Notre Dame Beats Syracuse
FIRST QUARTER: Notre Dame 23, Syracuse 13
Top Moment: On the game’s first offensive play, DeShone Kizer found Equanimeous St. Brown for a 79-yard touchdown.
Stats: Kizer had 170 yards and two touchdown passes to St. Brown in the first quarter. St. Brown had 146 yards total on the two scores. Te’Von Coney had five tackles in the first quarter.
Items: Syracuse and Notre Dame combined for 339 yards of offense in the first quarter. C.J. Sanders returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. Cole Luke returned a blocked extra point for a two-point conversion. Jarron Jones got a hand on the ball. With Notre Dame falling behind Michigan in the all-time winning percentage, no player was awarded the No. 1 jersey.
SECOND QUARTER: Notre Dame 33, Syracuse 27
Top Moment: Ervin Philips caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Eric Dungey to make it 33-27 Notre Dame with 30 seconds left in the half. The score was set up by a long Syracuse punt return.
Stats: Kizer had 356 first-half passing yards, completing 14 of 22 passes. Notre Dame struggled to run the ball — Josh Adams, Dexter Williams and Kizer combined for just 47 yards before halftime.
Items: Dungey and Kizer both had touchdown runs in the second quarter. Justin Yoon kicked a 31-yard field goal with 5:03 remaining in the half. Kizer threw an interception late in the half, but Syracuse could not capitalize, missing a field goal.
THIRD QUARTER: Notre Dame 47, Syracuse 27
Top Moment: With 11:23 left in the third quarter, Kizer found receiver Kevin Stepherson for a 54-yard touchdown to make it 40-27.
Stats: Dexter Williams had a 54-yard touchdown run with 8:26 left in the third, starting right before cutting it all the way back for the score. It made the score 47-27.
Items: Notre Dame forced Syracuse to punt on the first four drives of the second half. Syracuse’s Dungey struggled during the third quarter, failing to get a consistent groove going against the Notre Dame defense.
FOURTH QUARTER: Notre Dame 50, Syracuse 33
Top Moment: When the clock hit 0:00 and Notre Dame had its first win since Sept. 10 against Nevada.
Stats: Kizer finished the game with a career-high 456 yards on 23 of 35 passing for three TDs and one interception. He also ran for a touchdown. Both teams were inefficient on third down — Notre Dame was 3-for-13 and Syracuse was 3-for-14. Notre Dame ran 78 plays for 652 yards. Syracuse finished with 75 plays and 422 yards.
Items: Notre Dame scored five touchdowns of 54 yards or longer. Kizer has thrown for a touchdown in 16 of his 18 career games.