Strong Second Half Sends Notre Dame Past Syracuse

Saturday, October 1

East Rutherford, NJ

12 pm

Syracuse University

2-3

Notre Dame

2-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Notre Dame

Syracuse

Strong Second Half Sends Notre Dame Past Syracuse

10/1/2016 3:46:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Eric Dungey accounts for all five Orange touchdowns

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Behind a strong second-half effort, Notre Dame (2-3) handed the Syracuse football team (2-3) a 50-33 defeat on Saturday, Oct. 1 in the 2016 New York's College Classic at MetLife Stadium. Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey was responsible for all five Orange touchdowns, throwing for two and rushing for a career-high three scores.

Syracuse was within six points of Irish at halftime, but was outscored 17-6 in the final 30 minutes. Notre Dame junior quarterback DeShone Kizer led the way for Fighting Irish, passing 471 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a score.

Dungey equaled Ryan Nassib's Orange record by throwing for 300 yards for the third consecutive contest. Dungey was 31-for-51 passing for 363 yards, the fourth time in five games he eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark. His five total touchdowns against the Irish were one shy of the team single-game record (6) set by Jim Brown against Colgate in 1956.

Redshirt senior Amba Etta-Tawo continued his torrid start to the season, catching seven passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. The Powder Springs, Ga. native became the first player in school history with five consecutive 100-yard receiving games.

The two teams lit up the MetLife scoreboard at the outset, combining for 36 points in the game's first five minutes with Notre Dame opening up a 23-13 advantage. Kizer connected on a 79-yard touchdown to Equanimeous St. Brown on the first play from scrimmage. Kizer and Brown hooked up again on Notre Dame's second series, this time for a 67-yard score. The Irish also returned a blocked PAT for two points and got a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from C.J. Sanders in the early going.

Not to be outdone Dungey, capped Syracuse's first offensive series with a 3-yard touchdown run and threw a 72-yard pass to Etta-Tawo on the Orange's next possession.

In the second quarter, a 1-yard Dungey touchdown plunge and Cole Murphy's point after closed the gap to 23-20 at the 13:22 mark. Notre Dame answered with a 3-yard touchdown run by Kizer and a 31-yard field goal by Justin Yoon to push the lead to 33-20.

The offensive back-and-forth continued as the Orange stole the momentum back late in the half. A 74-yard punt return by Brisly Estime set up a Dungey-to-Ervin Philips 14-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left. On the next play, junior linebacker Zaire Franklin intercepted a Kizer pass and returned the ball to the Notre Dame 34-yard line. Syracuse picked up 11 yards on a sideline pass from Dungey to Etta-Tawo, but Murphy's 40-yard try at the gun went wide left and the score remained 33-27.

The Orange wasn't able to muster the same offensive success in the second half. SU punted on its first four possessions of the third quarter and turned the ball over on downs on its fifth series. Meanwhile, the Irish took advantage, scoring 20 straight points. Kizer tossed a 54-yard scoring pass to Kevin Stepherson, Dexter Williams found the end zone on a 59-yard run and Yoon tacked on a 39-yard field goal to make the score 50-27 with 11:14 left in regulation.

Dungey's third rushing touchdown of the day, this one from five yards with 6:52 remaining, closed the scoring.

Linebacker Parris Bennett led the Orange defense. He notched double-digit tackles for the second game in a row, finishing with a career-best 17 stops against the Irish. Franklin and safety Rodney Williams had nine tackles each. Franklin added a sack to go along with his first interception of the season.

Estime was explosive in the return game, bringing back three punts for 128 yards. His 128 punt return yards ranks fourth in Syracuse single-game history and his 42.7 average yards per return is second behind Greg Allen's school standard of 43.0 (4/172) established in 1969 against Penn State.

St. Brown finished with four receptions for 182 yards and two scores. Josh Adams led the Irish rushing attack with 102 yards on 20 carries. Drue Tranquill made a a team-high 13 tackles on defense.

Syracuse is back in action on Saturday, Oct. 8 to take on Wake Forest in its first ACC road tilt of 2016. Start time is 7 p.m. at BB&T Field. The game will air live on RSN.

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