Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov 4, 2022

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 5, 2022 25 NOTRE DAME'S SECOND INTERCEPTION PROVES COSTLY FOR SYRACUSE Notre Dame needed a change in for- tunes in the worst way. Syracuse had the ball and all the mo- mentum. Once trailing 24-7, the Orange stormed back to get within a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter. The Irish offense, meanwhile, was reeling having not picked up a first down since there were more than 9 minutes re- maining in the third quarter. Syracuse had a new quarterback in the game. Syracuse had new life. Until it didn't. Backup Carlos Del Rio-Wilson backed into a clean pocket from the Syracuse 40-yard line. He set and fired rather quickly, looking for a receiver running a post over the bottom of the big, orange "S" at midfield of the JMA Dome. He must not have thought Notre Dame senior defensive tackle Howard Cross III — all 6-foot of him — could get his hand up and tip his bullet of a pass. If that was the case, he thought wrong. Cross batted Del Rio-Wilson's pass up into the air. Notre Dame senior line- backer Marist Liufau appeared to have been spying the quarterback. His eyes got wide like a young trick-or-treater's watching an entire Hersey's chocolate bar getting tossed into his bucket to- ward the end of a successful Halloween night when the QB was no longer his assignment. It was the ball. And the ball would soon be his. Liufau tracked the fluttering pigskin and corralled it into his sprawling, out- stretched arms for a game-changing interception. "At that point in the game, for us to get the momentum back and for him to get that pick and give the ball back to the offense, it was huge," Notre Dame senior safety Brandon Joseph said. "The turning point of that game." Notre Dame sustained a 7-play, 54- yard touchdown drive immediately af- ter the turnover. Sophomore running back Audric Estime got into the end zone from 11 yards out. The Irish went three-and-out on their previous two possessions. The Cross-Liufau combo pick served as a shot in the arm for a Notre Dame offense that badly needed one. The Irish struggled to play complementary football in the first seven games of the season. Defensive coordinator Al Gold- en's defense only forced 3 turnovers in those contests. Against Syracuse, it came away with 2. And both led to seven points on the board for the Irish. That's one unit setting the other up for success. "It's a big confidence booster for our defense," said Joseph, who started the game with an interception return for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. "It's something we've ex- pected since game one of the season — to get turnovers. For them to start falling now with the games we have up next, it's a great confidence booster for our defense. "We're a defense that puts an em- phasis on turnovers, and that's what we expect. For it to happen today, we are really satisfied." The second interception vs. Syracuse showed what taking the ball away from the opposition can do for Notre Dame's prospects of beating the opponents Jo- seph alluded to; mainly No. 5 Clemson in South Bend Nov. 5 and No. 10 USC in Los Angeles Nov. 26. And the first did the same, for that matter. When Syracuse had everything go- ing in its favor prior to the Liufau in- terception, the game would have been tied at 17-17 without the Joseph pick- six. And who knows if Cross and Liu- fau work their magic in that tight of a situation. Notre Dame won the turnover battle for the first time in eight games in 2022 vs. the Orange. Subsequently, the Irish won by 17 on the road against a ranked foe against which it was a 2.5-point un- derdog. That's not a coincidence. Takeaways matter. AUDRIC ESTIME'S BOUNCE BACK PART OF GROUND-HEAVY APPROACH Notre Dame running back Audric Estime strolled into the visitors' inter- view room at the JMA Wireless Dome Saturday afternoon, radiating the joy and enthusiasm he usually brings in unmatched quantities to media obli- gations, other football activities and, presumably, beyond. "How are you guys doing?" Estime said to the gathering of 10 or so report- ers there. Nobody needed to ask him the same thing back. Not only because his mood was already evident, but because of how it contrasted to one week earlier. SYRACUSE GAME NOTES BY TYLER HORKA AND PATRICK ENGEL Senior linebacker Marist Liufau's first interception of his career ended Syracuse's attempt at a game- tying drive in the fourth quarter and set up the Irish for an important insurance touchdown. PHOTO BY JOSHUA BESSEX

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