No. 16 Syracuse’s rush defense allows 246 yards in 41-24 loss to Notre Dame

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Carlos Del Rio-Wilson had his first pass attempt of the fourth quarter tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Notre Dame’s Marist Liufau. Del Rio-Wilson had already picked up a first down using his legs and got the Orange to within one possession in the third quarter. But now, the Fighting Irish had the chance to put the game out of reach. 

On the next drive, with 12:54 left in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame first leaned on running back Chris Tyree to create incremental progress, picking up 17 yards on five consecutive rushes to begin the drive. But after the Orange were called for pass interference, the Irish set up at the 11-yard line and turned to their 227-pound back, Audric Estime. 

Estime got the handoff from the right hash, found the hole on the right side and cut back to the left to score his first touchdown of the game.

Estime’s score was part of what Notre Dame (5-3) did to No. 16 Syracuse (6-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) all afternoon. The Fighting Irish utilized all three of its top running backs on the depth chart (Estime, Logan Diggs and Tyree) for a total of 246 rushing yards on 56 attempts. 

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said the run-heavy Irish were basically playing an “Army, Navy and Air Force” brand of football. This came after the Orange allowed 293 yards on the ground to No. 5 Clemson the week before after not allowing any opponent to rush over 150 yards in their first six games.

“That’s exactly the style they should have played,” Babers said. “They’ve got seven offensive linemen, they’ve got four tight ends. They just turned around and kept handing the ball off to those three different backs.”

Heading into Death Valley last week, SU had allowed the second-fewest rushing yards in the ACC. But the Tigers utilized a dual-back system of Will Shipley and Phil Mafah, getting to the edge constantly. Shipley gave Clemson a late lead in the fourth quarter on a 50-yard touchdown, finding a hole on the right side and beating Justin Barron’s last gasp effort. The Tigers’ 60 run attempts were the most they had all season. 

In the first half against the Orange, Notre Dame immediately showed a clear preference toward rushing instead of relying on backup quarterback Drew Pyne’s arm. On its first drive, ND 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. 

The Fighting Irish also implemented motions, moving backup tight end Mitchell Evans to take the snap on third-and-short situations. They used this same play on a 4th-and-1 in the third quarter as well.

Syracuse defenders Mikel Jones and Kevon Darton both said the Orange wanted to play physically against a Notre Dame offensive line who all weighed over 300 lbs and three tight ends who were all taller than 6-foot-3.

On Notre Dame’s third drive of the game, Diggs’ handoff up the middle got stuffed, but his offensive line moved the pile forward for a pick up of eight yards. On the next play, Diggs went up the left side and picked up the first down for 16 yards. Once the Irish got to the redzone, Estime came in to pick up short gains and set them up with a first-and-goal. Diggs scored from three yards away after some contact. 

“We got to make plays, we got to wrap up,” Darton said. “I gotta be able to bring guys down and not let them push the ball up the field after contact.” 

Through two quarters, Pyne threw the ball 14 times, while the Fighting Irish had 25 rushing attempts. Notre Dame’s 120 rushing yards was the most Syracuse had given up in a first half since it had allowed 129 against Louisville on Nov. 13, 2021. 

Babers said the Orange “ran out of players,” referring to some of the injuries the team has suffered throughout the year. Babers said they couldn’t stop the run unless they matched scores with them on offense or got out in front of them where they can’t play that style. But along with Terry Lockett and Stefon Thompson being out for the season, cornerback Garrett Williams was seen on crutches and heading into the locker room in the first half. Babers did not have any update on Williams’ injury or status. 

Notre Dame continued to lean on the run in the second half. On the first play of 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 because of a 14-yard run from Estime. 

After SU’s James Williams had his punt blocked in the fourth quarter, Estime easily scored his second touchdown of the day from two yards out. All three backs were then used to kill the clock on their second-to-last drive of the game, eliminating nearly four minutes of game time and setting up the Irish’s second field goal of the game. 

“If it’s one back doing the whole thing, then that running back gets to get tired as everybody else,” Babers said. “They were rotating three cats. They’re only doing 1/3 of the work. You got a fresh guy coming at you every single time…That’s difficult.”