Key Takeaways From The Notre Dame Win Over Syracuse

Notre Dame improved to 5-3 with an impressive and convincing win over 16th-ranked Syracuse (6-2). The Notre Dame offense is still a ways away from being the unit it should and can be, but it certainly took a big step in the win over the Orange.

We learned plenty about what this unit is, and what it still can be during the week.

Ground Game Is Very Hard To Stop - You know you're good at something, and more talented than your opponent, when they know what you're doing, how you're going to do it and they still can't stop you. That was the case with Notre Dame's run game against Syracuse.

Notre Dame racking up 246 yards on the ground isn't an earth shattering number, especially when you consider the last time Harry Heistand coached the offensive line at Notre Dame it had seven games with over 300 yards that season (2017). But when you look at the way the line played, the quality of the competition (Syracuse ranked 38th in rushing defense coming into the game), and the fact Notre Dame struggled so much throwing the football the performance becomes far more impressive.

Simply put, Notre Dame's run game was not overly creative, it was almost exclusively tight down hill runs, and for much of the second half it was done out of very reduced alignments that allowed Syracuse to get even more numbers into the box. Syracuse knew what was coming and there was nothing they could do to stop the Irish ground attack.

Notre Dame's offensive linemen did a great job working cohesively, showing great timing on combo blocks and working to the second level, and they did so while getting a very strong push at the point of attack. The tight ends had arguably their best blocking game of the season, and that is especially true for Michael Mayer. Running backs Logan Diggs, Audric Estime and Chris Tyree then took advantage of the strong blocking with excellent play of their own.

Put it all together and Notre Dame dominated the trenches of this football game from start to finish against a very quality Syracuse football team. This is why I named the entire offensive line as my player(s) of the game from the win over Syracuse.

This marked the fourth time in five games that Notre Dame topped 200 yards rushing in a game. Through eight games the Irish have already racked up more games with 200+ rushing yards in 2022 than it did in 2021.

Receiver Rotation Is Getting Closer - There is still work to do, but against Syracuse we saw the wide receiver rotation start to round into the form it should have been all season.

Freshman Tobias Merriweather and Deion Colzie both saw legitimate snaps against the Orange, marking the first time all season they were both key figures in the rotation, and both got targets in the game. There weren't enough targets, but it was certainly a step in the right direction.

Colzie set career best marks with three catches for 44 yards. Merriweather didn't make a catch but he got open multiple times and was a great play by a Syracuse defensive back away from making a huge play down the field.

We also saw Lorenzo Styles start to get used in the screen game, and Jayden Thomas is being put into more of a complementary role in the pass game, which is where he is at his best, and most dangerous.

All we were missing was more of Braden Lenzy, and him being used on routes where his speed can translate and be dangerous. If we can see the Irish receiving corps be used in similar fashion, with a healthy dose of Lenzy and less of Matt Salerno being a primary third-down player like he was against Syracuse, the receiving corps will be in position to play to its full potential.

That will be needed if the Irish are going to upset Clemson and USC in the final month of the season.

Red Zone Bounce Back - Red zone has been a major issue for Notre Dame for much of the season, and the Irish came into this matchup ranked 82nd in red zone offense and 54th in red zone touchdown offense.

Notre Dame scored on all six of its red zone opportunities against Syracuse, and four of those six possessions were touchdowns. The performance could and should have been better, and first red zone trip in the third quarter was poorly called and executed, but overall the Irish offense stepped up in the red zone against Syracuse.

This is especially impressive when you take into account the context of Syracuse's red zone success coming into the matchup. Syracuse ranked 17th in red zone defense and 21st in red zone touchdown defense coming into the game. Notre Dame's six red zone trips and four red zone touchdowns were the most that Syracuse allowed all season.

A key ingredient was Notre Dame focusing more on the run game against Syracuse, and the effectiveness of the offensive line at getting a push against loaded boxes. I also loved the play call on the final touchdown of the first half. Notre Dame went with its heavy personnel grouping, had Jayden Thomas lined up tight end ran a play-action pass to get Thomas free in the corner for a touchdown.

Still Too Many Missed Opportunities - Notre Dame still left way too many points on the board and had too many missed opportunities. It is certainly one area that must continue to get cleaned up.

On Notre Dame's fist drive, quarterback Drew Pyne missed an open Michael Mayer on a third-down that would have moved the chains and gotten the Irish into the red zone. Instead, Notre Dame had to settle for a field goal, which was missed.

On the next drive, a false start negated a play that could have ended up as a touchdown pass to Tobias Merriweather. The freshman wideout was running an inside post and it was clear the Pyne was looking at him at the snap. Merriweather had a one-on-one with no safety help and prior to the players slowing down when they heard the whistle it looked as though Merriweather was about to blow past the Syracuse defense for what would have been a big touchdown pass.

Instead, the false start turned a 3rd-and-6 into a 3rd-and-11. On the next play, Thomas got open on an in cut for what would have been a first down inside the Syracuse 35-yard line.

There were two screen plays that could have resulted in huge plays if completed, but the throws were off target. The third quarter screen to Lorenzo Styles that was thrown at his feet came on a snap in Syracuse territory, and he had a lot of room to work. Instead of getting a first down deep into Syracuse territory with a chance to put the game away early in the third, the Irish were forced to punt.

The only turnover in the game came in Syracuse territory.

In reality, if Notre Dame played a cleaner game, and I mean cleaning up simple things like no false starts, making the simple throws, the final score would have been far more convincing, and the Irish likely would have scored over 50 points in the game.

More Perimeter Answers Are Needed - If you look at what worked against Syracuse, the Irish were able to run a lot of 12 and 13 personnel, play with tight formations without spreading the field effectively, and still win the game.

My concern, however, is that Notre Dame might take the wrong lessons from this win. Yes, it worked against Syracuse, partly because the line and backs and tight ends plays so incredibly well. It also worked in part because of the unique nature of the matchup against Syracuse. As IB discussed during the week, Syracuse was very athletic but also undersized on defense, and Notre Dame took advantage.

That won't be true against Clemson and USC, and likely won't be the case against whoever they play in a bowl game. Notre Dame can't just take this game and say, "Hey, this is perfect, let's keep doing this."

Notre Dame will need to still learn how to effectively spread the field and run the ball effectively as well. That means figuring out ways to be better running out of 11 personnel. They still need to add RPOs to the repertoire, and being more effective attacking the perimeter with run concepts and the passing game is a must if the Irish want to take this thing to the next level, which would be needed to run the table in 2022.

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