I have to admit even though it may be a bit sad it is still
true that I felt relived after beating Syracuse to get to 2 - 3 on the
season. As much as it seemed possible
that this season could not have gotten any worse a loss to the Orange would
have done just that. Imagine 1 - 4 with
back to back losses to Duke and Syracuse.
Even though the Irish scored 50 points this in no way was a
great game for Notre Dame. I will give
credit where credit is due; it was a tale of two half's as far as how the
defense held the Syracuse offense in check (relatively speaking) on Saturday
afternoon. The first half looked as if
the combined final score would easily reach 100 points and Orange quarterback
looked like Tom Brady. Of course against
the Irish secondary this year that is not hard to do.
Let's start with the offense that looked as good as they are
supposed to against a team like Syracuse (2-2 heading into the game). Kizer!
Folks we could have two more years of this kid, working along Equanimeous St. Brown and
Josh Adams. 23 of 35 for 471 yards and 3
touchdowns through the air, along with rushing touchdown. Overall the Irish offense racked up a total
of 654 yards (471 in the air and 183 on the ground). There is still room for improvement after
going 3 for 12 on third downs and committing 6 penalties (including 4 defensive
offside's) for 55 yards. The good news
if the Irish need to score 50 points a game each game this season I feel they
can, the bad news is it might not be enough.
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| Jarron Jones Blocked PAT |
The second half against Syracuse was the best
game of the season for the Irish defense all season. Kelly said that they would be playing more
guys on defense, 28 different Notre Dame players, including 9 freshmen made
tackles yesterday (note that some were on special teams and 1 was offensive
lineman Quenton Nelson after a turnover).
Special teams at times defiantly looked
special; C.J Sanders averaged 35.8 yards on 4 kick returns including 1 for 93
yards and a touchdown and Jarron Jones blocked is second PAT of the season
(both have been returned for 2 points).
I'll give Justin Yoon partial credit for making 6 extra points and going
2 for 3 on field goal attempts.
