No. 22 Syracuse (6-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) beat then-No. 22 North Carolina State (5-2, 2-2), 51-41, on Saturday to secure bowl eligibility for the first time since 2013.

The win catapulted SU into the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2001, with Syracuse coming in at No. 22 — the Orange is No. 24 in the Coaches Poll.

Here’s whose stock is up, or down, after the win.

Stock up

 Eric Dungey

 A week after being benched, Dungey exploded for 411 passing yards and three touchdowns while completing 71 percent of his passes. The senior ran 15 times for 32 more yards and a score.

From the outset, Dungey dueled with his counterpart, NC State’s Ryan Finley, delivering inch-perfect deep passes all over the field to his wideouts.

Dungey took no chances — he reminded everyone why he was the starter in the first place.

 Ifeatu Melifonwu

 Melifonwu, a week after filling in for an injured Christopher Fredrick with four passes broken up and a tackle for loss, again looked confident in coverage this weekend.

The redshirt freshman finished the game with six tackles and two pass breakups and consistently used his size and athleticism to hug tight with Wolfpack wide receivers.

The blemish for Melifonwu, and the rest of the secondary, was deep balls. Finley beat SU deep repeatedly and only ceased when the corners, Melifonwu included, started playing off receivers at the line of scrimmage.

Regardless, Melifonwu’s late emergence bolstered a now deep, albeit banged up, cornerback group.

 Sean Riley

 Riley, despite being kept out of the end zone, dominated. He led all SU receivers with 10 receptions and 164 yards.

Playing mainly out of the slot, Riley was the top target for Dungey, snatching passes anywhere from the flat to the intermediate middle to down the sideline.

Even in traffic over the middle, Riley snagged a handful of first downs. It seems any given week can be a breakout game for any SU receiver, and this week was Riley’s turn.

 Stock down

 Secondary

 Syracuse’s defense surrendered passing touchdowns of 74 and 67 yards on Saturday. If not for a big offensive day from SU, Finley’s 473 yards, a career high, might seem more significant.

Both times the Orange got beat deep, a cornerback was nowhere to be found in the middle of the field. On the second touchdown, to Kelvin Harmon, Scoop Bradshaw was nearly five yards away.

Big plays have plagued SU for weeks now. The offense has carried the load, scoring 40 and now 51 in the last two games, but giving up constant big plays will need to be diagnosed and fixed eventually.

 QB controversy

 Tommy DeVito or Dungey?

Dino Babers said last week after the game that Dungey would start against NC State and he did. Considering the balance of the week, it seems like Dungey was the guy from the get-go, and Babers stuck with that.

With the chance, Dungey did not disappoint. A week removed from potentially losing the starting job he stumbled into when Terrel Hunt fell with a torn Achilles tendon in 2015, Dungey absolutely dominated.

With Dungey’s showing, the past week’s quarterback talk will get put to rest, at least for the time being.

Published on October 29, 2018 at 8:06 am

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham