At least we beat Syracuse

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.

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.