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Notre Dame Dominates Syracuse 36-3 at Yankee Stadium

Cuse.com

After a dream run this season, Syracuse football came back down to earth against #3 Notre Dame. The Irish put up 36 points to the Orange’s 3 in a decisive win in New York City. Start to finish, Notre Dame torched Syracuse up and down the field.

  From the opening kickoff at Yankee Stadium, the Orange were dominated by the masterful Fighting Irish defense. Quarterback Eric Dungey looked flustered in the first two Syracuse drives including a pick right into the stomach of Notre Dame defensive back Jalen Elliott on the second offensive stand. By the third drive, Dungey and Mo Neal were beginning to push the ball upfield. On 1st & 10 from the Notre Dame 46, Dungey rushed for a couple of yards. After emerging from the pile Dungey was limping and holding his back. He promptly fell to the ground and did not return to the game. Tommy DeVito took over from that point on.

  So was DeVito able to lead the Orange to victory in another Florida State-like performance? He was not. Unfortunately, Notre Dame is not Florida State, and the Irish defense ate him alive. After failing to score during their third drive—the same drive in which Dungey was injured—things went downhill. On the following three drives DeVito threw an interception to Alohi Gilman on a deep pass, Cuse punted after starting at their own 45-yard line, then DeVito threw a pick to Alohi Gilman again. In Devito’s defense, the ball was in Taj Harris’ hands and he lost it to Gilman on the second interception, so it wasn’t completely his fault. All of this transpired before half-time. 

Credit Cuse.com

  In fairness to DeVito, Notre Dame is the third-ranked team in the country. They have been strong defensively all year. Earlier this season they held Stanford (ranked seventh at the time) and Michigan (ranked 14th at the time) under 20 points apiece. DeVito was thrown into a game that was already beginning to look grim for the Orange. Additionally, the Syracuse offensive line had issues protecting him, and DeVito was never comfortable in the pocket. This resulted in Head Coach Dino Babers calling a lot of run plays and quick throws to the flats, never letting DeVito throw downfield. 

In a day of constant losing, what were the positives? The Orange defense wasn’t as bad as the final score would suggest. Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book came into the game with a completion percentage of 74.5% and only managed to connect on 62.2% of his passes against the Orange secondary. Also, the Fighting Irish were inefficient in the red zone. They were forced to kick three field goals, and Book was intercepted by freshman safety Andre Cisco from the one-yard line. Furthermore, the lack of success on the offensive side of the ball left the Syracuse defense with a short field to defend multiple times. 

Credit Cuse.com

 

  On offense, the Orange had very few positives. Dontae Strickland and Mo Neal both ran the ball well in the first half. Strickland finished the game with 50 yards on eight carries for an average of 6.3 yards per carry. Neal had 74 yards on 18 rushes for an average of 4.1 yards per carry. Taj Harris had a decent day—other than the interception off of his hands—recording 5 receptions for 78 yards. The Orange’s only points would come from a late field goal by Andre Szmyt.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, had an abundance of positives. They had 463 yards of total offense, many of which came from the ground. They averaged almost 5 yards per carry and running back Dexter Williams found the end zone twice, once in the air and once on the ground. Quarterback Ian Book threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Wide receivers Chase Claypool and Miles Boykin provided most of the team’s receiving yards. Claypool torched the Syracuse secondary for six receptions, 98 yards, and a touchdown. Boykin chipped in with seven receptions for 76 yards, an average of 10.9 per catch. The offense, however, should look to their teammates on defense for a lot of the credit. The Fighting Irish started with good field position on nearly every drive.

Once again, the Notre Dame defense was absolutely terrific against Syracuse. Defensive coordinator Clark Lea—previously the Syracuse linebackers coach—took his revenge on the Orange by decimating their offense. Eric Dungey and Tommy DeVito combined to complete 15/35 passes for 115 yards with three interceptions. The interceptions are by far the most impressive stat for Lea’s defense. Syracuse came into the game with the fourth-highest turnover margin in the country at +13 and Notre Dame was able to force two more turnovers than they gave up. The defensive success for Notre Dame started from the defensive line who pressured DeVito into making quick decisions. The linebackers and secondary were able to capitalize on those decisions and made sure that DeVito didn’t unleash any deep balls like he had earlier in the season.

With the Notre Dame loss behind them, Syracuse can learn a few lessons ahead of the Boston College game next week: 

1.  The Orange should now realize that being ranked #12 doesn’t mean anything if they don’t go out and perform. From the beginning of the game, it appeared as if Notre Dame had more drive to win than Syracuse. The Orange have had a great year, but a couple of losses to finish will put a damper on their exciting season. Top 25 rankings are not an annual occurrence for Syracuse football, and it is easy for them to get comfortable with their current success. If they want to be successful over BC, they need to play with the drive and effort that helped them earn their national ranking. 

2.  Tommy DeVito can learn from this game, but he shouldn’t let the negatives interfere with his mindset. He was put in a very difficult position and did not have much success. Despite this, he is having a very good season and continues to make Syracuse fans excited for the team’s future. With Eric Dungey’s health in question, Syracuse may need DeVito to step up against Boston College. He can use the Notre Dame game as a learning experience but he should not let it discourage him.

3.  Syracuse should use this loss as fuel for their final game of the season. Earlier in the year, the Orange let their loss to Clemson carry over into the Pittsburgh game. Hopefully, they’ll use their experience from Notre Dame as a motivator to beat BC. The Boston College game is an opportunity to close out the regular season on a high note. The Orange are having one of their best seasons in the last 20 years. A ninth win would give the Orange their winningest season since 2001. Back-to-back losses would put Syracuse in jeopardy of falling to the 20’s on the CFB playoff rankings and being placed into a mediocre bowl game. To keep their dream season going, the Orange need to finish strong with a win against Boston College.

Syracuse kicks off against Boston College at noon on November 24th. Countdown to kickoff is live on WAER at 11:30am.