Syracuse Orange at Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Jeremiyah Love scores 3 TDs as No. 9 Notre Dame overwhelms injury-ravaged Syracuse 70-7

Love's touchdown runs covered 45, 14 and 68 yards.

Notre Dame (9-2) set a modern-era scoring record, topping its 69-point outing against Georgia Tech on Nov. 5, 1977. The Fighting Irish had not scored 70 points since they had 73 against Haskell in 1932.

Syracuse allowed 70 points for the first time since it gave up 75 to Union in 1891.

Notre Dame scored 21 points before its offense even took the field on Saturday — returning two interceptions and a blocked punt for touchdowns — en route to its ninth straight win after an 0-2 start. Syracuse (3-8) has lost seven straight.

“Obviously, unique game,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a game like that, 21 points on the board and the offense hasn’t been on the field.”

The Fighting Irish also set a school record for first-quarter points with 35. The previous record was 28, which happened four times, most recently in 2017 against Miami (Ohio).

It could have been more: The quarter ended with the Fighting Irish on the Syracuse 1.

Notre Dame's 49-0 halftime lead was also a school record. Its previous high for points in a half was 45 in that 1977 blowout of Georgia Tech.

Love, who struck a Heisman pose after this third touchdown, credited his teammates for his performance. He has 20 TDs, tying the Notre Dame record set by Jerome Bettis in 1991.

“It’s a great honor to be up there with some Notre Dame legends,” Love said. “I wouldn't be able to reach that goal without (the) offensive line, without defense getting the ball back, without receivers making great blocks, without C.J. (Carr) opening up the running game. It’s a group effort.”

Jalen Stroman, starting in place of injured defensive back Tae Johnson, returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown on Syracuse’s second play. Four plays later, Stroman blocked a punt that Luke Talich caught and returned 22 yards to the end zone.

Leonard Moore had Notre Dame’s third pick-6 in its last two games, intercepting a pass by Joe Filardi and racing 46 yards to the end zone.

When Notre Dame’s offense finally took field at the 7:08 mark of the first quarter, the Fighting Irish showed their explosiveness, with Love's 45-yard TD run on their second offensive play and a 58-yard TD run by Jadarian Price on their fifth play.

“That’s part of the game for us right now,” Syracuse coach Fran Brown said of Notre Dame's fast start. “That’s where we are in our building of our program.”

Syracuse is 0-7 since quarterback Steve Angeli suffered a season-ending injury after leading the Orange to a 34-21 victory over Clemson. The Orange were also without running back Yasin Willis.

Carr, Notre Dame's starting QB, played sparingly, completing 5 of 9 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown.

Filardi, a walk-on freshman, threw for 83 yards with three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. After his second pick-6, he was pulled briefly for Luke Carney. Filardi returned and later ran for a 6-yard touchdown with 7 seconds left in the game.

Love's finale? Notre Dame's senior day may also have been the home finale for Love, a junior who is likely to enter the NFL draft.

“That’s an unknown matter,” Love said. “I made sure to take it all in and look at the guys I was able to play with during my time here. I got a walk down the sideline, see the defense and get all the views I could. Hopefully, we get another game.”

Touchdown drought Filardi's late TD allowed Syracuse to avoid its first shutout since a 41-0 defeat by South Florida in the 2023 Boca Raton Bowl. The Orange have scored two offensive touchdowns in their last three games, both in the closing seconds of blowout losses.

The takeaway Syracuse is in build-for-the-future mode amid a lost season.

Notre Dame looked like a solid College Football Playoff contender, and with some help, the Fighting Irish could host a first-round game.

Up next Syracuse hosts Boston College next Saturday.

Notre Dame plays at Stanford next Saturday.