Syracuse suffers worst loss since 1800s in lopsided loss to No. 9 Notre Dame: Final score, recap, photos

Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse football team suffered its most lopsided loss since the 1800s on Saturday in a 70-7 loss at No. 9 Notre Dame.

The 63-point margin of victory was the worst for the Orange since a 66-0 loss to Union College in 1893, making it one of the worst in program history.

The Fighting Irish led 21-0 before running an offensive play, setting the tone for a one-sided outcome.

Notre Dame’s Jalen Stroman intercepted Joe Filardi on the second play of the game, running the ball back 44 yards.

Syracuse’s second possession ended with a deflected punt that was returned for a touchdown and its third offensive possession was another Filardi interception that was returned for a score.

Filardi, who came to Syracuse as a lacrosse player and walked on to the football team, was in his second start for the Orange, who have shuffled through three quarterbacks since Steve Angeli tore his Achilles tendon in the fourth week of the season.

Notre Dame’s offense was just as effective. Jeremiyah Love burnished his Heisman Trophy candidacy, rushing eight times for 171 yards and three touchdowns.

The injury was the seventh straight for the Orange, with all of them coming by double-digits.

This one, coming off a week off for the Orange, was the worst of them all and one of the worst in program history.

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Fourth quarter

Score: Notre Dame 70, Syracuse 7

:07: Syracuse scores its first touchdown as Joe Filardi scrambles in from the 8.

:11: Syracuse with a second-and-goal from the 8. Can the Orange score?

2:00: Syracuse has moved to the Notre Dame 18-yard-line. Seems like the Orange will avoid the worst loss in program history. They will try to move a couple more spots up the list.

SCORE: Notre Dame 70, Syracuse 0

6:06: A 25-yard run by Kenny Minchey puts Notre Dame up by 70. The Orange has only lost by more than that once in its football history, a 75-0 loss at Union in 1891.

SCORE: Notre Dame 63, Syracuse 0

13:32: Aneyas Williams breaks a bunch of Syracuse arm tackles and goes 30 yards for a touchdown. That puts this one, for the moment, worse for the Orange than the 62-0 loss to Virginia Tech in 1999.

Third quarter

Third quarter score: Notre Dame 56, Syracuse 0

:00: Notre Dame driving again after a 34-yard keeper by Kenny Minchey. Fighting Irish will open the fourth quarter at the Syracuse 40-yard line.

:55: There’s the interception. Notre Dame’s Ethan Long ends Syracuse’s best scoring chance of the day. That’s three interceptions on the day for Joe Filardi. Notre Dame takes over on its 21-yard-line.

1:43: Syracuse currently enjoying its best drive of the game, moving the ball to the 23-yard line. The Orange picks up a first down on a quarterback sneak by Joe Filardi.

5:32: Not many nice things to say about Syracuse today but Joe Filardi showed good poise on a bad snap, picking up the ball and then getting rid of it for an incompletion. Filardi throws an interception on the next play that was returned for a touchdown but was called back due to roughing the passer. That gets Syracuse over midfield.

The NBC announcers are filling time by discussing going to breakfast at a place called “Peg’s”

8:57: Notre Dame has turned its offense over to its backup quarterback Kenny Minchey. Syracuse forces a punt on Minchey’s first drive and will take over on its 29-yard line, looking to score its first points of the game.

SCORE: Notre Dame 56, Syracuse 0

14:23: It doesn’t take long for Notre Dame to score again as Jeremiyah Love goes 68 yards on the Fighting Irish’s third play of the second half. Love strikes a Heisman pose afterwards, likely ensuring that Syracuse fans will have to endure highlights of this game until award season.

Second quarter

HALFTIME SCORE: Notre Dame 49, Syracuse 0

:04: Tripp Woody hits the post on the field-goal try. Syracuse shut out in the first half. Nothing at all good happening for the Orange.

The 49 points is the most that the Fighting Irish have ever scored in the first half.

At halftime, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman notes: “I don’t know if I’ve ever been part of a game like that”

:07: Syracuse is going to try to get on the board with a 48-yard field goal. Score opportunity set up by a 3rd-and-9 completion from Joe Filardi to Darrell Gill Jr. that covered 14 yards.

2:00: Syracuse maintains possession until the 2-minute warning with the help of a pass interference call which gave the Orange a new set of downs.

They are just over midfield and face a 3rd-and-9. Joe Filardi has completed 9 passes but they’ve covered 35 yards, a testament to how well Notre Dame has tackled and how the Orange offense has been forced to change without Steve Angeli.

What had been an explosive offense is now getting less then 4 yards per completion.

5:08: Syracuse gets it first stop of the game as David Reese sacks CJ Carr. Syracuse might have preferred a little more time come off the clock but the Orange will take over on its 38-yard line after a fair catch by Demetres Samuel Jr.

6:01: Another punt for Syracuse and Jack Stonehouse. This one puts Notre Dame on its 23-yard line. We’ll see if Syracuse can its first defensive stop of the game and, really, its first positive outcome.

