SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Nearly eight minutes had ticked off the game clock Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium when the Irish offense — powered by Heisman Trophy candidate Jeremiyah Love at running back and rising freshman star CJ Carr at quarterback — took the field for the first time.
Notre Dame already led Syracuse by 21 points.
As the No. 9 Irish (9-2) try to complete their march from an 0-2 start to the College Football Playoff, they can’t control the quality of opponents they face in the home stretch. Syracuse and Stanford, Notre Dame’s final regular-season opponent next weekend, entered Saturday with three wins apiece.
The Irish can, however, control how thoroughly they beat those two opponents. And Notre Dame’s start in a 70-7 win over Syracuse on a crisp and clear afternoon was astounding, no matter the opponent. The Irish opened the game with two pick-sixes sandwiched around a punt-return touchdown on three consecutive Syracuse drives before their offense took a snap. They led 35-0 in the first quarter — tied with the 1921 team for their most-ever points in the opening quarter — after having run only five offensive plays.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a game like that — 21 points on the board and the offense hasn’t been on the field,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said.
“It’s in the moment, right? Pick-six. ‘Hey, defense, get a quick sip of water, you’re going right back out.’ You block a punt for a touchdown. ‘Defense, get a drink, you’re going right back out.’”
With 14 minutes, 9 seconds left in the first, senior safety Jalen Stroman, playing in place of injured starter Tae Johnson (left hand) on senior day, darted forward in front of Syracuse tight end Dan Villari to pick off quarterback Joseph Filardi. Stroman returned the interception 44 yards for a touchdown.
7-0 Notre Dame.
With 12:19 left in the first, Stroman got a hand on Jack Stonehouse’s punt, which traveled only 7 yards before Luke Talich grabbed the football out of the air and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown.
14-0 Notre Dame.
With 9:50 left in the first, Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore snared his fourth interception and turned it into his first pick-six of the season with a 46-yard return.
21-0 Notre Dame, the first time since 2002 the Irish defense or special teams scored the first three touchdowns of a game.
Then, after the Notre Dame defense forced a run-of-the-mill three-and-out, the offense finally took the field. Two plays later, Love scored on a 45-yard touchdown run. On the third play of the next drive, Jadarian Price broke for a 58-yard touchdown and a 35-0 lead.
Syracuse entered the game off six straight losses, including a 38-10 defeat to No. 13 Miami in its last game Nov. 8. So the win isn’t going to be Example A as to why the Irish are deserving of a CFP berth.
But it’s certainly a piece of Notre Dame’s rebuilt case after opening losses to Miami and No. 3 Texas A&M by a combined four points in Carr’s first two collegiate starts.
Since then, the Irish have won nine straight. They entered Saturday tied for eighth in the nation with 38.3 points per game and ranked 18th with 458.2 yards per game. Since Sept. 27, the defense has allowed only one opponent to score more than 15 points — No. 15 USC in Notre Dame’s 34-24 victory.
The 70 points Saturday were the most the Irish have scored since 1932.
“We are a very dangerous team,” Love said. “I feel like we’ve got all the things we need in order to have success. We match up well with pretty much anybody. … We’re going to compete with anybody. We’re not scared or anything like that.
“There’s no guarantee we will be in the playoffs right now. We’ve still got business to handle. But if we are to make it that far, we believe in our ability to compete with anybody. We’re going to go with both feet on the gas pedal.”
No team had beaten Syracuse like Notre Dame, which led 49-0 at halftime.
Love, whose Heisman credentials were spelled out on a Notre Dame PR handout for reporters before the game, topped 100 rushing yards for the sixth time this season with eight carries for 171 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored on runs of 14 and 68 yards before taking a seat early in the second half, leading an Irish rushing attacked that piled up 329 yards and six TDs.
After his 68-yarder, he blew a kiss to the crowd, jumped with a pair of teammates and then told another pair to wait for a moment. Then, he struck a Heisman pose.
“I felt like that play was worthy of it,” Love said. “The previous two touchdowns didn’t feel like they were good enough for that celebration. But it was already set in my mind that I was going to do it.”
Freeman didn’t love one of Love’s celebrations earlier this season and tells his players to simply celebrate with their teammates. But this one?
“He’s earned the right to do that,” Freeman said. “So I’ll let that one go.”
Carr didn’t need to do much, completing five passes — one of which was a touchdown to Will Pauling — for 49 yards before backup Kenny Minchey took over in the third quarter.
And the Notre Dame defense nearly had a shutout until Filardi scored on a 6-yard run with seven seconds to play. The Irish had three interceptions. Syracuse also had a chance to score at the end of the first half, but kicker Tripp Woody bounced a 48-yard field-goal attempt off the left upright and out.
Freeman said his defense reached a turning point after the third game of the season, when players and coaches made the decision to stick together, point a finger at themselves and get to work.
“Just practicing with the same mentality and remembering what it feels like to be 0-2, honestly,” Moore said. “Like, he always says, ‘Remember the pain.’ And that’s something we won’t let happen again. So we attack every practice and we go at it like it’s our last practice.”
Last season, after the Irish suffered a stunning loss to Northern Illinois, they rattled off 10 straight wins to make the playoff — and then three more wins to make the national championship game. To complete a second straight 10-game regular-season winning streak, the Irish must beat Stanford in a late-night game on the West Coast on Nov. 29.
Then they need to have faith that a CFP committee that so far has looked favorably upon the Irish continues to do so.
That’s what is left on the Irish to-do list this regular season after Saturday’s dominant showing: a win and a prayer, though maybe the second isn’t needed.
