The Notre Dame football program absolutely destroyed Syracuse on Saturday. Notre Dame thrashed an injury-depleted Syracuse squad 70-7 in a record-setting performance by the Fighting Irish. They made FBS history in multiple categories during Saturday's completely dominant effort.
Notre Dame had 24 carries for 329 rushing yards against Syracuse on Saturday. That is the fewest rushes in a game while having 300+ rushing yards by any FBS team over the last 30 seasons, per OptaSTATS.
Heisman Trophy candidate Jeremiyah Love did most of the work, turning eight carries into 171 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Love scored his 20th touchdowns on the season, which ties a Notre Dame record set by the legendary Jerome Bettis back in 1991.
“It’s a great honor to be up there with some Notre Dame legends,” Love said. “I wouldn't be able to reach that goal without (the) offensive line, without defense getting the ball back, without receivers making great blocks, without C.J. (Carr) opening up the running game. It’s a group effort.”
Notre Dame set a modern-era scoring record, surpassing Georgia Tech's 69-point outing from November of 1977. The last time Notre Dame topped 70 points in a game was a 73-point outing against Haskell in 1932.
Meanwhile, Syracuse had not given up 70+ points since allowing 75 points to Union all the way back in 1891.
Oddly enough, the Fighting Irish had already wrapped up the victory before Love and the offense even took the field.
They scored 21 points on defense and special teams before their first offensive snaps. They returned two interceptions for touchdowns as well as a blocked punt.
“Obviously, unique game,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “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.”
The Fighting Irish can take a moment to enjoy their dominant victory. But they need to understand that winning won't come quite as easily next week.
Next up for Notre Dame is a road trip to Stanford on November 29th at 10:30PM ET.
