Everything Syracuse coach Fran Brown said after losing 70-7 to Notre Dame

Syracuse coach Fran Brown spoke to the media at Notre Dame Stadium for roughly seven minutes following his team’s 70-7 loss to the Fighting Irish. This is everything he said.

Opening statement

“Tough event out there today. Really good football team we played against. Coach [Marcus] Freeman, he had those guys ready to play. I think they are hitting on all cylinders at the moment. They did a really good job. Hats off to that running back. I think he’s the Heisman. And number seven, [Jalen] Stroman, I think is his name, that came in, he did a really good job to just start it off for their team on defense. He took the momentum away early and they did a really good job. I just want to take my hat off to them.

“It’s a humbling experience, a learning experience. I know this may sound crazy, but just the opportunity of getting a chance to learn from that and being able to watch that football game later on tonight and throughout the week and learn from that the entire offseason, there’s a lot of good I see from that football team and I want my football team to look like. That’s really all I have to say about that.”

On what Syracuse can take away from a game like this

“Just to keep fighting, to keep playing, to look at the scoreboard, seeing the score, but just seeing the way they play football. I felt as though those kids all play together. You could tell it’s a group that cares about each other, loves each other. They just had a lot of fun, had a lot of fun playing football, so it was cool to be able to see that.”

On former Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli being a captain for Syracuse

“I think that Steve, not I think — Steve is the leader of our football team. Since Steve went down, you haven’t seen ’em win. A lot of the guys gravitate around Steve. They listen to him, and he’s consistently telling the guys, ‘Hey, this won’t be this way next year. This is what we’re going to do.’ But this is a school that he got his degree from, right? So he played with those guys. He understands those guys. So there’s no way you can go out and not have Steve go out and being able to see those guys in the middle of the field and shake their hands and all that nature.”

On what went into Notre Dame storming out to an early lead

“We threw two interceptions, and it was a blocked punt. So it was 21 points before the defense even got on the football field. The pick on the out by Leonard [Moore], a really good football player. Seven, who I just spoke on, went to throw a pass and he picked that and he ran back, and then there was a blocked punt that was also ran back. That was just, he blocked it. It was just a bad block, and he was able to put his arm through to be able to block the ball.”

On his message to the Syracuse sideline when things were spiraling

“Just stay focused, lock in. That’s why we put Luke [Carney] in to slow things down a little bit. Just stay focused and stay locked in. Just letting them know that I was going to be there to finish the game with them. It’s important that we’ve done that.”

On what Syracuse tried to do to slow down Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love

“I mean, we just wanted to tackle him. I don’t really know what else to tell you about that. What made it difficult, he’s the best running back in the country. I mean, I think it’s difficult for everyone to tackle him. It probably looked worse with us today. But it’s just one guy. If you make one guy miss, he’s able to take it. He has that breakaway speed that most people don’t have. So I feel like that’s the difference. His speed, his vision, his power, he runs strong. Just a really good football player.”

On if Syracuse tried to make adjustments to stop Love

“We tried to do some things, but they didn’t always work. I mean, he only got the ball eight times, and that’s what he was able to do with those eight carries.”

On why Syracuse did not play quarterback Rickie Collins at Notre Dame

“Just the games. It’s like, you see how they’ve been going, right? Same thing that happened last week when we were in a tight ball game against a team who they played that was opposite. It was pretty tight. And then I felt as though we gave them the ball at the wrong time, and we lost the momentum at that point, and then it just went, right?

“This is the thing about turnovers, right? We’re giving too many turnovers and not getting any takeaways. So we have to be able to switch that. It’s something we’ve got to keep working on this offseason, just kind of work on that and have some stuff set up for that.”

On Syracuse not having RB Yasin Willis available and if that hindered the offense

“Not really. I mean, it hurts a little just to not have his presence around and all, but same thing.”

On the Notre Dame offensive line

“I feel like my young offensive line is the same size as their offensive line and probably a little bigger. We probably got size. But that D line was pretty — that’s how I want them to look. That’s how I’m recruiting guys to look that same way and to be able to compete that way. I like those athletes. I like tall, long athletes.”

On his main message to Syracuse after losing to Notre Dame, 70-7

“I just told them that’s what I’m coaching you guys for our football team to look like. It’s the character, the way they play, all the things they do. That’s what we want our team to look like. That’s how we’ll go out and compete, and that’s what you guys should be able to foresee coming in the future when it’s time for us and the way that we’re recruiting and what we’re doing just with the players that are already playing, all the young guys that will be in.

“That’s what we want our team to look like. I think they’re a really good football team. I think they’re a really good football team. They were able to come together. I think they started 0-2, if I’m not mistaken, and they’ve been able to win every game ever since and play together, and they’re all just on the same page.”

On if he has injury updates on Emanuel Ross and Justus Ross-Simmons

“No. I mean, they out. They hurt. Emanuel Ross, he’s messed up. Justice had an ankle. So those guys are out.”

On if he changed his mind on Luke Carney’s redshirt

“No. No, it won’t change.”

On hanging on to four-star commits while Syracuse has been struggling

“Four and five. I’m just excited about the future and understanding they know what we’re building and what we’re doing. They’re excited about coming here and being able to help right away, and that means a lot to them to be able to do it. From a wide-out perspective, from a defensive line perspective, like there’s different areas where we need some guys to be able to come in and help right away, and they’re excited about being able to do that. So I think that keeps all of them excited and ready to come compete and ready to come help us compete to try and win the conference next year.”