Fighting Irish 4-1-1 – Syracuse

By John Brice
Special Contributor

4 elements that defined Notre Dame’s upset-win at Syracuse

Ho-hum. Another excellent Notre Dame performance against a ranked opponent – away from the Fighting Irish’s venerable home.

Buoyed by a defensive touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage and further elevated by another blocked punt from Brian Mason’s special teams unit, the Fighting Irish seized command before halftime Saturday at No. 16 and previously once-defeated Syracuse en route to an overall comprehensive 41-24 win against the Orange.

In an item we’ll bring you after each Notre Dame contest, here’s the 4-1-1 on Notre Dame’s fifth win overall this season and the Fighting Irish’s third by 13 or more points.

FOUR ELEMENTS THAT DEFINED NOTRE DAME GETTING BACK ON THE WINNING TRACK

1. 7, :07: With the 10^th pick of his collegiate career and his first in an Notre Dame uniform, Irish safety Brandon Joseph set the immediate tone in this win when he picked off Garrett Shrader’s first pass attempt and raced in for a 29-yard pick six that with Blake Grupe’s extra point lifted Notre Dame to an immediate 7-0 lead just seven seconds into the game.
2. 5: Marcus Freeman has, unabashedly and repeatedly, called Brian Mason the nation’s top special teams coach in all of college football.

What Mason’s units are doing of late – especially on punt block – back up Freeman’s praise of his former Cincinnati colleague.

Clarence Lewis blocked James Williams’ punt late in the fourth quarter to set up Notre Dame’s final touchdown, Audric Estimè’s plunge up the middle, and in the process delivered the Irish’s fifth blocked punt this season – including their third in the past two weeks.

Consider that in 13 games in 2021, the Fighting Irish mustered just a single blocked kick of any kind.

3. 37:After Syracuse’s second offensive possession, aided by a shortened field due to a pair of 15-yard penalties against the Irish, the Orange managed just 37 total offensive yards on its next SEVEN possessions, five of which ended in punts. In fact, Syracuse’s top four offensive plays resulted in 104 yards of offense – a 21-yard run, passing plays covering 30, 30 and 23 yards – while the Orange’s other 57 offensive snaps netted just 172 yards.
4. 20-20: The balance of the Notre Dame offensive backfield was a vision of perfection for the Irish game plan for success. Both Logan Diggs and Audric Estimè carried the ball 20 times apiece, combining for 208 yards and three touchdowns in the process.

In tallying 246 total rushing yards, Notre Dame saw all five of its ballcarriers net positive yardage on the ground – and the ‘Mitch-Cat’ package of Mitchell Evans, the Irish’s 6-foot-5-plus, 255-pound tight end, under center again resulted in a pair of 1-yard first-down runs in key situations for the offense.

ONE THING TO NOTE

For all of its obvious limitations as both lack of depth and injuries at key positions have revealed the Notre Dame offense’s spaghetti-thin margin for error, the unit has begun to fully maximize red-zone opportunities.

A week after the Irish finished 6-for-7 on scoring in the red zone after a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to put away pesky UNLV, Tommy Rees’ Drew Pyne-led group struck for six scores in all six trips inside Syracuse’s 20-yard line in this matinee affair.

Notre Dame tallied four touchdowns and a pair of Blake Grupe field goals to go 6-for-6 in the red zone and improve to 12-for-13 in the offense’s last 13 red-zone trips amidst this modest two-game winning streak.

For the 2022 season, Notre Dame now is 27-for-31 in red-zone scoring efficiency, with 21 touchdowns and six triples from Grupe.

ONE THING PIVOTING FORWARD

Marcus Freeman has been moderately aggressive time and again this season, showcasing a consistent belief in his team – even at times when the Fighting Irish have experienced some growing pains in Freeman’s first full season as head coach.

Consider, then, that at a crucial moment in Saturday’s road-triumph Freeman again showcased strong belief in all facets of his team – and his players rewarded him.

Freeman called a timeout late in the second quarter, after the Orange had picked off Pyne’s too-high-toss intended for Michael Mayer and returned the ball near midfield.

Syracuse then quickly wedged itself just inside Notre Dame territory and lined up to go for a fourth-down conversion on fourth-and-7 from the Irish 39.

Shrader’s pass fell incomplete, Pyne moments later had his single-best throw of the day – a 37-yard strike down the right sideline to Michael Mayer – and Notre Dame took a commanding 21-7 lead into the break moments later when Pyne hit Jayden Thomas for a 3-yard touchdown-strike.