Orange Crushed: Notre Dame annihilates Syracuse on Senior Day

Jeremiyah Love hit the Heisman pose after reaching the end zone at Notre Dame Stadium for what might be the final time.

His path there looked like many of the other touchdowns, although this one — a 68-yarder — tied him with Jerome Bettis for the most in a single season in program history with 20. He saw a massive lane up the middle, hitting the gas as he streaked into the secondary. Once he cleared the second level, the centerfield safety thought he had an angle and quickly realized he was wrong.

Notre Dame distributed pamphlets to every media member at Saturday’s game against Syracuse, laying out the case for Love to win the Heisman Trophy. As always, though, the junior running back let his play do the talking with 171 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 8 carries.

So did the rest of the Irish, who strengthened their case for the College Football Playoff and utterly crushed the Orange. No. 9 Notre Dame annihilated Syracuse 70-7 on Senior Day, winning its ninth straight game and improving to 9-2.

While Love is the headliner, his services were not exactly required: The Irish led the Orange 21-0 before they played an offensive snap.

On the second play from scrimmage, Syracuse true freshman quarterback Joseph Filardi stared down a receiver over the middle and threw it right into the hands of redshirt senior Notre Dame safety Jalen Stroman. Stroman, starting for injured redshirt freshman Tae Johnson (hand), read Filardi all the way and blitzed the coverage. He took it 44 yards for a touchdown, and he wasn’t done.

The Orange’s ensuing possession ended with a punt, which Stroman deflected into the hands of junior safety Luke Talich near the left sideline. Talich walked into the end zone, giving Notre Dame a 14-0 lead.

Filardi got the ball back and decided to test junior Irish cornerback Leonard Moore, which is a mistake under any circumstances. Moore intercepted the walk-on signal-caller on the right sideline, kept his footing and waltzed to pay dirt, essentially ending the game before Love so much as touched a football.

Stroman, Talich and Moore jump-started an evening of unprecedented dominance from Notre Dame. The Irish set a program record for most points in the first quarter with 35, and they reached 42 four seconds into the second.

Syracuse won time of possession 41:50-18:10, because Notre Dame usually scored as soon as it got the ball. The Irish averaged 10.2 yards per play to the Orange’s 2.6. Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr threw for only 49 yards, because Notre Dame ran for 13.7 yards per carry.

It was pure, unadulterated carnage in all facets of the game. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Kenny Minchey capped it off with a 25-yard scramble for 70, which is the most points Notre Dame has scored since 1932.

The Irish have one final regular-season test, which kicks off at 10:30 p.m. ET at Stanford on Nov. 29. If Saturday is any indication, they should pass it with flying colors.