Notre Dame Leans on its Four All-Americans, Handles No. 16 Syracuse
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman demanded his team play with a sense of urgency at No. 16 Syracuse (6-2) on Saturday.
The players took such an expectation to heart and dominated the Orange early and often.
In the first half, Notre Dame gained 225 yards to Syracuse’s 73. The Irish led 21-7 at the end of the second quarter and went on to a comfortable 41-24 win.
Notre Dame improves to 5-3 after an 0-2 start to the season and picks up its second road win over a team currently ranked in the AP top 25.
“There has to be a sense of urgency from the top down to make sure that we're correcting everything that we're seeing on film,” Freeman said. “Any mistakes we're seeing in practice, you got to correct them and make sure that the players understand the sense of urgency we all have. We've got to continue to improve.”
The Irish started off strong in the JMA Wireless Dome. On the first play of the game, Irish safety Brandon Joseph picked off Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader, returning it for a 29-yard touchdown.
A preseason All-American, Joseph led the nation in interceptions over the last two seasons with nine total. Coming into the game, his only turnover was a forced fumble, and the Irish ranked dead last among 131 FBS teams with one interception on the season.
Linebacker Marist Liufau also snagged the team’s third interception of the season, a momentum-changing play with Notre Dame up just seven points early in the fourth quarter.
The Irish still rank near the bottom in terms of turnovers gained, but they’ve now produced back-to-back games with multiple turnovers and at least one blocked punt.
“It's a big confidence booster for our defense,” Joseph said, “because it's something that we've expected since game one of the season is to get turnovers.”
Joseph wasn’t the only Irish preseason All-American to shine on Saturday. Left guard Jarrett Patterson, tight end Michael Mayer and defensive end Isaiah Foskey also showed why they’re considered among the best players in college football.
Notre Dame ran for 246 yards and on a season-high 55 carries. The Irish offensive line dominated the Syracuse front, particularly went running behind Patterson up the middle or to the left side.
In total, the Irish carried the ball up the middle 42 times for 151 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 fourth-down conversions. They were even more effective on runs to the left side, gaining 86 yards on eight carries (10.8 YPC).
It’s the fourth 220+ rush-yard game of the season for the Irish
The offensive line also performed well in pass protection, allowing 1 sack and 3 quarterback pressures, but the Irish passing attack still struggled. Quarterback Drew Pyne connected on 9 of his 19 passes for just 116 yards, a touchdown and a pick.
Mayer snagged 3 catches for 54 yards, leading Notre Dame in receiving for the seventh time this season.
He’s now the all-time leader among Notre Dame tight ends in receiving with 1,870 career yards, passing former All-American Tyler Eifert. With 160 career receptions, Mayer is now fifth on the all-time at Notre Dame, regardless of position.
Another bright spot in the pass game was sophomore receiver Deion Colzie. He caught three passes for 44 yards, but no other receiver finished with more than one catch.
“That's been the plan since Cal is to establish the run game,” Freeman said. “We have to. That's our identity right now. Our receivers are stepping up. You saw Deion Colzie make some big plays. There were a couple of wide receivers who all stepped up, but right now our identity is the ability to run the ball. If they want to give the opportunity to throw, we'll throw it.”
On defense, Isaiah Foskey dominated with 3 solo tackles, 2 TFLs, a sack and a quarterback hurry.
Foskey has 7 sacks on the season and 22.5 in his career, which ties former linebacker Kory Minor for second all-time among Notre Dame defenders. He is just two sacks from tying Justin Tuck for the Fighting Irish record.
Notre Dame linebacker led the team in sacks with two.
The Orange ran for just 67 yards on 25 carries. It's the third time this season that Notre Dame held an opponent to less than 100 rush yards.