Game balls: Standouts from Notre Dame's 41-24 win over Syracuse
The 41-24 win Saturday over No. 16 Syracuse provided a robust list of Notre Dame players to choose from. Following are the four Irish who enjoyed the most-notable outings in this impressive second-straight win.
Safety Brandon Joseph
On the first offensive play of the game, the Irish senior intercepted a pass from Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring in a game Notre Dame never trailed.
It was the first interception of the season for Joseph and his first career touchdown.
Joseph also finished with 2 tackles and averaged 7.7 yards on his 3 punt returns, with a long of 23 yards.
Tailback Audric Estime
The bruising sophomore recorded 123 rushing yards and 6.2 yards per carry, against a solid Syracuse defense that was only allowing 123.3 rushing yards a game, the 37th-best mark in the country.
In a grinding effort, Estime also added 2 touchdowns during his second 100-plus-yard rushing game this season.
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Tight end Michael Mayer
With 3 catches for 54 yards and no scores, it wasn’t the typical standout day that we’ve grown accustomed to with the Irish junior.
But Mayer still led Notre Dame in both catches and receptions — including a clutch 37-yarder late in the second quarter that set up an Irish touchdown — and made some history along the way.
Mayer’s 37-yard catch helped get him to 1,870 yards for his career, moving him past Tyler Eifert (2009-12) as Notre Dame’s career leader in tight end receiving yards.
Defensive end Isaiah Foskey
The Irish senior continues to become a regular on this list.
Foskey finished the game with 5 solo tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss and 1.0 sack to pace the Irish linemen in all categories.
Foskey’s sack brought him to 22.5 for his career, tying him Kory Minor (1995-98) for second place on the Irish career sacks leaderboard, leaving him only two short of tying Justin Tuck (2002-04) for the all-time career mark.