SCORE UPDATE: Notre Dame 49, Syracuse 0 with 8:56 remaining second quarter

Notre Dame continues to pour it on with a 14-yard touchdown run by Love off the right tackle.

Love has seven carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns.

Syracuse’s worst loss post-World War II was a 62-0 loss at Virginia Tech in 1999.

If we must go back further, SU lost at Union, 66-0 in 1893. The school’s biggest margin of defeat was a 75-0 loss at Union in 1891, the third year of the program.

Jalen Stroman, who deflected the punt that was returned for a touchdown and returned a Joe Filardi interception for the game’s first score, comes up with a tackle on tight end Dan Villari to turn the Orange over on downs just across midfield.

SCORE: Notre Dame 42, Syracuse 0

14:56: Notre Dame continues its dominance in the second quarter, with CJ Carr throwing a 1-yard touchdown to Will Pauling. The NBC broadcast is talking about the movie Wicked 2 For Good, which I saw last night at Destiny.

First quarter

0:00: One of the greatest programs in college football history takes advantage of Syracuse to score the most points that it has ever scored in the first quarter of a football game. And the Fighting Irish will open the second quarter on the 1-yard-line. Notre Dame leads 35-0 after one. Syracuse has just 16 yards in the first quarter.

3:23: Filardi is back in at quarterback. He’s sacked on the second play of the series and throws an incomplete screen pass on 3rd-and-19. Great field possession for Notre Dame, which will start on the Syracuse 36-yard-line.

SCORE: Notre Dame 35, Syracuse 0

4:01: Steve Angeli’s old roommate, Jadarian Price, goes 58 yards up the middle, scoring on Notre Dame’s third play this drive. Notre Dame sets a new school-record with 35 points in the first quarter. The NBC announcers declare this an “absolute blowout.”

5:18: Syracuse with another three-and-out and another successful punt, which qualifies as a win today. Notre Dame’s offense will take over for the second time today from its own 31. The Fighting Irish already leads 21-0.

Score: Notre Dame 28, Syracuse 0

6:32: Notre Dame’s defense is just as good as its offense, scoring on just its second offensive play. Jeremiyah Love goes 45 yards for a touchdown on his first carry, showing why he’s a Heisman Trophy candidate.

7:08: Syracuse successfully completes a punt. Notre Dame takes over on its 41-yard line following an unnecessary roughness penalty on Syracuse. Just a disastrous effort over the first 7 minutes from the Orange.

9:36: Here comes Luke Carney for Syracuse. This is his fourth appearances of the season. He is supposed to redshirt, which means he won’t play next week against Boston College.

Notre Dame 21, Syracuse 0

9:43: Another interception returned for a touchdown by Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s Leonard Moore jumped in front of Darrell Gill and returned it 41 yards.

This game was expected to be bad for Syracuse and it’s gone even worse than anyone could have imagined.

SCORE: Notre Dame 14, Syracuse 0

12:19: And it gets worse. Jack Stonehouse’s punt was deflected and returned 22 yards for a touchdown by Luke Talich. Jalen Stroman, who returned a touchdown for an interception, got his hand on it.

12:26: Through two drives Syracuse has -2 yards and an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

SCORE: Notre Dame 7, Syracuse 0

14:03: Joe Filardi’s first throw is intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Notre Dame’s Jalen Stroman.

14:53: Notre Dame wins the opening kickoff and defers to the second half. Joe Filardi and the Orange offense take the field first after a nice return by Davion Kerr, out to the 40-yard line.

Pregame

Notre Dame currently celebrating Senior Day in South Bend. The game should be starting shortly.

Syracuse.com’s Javon Edmonds, who is in South Bend, notes that Joe Cruz worked at center with Joe Filardi during warm-ups.

Syracuse coach Fran Brown said this week that he expected Austin Collins back but that’s an indication he might not start.

Syracuse’s offensive line has been middling at best this season, but the Louisville transfer has been one of its better players.

A return wold provide help setting up pre-snap blocking responsibilities for true freshman quarterback Joe Filardi, who is starting the second game of his career.

Filardi went just 4-for-18 in his first start against North Carolina but went 3-for-3 in garbage time two weeks ago at Miami, part of the reason he earned the start against the Fighting Irish.

Unfortunately for Syracuse, that might be offset by the reported absence of running back Yasin Willis. His absence would likely mean more time for freshman Tylik Hill, who has impressed this year in small doses.

The Orange (3-7 1-6 ACC) has lost six straight games, all by double digits.

Notre Dame (8-2) is looking to polish its case for an at-large bid to the College Football Playoff. With games against Syracuse and Stanford remaining, the only thing the Fighting Irish can do to burnish its case is pile up style points.

Running back Jeremiyah Love enters the game fourth in the country with 1,135 yards. He’s a candidate for the Heisman Trophy, providing Notre Dame another reason to try to pile up points.

Syracuse is a 36.5-point underdog which is the biggest spread the Orange has faced since it was a 46.5-point underdog against Clemson in 2020.