the second quarter for you guys? What was it like playing out there, and what did you learn about yourselves as far as kind of handling the elements today? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: They challenged us. They brought a lot of pressure. They play man outside, so they challenged us so win, and that's what we had to do to come out on top. I felt like we could have done better with it, but we did enough to come out on top. Q. What has changed over these last three weeks since going down to Wake Forest and not coming away with a victory and now leaving here 4-4 heading into a bye week? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: Can you repeat that, please? Q. What has changed over the last three weeks, now 4-4 heading into a bye week, just the whole outlook on this football team? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: Right now confidence is at a high right now, just we're trying to keep that going, keep this movement going strong, so right now a lot of guys were feeling good right now, just got to keep on working hard, don't get complacent, just keep on going. Q. How good does it feel having -- being in the hunt for a whole game? You're 4-4, have four games left. How does it feel just being relevant now in the ACC bowl tournament? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: I mean, it feels good. Like you said, we have another game next week, so it's going to take every game at a time. Hopefully at the end of the season we're looking at at least six wins, bowl eligible. Q. Eric, on your interception, it looked from the box like BC jumped offsides; is that what you saw? ERIC DUNGEY: Yeah, they did. I mean, I thought it was a free play, so I was trying to give my guy a chance, and they didn't call it. Q. Then on the tackle, you get flagged for the 15; is that just frustration for the missed -- ERIC DUNGEY: Well, it wasn't frustration. I was trying to finish the tackle. I get tackled all the time, so when I get a chance to tackle, I was trying to tackle him. Some guy is standing over me talking smack, and I just tried to get him off me, and then one thing led to another. Q. Amba, in your first year at Syracuse, what do you think is the most important aspect of you being so successful? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: This guy right here, man. You know, he gives me opportunities, he throws the ball down the field. You couldn't ask for much more than that. Q. Eric, this is the closest the team has been to a bowl game in three years, which is kind of crazy. Is that something that you guys think about and realize, or how much is a bowl game in your minds and kind of your talks, a matter of focus? ERIC DUNGEY: I mean, our focus is just winning each game. Obviously bowl game is what we're shooting for right now, but we go out there, we want to win every game. It's like every other team, but we've really got to focus. This team is becoming something special. Q. I know 4-4, it's still early in this process, but how has the feeling shifted in the last couple weeks? Has it ever really felt like this since you've been in the program? ERIC DUNGEY: Since I've been in the program, not really. I mean, I think people are really starting to buy in. Everyone who was kind of on the outside of the team is starting to buy in. Q. I understand it's natural, you get recruited by different coaches. Where do you see those people buying in? Is it in practice, in the locker room? ERIC DUNGEY: Yeah, just in practice. It takes the scout guys that really needed to give us good looks to do our job, right, so it really just comes down to the bare minimum. Q. Eric, just the second quarter obviously it was pouring, pretty rough out there. What were some of the biggest challenges for you personally, and what did you guys learn about yourself a couple weeks ago at Wake in the elements that played a role in it, and what do you think the difference was today? ERIC DUNGEY: Yeah, at Wake, I think I just let the weather get to me too much. I mean, I'm from Oregon; it rains all the time, so I've played in the rain hundreds of times. I just went out there today just trying to do my job. The receivers were doing a great job catching the ball. It's not easy to catch the ball in the rain, especially when it's coming down like that, so they did a great job catching the ball. Q. Eric, after the first quarter pick and what ensued, how fired up were you after that? ERIC DUNGEY: Fired up? I mean, not really. My teammates got my back. That's kind of what got me fired up. Everyone was running over there trying to help me out. But I wasn't really fired up. I'm obviously frustrated; throwing an interception is one of the worst things. Q. Were you anxious to get the ball back? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: Yeah, I'm always anxious to get the ball back, but I guess a little more. Q. After the fumble in the first quarter it looked like you were sitting on the sideline with your head down talking to Coach Lewis. What's going through your mind at that time, and how much different of a feeling is it when in the fourth quarter you're able to get that final 1st down? AMBA ETTA-TAWO: Yeah, just kind of frustration. We need to understand we don't always do a good job. We practice wet ball drill all the time, just kind of pulled out early, getting my hands out there. But the team did a good job responding, and the defense did a great job all game. Q. Did either of you guys try to take control of the huddle and figure out, okay, let's settle down and play smart and not just runs like chickens with our heads cut off? ERIC DUNGEY: I don't know what a huddle is, but I did try to talk to the guys and try to calm them down. But they're young; it's a big part of the game. But those are penalties that shoot ourselves in the foot. I really felt like we could go down and score every time, just the penalties killed us. We've all got things to fix, and that's the thing about it, you can fix the little things and look what could have been. Q. There were a lot of false starts, I think nine or ten. Was it something that BC was doing with its front, something with the weather? What kind of -- was there a theme at all? ERIC DUNGEY: I'm not sure. You know, I'm just back there trying to calm everybody down. I'm not sure what was going through their heads. That's a question for them, but I've got faith that they're going to get it right. Q. Eric, what did you see on Amba's catch there, and what does a guy like that -- obviously I know he's sitting right next to you, but what does a guy like that do for your game just in general? ERIC DUNGEY: I mean, he's brought so much spark and energy to this team. Ever since he got here, ever since he was about to commit -- not commit, come here, but I was happy. I saw him, and throwing with him for the first time, he's a good guy, just off the field, too. Q. What did you see on that catch? ERIC DUNGEY: Oh, the catch? I missed him the first time. So I owed him. But he made a great catch. Guy holding his arm like all season, he's always getting held, but he did a great job, and then he just used that speed. AMBA ETTA-TAWO: Thank you, Eric. ERIC DUNGEY: You're welcome. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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