Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 DEC. 19, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Observations And Musings from Notre Dame's defeat of Syracuse Notre Dame notched its second undefeated regular season in three years, beating Syracuse 45-21 to go to 10-0. Here are some thoughts and observa- tions from the game. Book-ing Another 'W' • Ian Book became the all-time winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history, notching his 30th victory. He's 30-3 as a starter. And just as in recent weeks, he was as big a reason as any the Irish prevailed. He woke them up from their slumber, shed his own early rust and led three touchdown drives in the final 5:36 of the first half. On those three possessions, he was 8-of-10 passing. • Book also led Notre Dame on a scoring drive right after a 40-yard Sean Tucker touchdown pulled Syracuse within 10 points, 24-14, in the third quarter. He picked himself up after committing consecutive turnovers and executed a 53-yard touchdown march where he scrambled for eight yards on fourth-and- five and then 17 yards for a touchdown. He finished the game 24-of-37 passing for 285 yards with five total touchdowns. Imagine This • Have to imagine this game was the first in Notre Dame Stadium history where the band was a recording of the band, and not the actual one. • Also have to imagine Notre Dame is in the College Football Playoff unless it is swept off the field by Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. Snooze Button • For a quarter, when Notre Dame appeared to be sleeping through its alarm, you couldn't help but think about the "eye test" conversations that were inevi- tably going to come up in the next unveiling of the CFP top 25 rankings. Turnover Topics • Syracuse entered the game having forced a nation-best 22 turnovers, and on that theme, Notre Dame gave the ball away twice. It's hard to give the de- fense much credit for a bad snap exchange that resulted in the first one, but the play that led to Book's third-quarter interception was a great call to cause confusion. Syracuse showed an all-out blitz, but dropped nearly everyone. Safety Ja'Had Carter sprinted backward to create double coverage Book didn't expect, and he picked off a throw intended for senior receiver Avery Davis. • Book's school-record streak of consecutive passes without an interception ended at 266 — 40 more completions than the previous record held by Brady Quinn. Next Man Up, Continued • Notre Dame started senior Josh Lugg at center in place of sophomore Zeke Correll, who was dressed but did not play due to an ankle injury. Senior Dillan Gibbons, who earned his first career start, came in at right guard in Lugg's place as the fill-in for Tommy Kraemer, who was recovering from a late November appendectomy. Head coach Brian Kelly said Kraemer would be used only in an "emergency." But he trotted out on Notre Dame's fourth drive, which Kelly revealed was a result of his desire to play in his final home game. Gibbons went back in for the second half. Running Commentary • The run game woke up after its first six designed carries went for 22 yards and contributed to a pair of Notre Dame punts after its opening-drive field goal. Sophomore running back Kyren Williams eclipsed 1,000 yards for the season on a 14-yard scamper in the second half. • Tucker was the first opposing running back to top 70 yards on Notre Dame's defense since Oct. 26, 2019 at Michigan. His 40-yard run put him over that mark, and he ended the day with 113 yards on 24 carries. Hitting The Trifecta • Fifth-year senior wide receiver Javon McKinley didn't have any touchdowns on his first 34 catches this season. He and Book then connected for three scores in the span of about 15 minutes of game time against the Orange. McKinley made the first happen with yards after the catch. The next two were contested-catch situations where he outmaneuvered a defender for the ball. He ended the game with seven catches for 111 yards, his fourth 100-yard day of the season. Orange Stymied By Penalties • As inspired as Syracuse played, it offered plenty of reminders why it ends this season with a 1-10 record. A roughing-the-passer penalty on a third-down incompletion sparked Notre Dame's first touchdown that erased a 7-3 Orange lead. A kick catch-interference penalty gave the Irish generous field position with 1:38 to go before halftime when they would've started at their own 21, which came right after allowing a strip-sack that set Notre Dame up from 21 yards away. • That wasn't all. Another roughing the passer call in the third quarter led to McKinley's third touchdown. And as the topping, Syracuse didn't properly fair catch a kickoff and lost about 6 yards of field position. Happy Birthday • Freshman running back Chris Tyree capped off Notre Dame's day (and his birthday) with a 94-yard touchdown run, the longest by an Irish freshman since Josh Adams' 98-yarder in 2015. He also finished with 188 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving and returns). Muted Stadium, Fond Farewells • A day of farewells at Notre Dame Stadium that more than the announced attendance of a little more than 6,831 deserved to watch. Public address an- nouncer Mike Collins signed off for the final time, ending his 39-year run with a hearty "Godspeed to you all" through some tears. Earlier, Kelly called a timeout to take Book out of the game to an ovation. Those are moments that are cool even in this context of social distancing, but would've given everyone goosebumps if the place was packed. INITIAL THOUGHTS BY PATRICK ENGEL Notre Dame public address announcer Mike Collins signed off for the final time, ending his 39-year run with a hearty "Godspeed to you all" through some tears. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS