Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 NOV. 29, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED It was the fifth time in six games Ash's defense held an opponent to less than 300 total yards. And the 2.9 yards per play Syracuse labored for is the new defensive standard, resetting what had been a season-best 3.4 against Pitt Nov. 15 — a Panther offense that hung 42 points on 16th-ranked Georgia Tech on the road Nov. 22. The Notre Dame defense scored two of the first three touchdowns — pick sixes by fill-in starting safety Jalen Stroman and Nagurski Award finalist Leonard Moore — in the highest-scor- ing first quarter in Notre Dame history. "Now, it still was a process to do the work, and we still have work to do," Freeman said of the sustained improve- ment since mid-September. "You think about what they did this week. Not only are you keeping teams out of the end zone, but you're scoring points now on defense. I mean, they've been as consistent and really playing as well as I've seen. "Now, the thing I think is really great is they're stopping the run. They're stopping the run, which is forcing teams to throw the ball, and we're doing some good things in coverage, too. But they're playing as good as I've been around." — Eric Hansen JALEN STROMAN STEPS UP ON SENIOR DAY Redshirt senior safety Jalen Stroman had to wait for an opportunity to re- turn to Notre Dame's starting lineup. The Irish benched Stroman, a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech this past offseason, after starting in the first three games of the season when the de- fense repeatedly struggled. But a midweek hand injury to redshirt freshman Tae Johnson, who replaced Stroman in the starting defense, opened the door for Stroman to start against Syracuse. He didn't wait long to take advantage of his opportunity in the 70-7 victory on Senior Day. Stroman intercepted a pass on Syra- cuse's second play of the game and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. Then he deflected a punt at the end of Syracuse's second drive that fellow safety Luke Talich returned 22 yards for a touchdown. "I had to take advantage of that op- portunity today," Stroman said. The final two seasons of Stroman's college football career have been redi- rected by setbacks. A broken collarbone in last year's season opener wiped out his final season at Virginia Tech. Then a benching at Notre Dame this season SYRACUSE INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Filardi 14 56 23 33 2.4 1 11 Nixon 14 37 4 33 2.4 0 9 Hill 6 25 0 25 4.2 0 12 Coleman 5 17 0 17 3.4 0 8 Hart 3 2 0 2 0.7 0 1 Kerr 4 3 2 1 0.2 0 2 Villari 1 1 0 1 1.0 0 1 Carney 3 6 6 0 0.0 0 6 Total 50 147 35 112 2.2 1 12 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Filardi 14 26 53.8 3 83 0 16 Carney 3 4 75.0 0 12 0 8 Total 17 30 56.7 3 95 0 16 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Villari 5 30 0 14 Gill 3 29 0 14 Williams 2 20 0 16 Johnson 2 8 0 9 Nixon 2 1 0 4 Hill 1 4 0 4 Cook II 1 3 0 3 Hart 1 0 0 0 Total 17 95 0 16 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long None Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Kerr 4 79 0 37 Total 4 79 0 37 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Stonehouse 6 40.0 54 0 1 0 2 0 Total 6 40.0 54 0 1 0 2 0 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Woody 0 1 0 0 Total 0 1 0 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Peal 3 1 4 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 Buxton 3 0 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Omopariola 3 0 3 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 Rooks 1 2 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Reese 2 0 2 1-10 1-10 1 0 0 Bryant 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Deslauriers 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Fuentes-Cundiff 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Haile 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Kerr 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Mack 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Moultrie-Goddard 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ogbebor 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Singleton 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Gillians 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Jobity 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Perry 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Sparrow 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Tremble 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long None NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Love 8 171 0 171 21.4 3 68 Price 4 71 1 70 17.5 1 58 Minchey 2 59 0 59 29.5 1 34 Williams 3 39 0 39 13.0 1 30 James 4 4 2 2 0.5 0 3 TEAM 2 0 2 -2 -1.0 0 0 Carr 1 0 10 -10 -10.0 0 0 Total 24 344 15 329 13.7 6 68 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Carr 5 9 55.6 0 49 1 14 Minchey 4 6 66.7 0 18 0 6 Total 9 15 60.0 0 67 1 14 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Faison 2 21 0 14 Scheidler 2 12 0 6 Gilbert 2 10 0 10 Fields 1 12 0 12 Pauling 1 6 1 6 Williams 1 6 0 6 Total 9 67 1 14 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Talich 1 22 1 22 Faison 2 20 0 15 Total 3 42 1 22 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Dunn 1 5 0 5 Total 1 5 0 5 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Rendell 2 49.5 50 0 0 1 1 0 Total 2 49.5 50 0 0 1 1 0 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. None Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Stroman 8 0 8 2-2 0-0 0 0 0 Onye 4 3 7 0.5-3 0.5-3 0 0 0 Traore 5 0 5 3-5 1-1 0 0 0 Faraimo 4 1 5 2-5 1-4 0 0 0 Ka. Kia 3 2 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Tuihalamaka 4 0 4 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 Dawson 2 2 4 1-4 0.5-4 0 0 0 Bowen 3 0 3 1-9 1-9 0 0 0 Smith 3 0 3 1-3 0-0 1 0 0 Long 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Young 1 2 3 0.5-1 0.5-1 0 0 0 Ausberry 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Burgess Jr. 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hughes 1 1 2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 Viliamu-Asa 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bennie-Powell 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ko. Kia 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Minich 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Moore 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Onyiuke 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Rezac 1 0 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 Shuler 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Sneed 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Sulfsted 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Talich 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Thomas 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Blair 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Burnham 0 1 1 0.5-1 0-0 0 0 0 Hinish 0 1 1 0.5-2 0.5-2 0 0 0 Mukam 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long Moore 1 46 1 46 Stroman 1 44 1 44 Long 1 9 0 9 Total 3 99 2 46