Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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run after the catch in traffic," Kelly said. "That says a lot about his development as a complete wide receiver. Tonight was a big night for him." The healing of Robinson's hand no doubt helped his performance. During the week prior to the game, he said that X-rays had shown his right thumb bone was continuing to heal well, and doctors expected to remove the brace within a week or two. THE TURNOVER TURNSTILE In the season's first three games, Notre Dame turned the ball over once — a Ben Koyack fumble against Pur- due. Thus, the Irish defense had not gotten into the habit of hopping onto the field at a moment's notice. With five such opportunities versus Syra- cuse, the defenders had plenty of sud- den change chances. "That's definitely a big thing that we look forward to," junior defen- sive lineman and team captain Shel- don Day said. "We put situations in at practice like that. It's a game changer, and we take pride in it, just knowing we can take the air out of a team that just got some excitement." The Notre Dame defense held the Orange to six points off turnovers (not counting the interception return for a touchdown), though that stat is admit- tedly skewed by where the offense frequently turned over the ball. On those four drives, Syracuse began with an average field position of its own 33-yard line. "Not that it's a good thing, but we turned the ball over three times at the [Syracuse] 20-yard line," Kelly said. "We never put them on a short field … I'd say we were driving the foot- ball and shooting ourselves in the foot more so than it was cataclysmic kind of mistakes where we put them in plus field position situations." Those extended drives that ended with turnovers — a seven-play, 66-yarder; an 11-play, 54-yarder; and an eight-play, 51-yarder — also al- lowed the defense some time to rest. "I have no idea how many times they turned the ball over," senior line- backer Joe Schmidt said. "It doesn't matter to me. … There are a lot of times I just want to get out there and play. "They were on long drives a lot of times, and I was just like, 'Hey, let's go play.' Whatever happens on offense, I Sophomore wide receiver Corey Robinson notched career highs with eight receptions and 91 receiv- ing yards against the Orange. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA