The Notre Dame defense added another elite performance to their resume after they shut down the Syracuse offense for their first 12 offensive possessions of the game. From the jump, the Irish defense overwhelmed the Orange offense and put two defensive scores on the board before the offense even touched the field. Syracuse was held scoreless for the first three quarters of play and didn't make it into the red zone until their final drive of the game.
When the clock hit double zeros, Notre Dame had held Syracuse to 207 total yards of offense, 75 of that came on the final drive, 95 passing yards, 112 rushing yards and 2.6 yards per play. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash has this unit playing at an extremely high level; Notre Dame's defense is a top five defense in the country and they're not fifth. Here are some of my key takeaways from their dominant performance in their 70-7 win over Syracuse.
Countless Negative Plays
In addition to their record-setting points performance, the defense set a record of their own. They set a new school record for tackles for a loss (15.0) in a game. The Notre Dame defense also recorded five sacks and three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Freshman Ethan Long had a third pick six on the afternoon but it was called back due to a questionable roughing the passer penalty. This defense flat out overwhelmed Syracuse from start to finish and held them to 132 total yards of offense until their final drive of the game.
Welcome To The Show Jalen Stroman
Safety Jalen Stroman transferred to South Bend from Virginia Tech to play his final year of eligibility. Stroman started for the Hokies in 2023 and was expected to break out in 2024 but an unfortunate injury sustained in week one sidelined him for the season. He started for the Irish in the first game of the season against Miami, but some injuries and inconsistent play led to the insertion of redshirt freshman Tae Johnson into the starting lineup. Let's fast forward to Thursday of this past week. Johnson was ruled out for the game with a hand injury paving the way for Stroman's first start since Texas A&M back in September.
In this day and age of college football, veteran transfers who get passed up for a younger player typically don't stay bought into the team, but that's not the case for Stroman. He's bought into the bigger picture and it really showed yesterday afternoon. Stroman finished his Senior Day in South Bend as the team's leading tackler, recorded two tackles for a loss, ran back an interception for a touchdown on the second play of the game and blocked a punt on the next drive which led to a Notre Dame touchdown. This was an all-time performance from Stroman on Senior Day.
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