Part I of the unorthodox 2020 College football season is finished for No. 2 Notre Dame (10-0) following its 45-21 victory at home versus Syracuse (1-10) on Saturday afternoon.
Part II, the postseason, begins Dec. 19 with the ACC Championship at Charlotte, N.C., versus No. 3 Clemson, who it had vanquished 47-40 in double overtime on Nov. 7.
Syracuse was competitive the first 27 minutes while taking a 7-3 lead, but three Notre Dame touchdowns in a span of 3:12 right before halftime made it 24-7 at the intermission and basically sealed the outcome.
Fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book led that late second-quarter charge with a 28-yard touchdown run and then 21- and 28-yard scoring passes to fifth-year senior wideout Javon McKinley.
In his swan song at Notre Dame, Book completed 24 of 37 passes for 285 yards with three touchdowns — plus a rare interception — and scored two other times on 28 and 17-yard scrambles while finishing with 53 rushing yards on eight carries. McKinley, who had not scored this season despite leading the team in receiving, tallied three times while finishing with 111 yards on seven catches.
Running back Kyren Williams became the sixth Notre Dame sophomore to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards, finishing with 110 yards on 20 carries, while a fourth-quarter 94-yard touchdown burst by freshman Chris Tyree enabled him to finish with 109 yards on the ground versus the Orange.
Notre Dame finished with 285 passing yards and 283 rushing yards for 568 total.
Leading the defense in stops was freshman cornerback Clarence Lewis with 12 (10 solo). Senior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah remained a playmaking force with two passes broken up and a forced fumble.
TOP THREEÂ STORYLINES
• Instead of mailing the season in, Syracuse came out energized and took a 7-3 lead with 9:55 remaining in the second quarter on a 19-yard pass from quarterback Rex Culpepper to wideout Anthony Queeley.
• Syracuse entered the game averaging only 78.3 rushing yards per game (three last week versus North Carolina State), which was near the bottom among 127 teams. Surprisingly, against a Notre Dame defense No. 4 in the country versus the run at 85.3 yards allowed per contest, the Orange totaled 229 yards on the ground, with freshman Sean Tucker finishing with 113 on 24 carries.
Backup Cooper Lutz then had an 80-yard touchdown jaunt in the fourth quarter to total 102 for himself on the ground. No previous back this year had gained more than 74 yards this season versus the Irish.
• For the third time in the last nine years under head coach Brian Kelly, the Fighting Irish completed an unblemished regular season, joining the 12-0 outputs in 2012 and 2018. The 2012 unit advanced to the BCS National Championship Game, while the 2018 crew earned a berth into the four-team College Football Playoff, as it is anticipated to this year as well.
TURNING POINT
With just less than five minutes remaining until halftime and Syracuse ahead 7-3, the Orange momentum and energy was at a peak when a Book pass fell incomplete on third-and-10 from his 28-yard line — but a personal foul on that play by defensive end Kingsley Johnson on Book gave the Irish new life with a first down at their 43-yard line.
Three plays later, Book scrambled for a 28-yard touchdown and the Irish took the lead for good (10-7) with 3:18 left until the intermission. Two more touchdown passes to McKinley quickly followed before halftime.
STAT OF THE GAME
Notre Dame generated a season high four turnovers and won that battle 4-2. Syracuse entered the contest tied for No. 1 nationally with most turnovers forced (22), and did intercept Book for the first time in a school-record 266 attempts.
The Irish were 43rd in the country in turnovers forced with 12, but recovered three fumbles and had an interception by fifth-year senior defensive end Daelin Hayes when he dropped into coverage.
GAME BALL
Plenty of fifth-year seniors, including Book and McKinley, have aided the cause tremendously, but the four-year graduating class of 2021 is the first at the school to see the Irish record a minimum of 10 wins four straight years, and is so far 43-6.
The cass of '92 also won 43 games, highlighted by the 1988 national title as freshmen, and were 43-7 during their four-year stint from 1988-91.
HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES
Book is now 30-3 (.909) as the starting quarterback, making him the program’s first signal-caller to reach 30 victories as a starter. Among Notre Dame quarterbacks with at least 20 starts, his winning percentage is second only to John Lujack’s .932 (20-1-1) during the 1940s when he helped the Irish to three national titles.
Book also finishes his career 15-0 in Notre Dame Stadium. He and Tony Rice — also 15-0 at home from 1987-89 — are the lone quarterbacks with at least 10 starts to never lose or have a tie. Joe Theismann (1968-70) was 11-0-1.
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