Observations from SU’s 41-24 loss to Notre Dame: Del Rio-Wilson comes in for Shrader, bad rush defense

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Syracuse played in its first game following a defeat to No. 5 Clemson last week. The Orange blew an 11-point halftime lead against the Tigers and failed to score any points in the second half.

Garrett Shrader was errant on multiple throws and eventually stayed on the sidelines for the entire second half because of an injury. Carlos Del Rio-Wilson came in, providing a brief spark in the third quarter. But the Orange struggled to stop the Irish’s rushing attack, giving up 246 rushing yards and three touchdowns. 

Here are some observations from No. 16 Syracuse’s 41-24 loss to Notre Dame.

Del Rio-Wilson gets playing time in the second half

On Syracuse’s first drive of the second half, Shrader was on the sidelines with his helmet off. The ABC broadcast reportedly said Shrader was hurt, but he was out for the rest of the game, giving Del Rio-Wilson the keys to the offense. 

On his first drive from the Orange’s own 7-yard line, Del Rio-Wilson looked shaky, nearly throwing an interception to the Irish on his first pass attempt. But after the three-and-out, Del Rio-Wilson led SU on two drives that quickly resulted in 10 points.

On the next drive, Del Rio-Wilson sent a dart to the left side for Sean Tucker for a pickup of eight yards. On an eventual 3rd-and-13, he found a hole on the left side and scrambled for a first down. But a holding penalty moved the Orange back to the 50, resulting in an Andre Szmyt 54-yard field goal.

One drive later, Del Rio-Wilson sent a bomb 45 yards in the air, but Umari Hatcher dropped the ball. After an eight-yard run from Tucker, Del Rio-Wilson rolled to his right and completed a pass to Damien Alford on the move. Then, he stood strong in the pocket and fired another dart to D’Marcus Adams, setting the Orange for an eventual touchdown.

Rush defense struggles continue

In the first half, Notre Dame showed a clear preference toward running the ball against Syracuse instead of relying on Drew Pyne’s arm. Pyne threw the ball just eight times in the first half, while the Fighting Irish had 25 rushing attempts, utilizing all three of their running backs on the depth chart (Audric Estime, Logan Diggs and Chris Tyree) for a total of 120 yards.

When Notre Dame’s offense came onto the field for its first drive, it ran the ball on eight of the first nine plays. Estime set up in the fullback position, taking the ball through his offensive line for nine yards on the first two plays. 

On the Fighting Irish’s third drive of the game, Diggs’ handoff up the middle got stuffed, but his offensive line moved the pile forward for a pickup of eight. On the next play, Diggs went up the left side and picked up the first down for 16 yards. 

Notre Dame continued to lean on the run in the second half. On the Irish’s first drive of the half, it was initially an empty backfield for Pyne, but Diggs moved next to the quarterback and picked 14 yards to his left for a first down. Although the offense stalled when Pyne started to throw again, the Irish eventually got a field goal later in the third quarter due to a 20-yard run from Estime. 

Following Del Rio-Wilson’s fourth quarter interception, Estime got another chance to silence the SU crowd. After Tyree made incremental progress and a defensive pass interference penalty was called on the Orange, Estime sprinted up the middle, easily scoring on a 11-yard touchdown run to make the score 31-17.

After SU’s James Williams had his punt blocked, Estime easily scored his second touchdown of the day from two yards out. The running backs were then used to kill the clock on their second-to-last drive of the game, setting up the Irish’s second field goal. 

Shrader’s struggles

Garrett Shrader’s last pass against Clemson was an underthrown ball to Oronde Gadsden II that ended in an interception. Shrader’s first pass against the Fighting Irish? Same thing. But this time, Notre Dame’s Brandon Joseph returned it for a pick six to give the Irish an early lead. 

While Shrader threw a perfect ball on an in route in man coverage to Gadsden earlier, the quarterback struggled throughout the first half. Shrader was forced to scramble and threw multiple low and inaccurate passes. Midway through the second quarter, Shrader stepped up for a throw to Cooper, but the pass was off the mark.

On a scrambling play in the second quarter, Shrader got hit hard and was shaken up after the play. When he tried to return to the huddle, Shrader tripped over center Carlos Vettorello’s foot and laid down on the ground for a few extra seconds. 

Once the second half started, Shrader remained on the bench, finishing the first half with a touchdown, interception and 36% completion rate. 

Punting disaster

Over the season, Max Von Marburg cemented himself as the starting punter over Williams. But the Australian punter struggled against Notre Dame, averaging 38.4 yards per punt, his second-lowest average in a single game. 

Once Del Rio-Wilson’s first drive under center stalled in a three-and-out, Von Marburg came out to punt from the 7-yard line. But the punter shanked the ball down the left sidelines, only going to Syracuse’s 35-yard line. The Fighting Irish then made their only field goal attempt of the day on the ensuing drive. 

In the fourth quarter, the Orange switched from Von Marburg back to Williams. But Williams’ first punt of the day resulted in six points for the Irish. Notre Dame’s backup cornerback Clarence Lewis broke free of the blocking and got a hand on Williams’ punt, setting up the Fighting Irish at the 2-yard line. Estime easily scored on the next play.