Irish Run Through No. 16 Syracuse, 41-24

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The University of Notre Dame football earned a 41-24 victory over No. 16 Syracuse in the JMA Wireless Dome Saturday afternoon. Notre Dame piled up 246 yards on the ground with five different ball carriers, scoring three times. 

Audric Estime led the ground attack with a career-high 20 carries for 123 yards and two scores. Logan Diggs added 85 yards on 20 attempts and scored his first rushing touchdown of the season. 

Drew Pyne coordinated the offensive attack, going 9-for-19 for 116 yards and a touchdown. Michael Mayer led the receiving corps with three catches for 54 yards. Deion Colzie caught his first passes at Notre Dame, gaining 44 yards on three catches. 

Defensively, the Irish were led by cornerback TaRiq Bracy who finished with six tackles. Linebacker JD Bertrand added five tackles and a tackle for loss in the win. Marist Liufau and Brandon Joseph each had an interception. Overall, the defense had eight tackles for loss in the win. 

How It Happened

The Irish defense scored the first points of the game on the first play of the day. Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader dropped back, pumped once and tried to hit his wide receiver on a hitch route. Joseph jumped the route and maneuvered through the Orange offense for the 29-yard pick six. 

The Orange was up for the challenge, taking its next possession 53 yards on seven plays to knot the score after Shrader found Oronde Gadsden II on a skinny post in the end zone. 

Diggs put the Irish back on top midway through the second quarter. The sophomore polished off a 55-yard drive on the 11th play, scoring from three yards out for his first rushing touchdown of the season, fourth of his career. Diggs and Estime ran for 44 yards on the drive. 

A tipped pass deep over the middle led to a Syracuse interception, and the Orange were in business. Taking over at the Irish 42 with 1:42 remaining in the first half. Notre Dame’s defense stood strong, giving up just three yards and getting the ball back for the offense after Shrader scrambled and has his pass knocked down by Bertrand to give the ball back to the Irish.

After a first down run by Tyree, Pyne found Mayer along the Syracuse sideline for a 37-yard gain to put the ball down at the Orange 14. Pyne again hit Mayer, who fought off a tackle and was pushed out of bounds at the three, setting up first and goal. Pyne dropped back and hit Thomas on the right hand side for the three-yard score with 0:17 on the clock. Grupe was true on the extra point and the Irish took a 21-7 lead at the midway point. 

The teams exchanged punts to begin the second half. Syracuse, who started a drive on their own five, punted for just 28 yards, setting the Irish up at the Orange 31. Notre Dame picked up 22 yards on the ground before settling for a Grupe field goal. Grupe hit from 31 yards out and the Irish took a 24-7 lead with 7:41 on the clock in the third quarter. 

With a change at quarterback, the Orange passing game took off as the third quarter came to a close. Carlos Del Rio-Wilson began the second half before engineering a six-play, 67-yard scoring drive. Del Rio-Wilson connected on passes of 23 yards and 30 yards before handing off to Sean Tucker who scored from four yards out. Syracuse cut the Irish lead to 24-17 with 25 seconds left in the third quarter. 

With all the momentum seeming to be on the Orange sideline, the Irish defense shifted it back. Del Rio-Wilson tried to find a receiver and had his pass over the middle tipped by Howard Cross III. Liufau was there for the diving interception to give the Irish possession. Notre Dame marched 54 yards on seven plays, capped by an Estime 11-yard score. Grupe was true on the extra point and Notre Dame took a 31-17 lead with 9:11 remaining.  

A Cross sack set up an Orange punt on fourth down with less than seven minutes remaining. Clarence Lewis darted in, getting a hand on the kick and the Irish recovered the blocked punt at the two. Pyne handed to Estime who ran behind Blake Fisher, Josh Lugg and Zeke Cordell for his second score of the day. The Irish led 38-17 with 7:47 left. 

Syracuse wasn’t done yet, cutting into the Irish lead with an eight-play, 75-yard drive, capped with a Del Rio-Wilson touchdown pass to D’Marcus Adams from 13-yards out. With 5:44 left, Notre Dame led 38-24.

After recovering the onside kick, the Irish marched 45 yards on eight plays, as Grupe knocked through a 20-yard kick to put Notre Dame up 41-24. 

Up Next

The Irish return home next weekend for a primetime matchup with the fifth-ranked Clemson Tigers at Notre Dame Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted on NBC.