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  Article by Dan Tortora

  The Syracuse Orange, returning home following their first loss of the season, entered into the second-consecutive sold-out Dome crowd this season after 49,705 tickets were sold for the N.C. State Wolfpack at Syracuse Orange contest.

  This time, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were the visitors in Central New York, the first visit by Notre Dame to Syracuse, New York, since 2003, with the teams facing off in South Bend, Giants Stadium, and Yankee Stadium in all of their match-ups in between.

  That last outing to Syracuse, New York, did not end well for Notre Dame, with Syracuse winning 38-12 just shy of two decades ago.

  Notre Dame won the toss and deferred to Syracuse, but it would feel like the Fighting Irish got the ball first when they were the ones to score seven seconds into the game when senior safety Brandon Joseph intercepted Orange quarterback Garrett Shrader and returned the ball 29 yards to the house for a 7-0 lead at the 14:53 mark of the first quarter.

  Shrader would find his own end zone, though, on the very next Syracuse drive, with a 13-yard connection with sophomore tight end Oronde Gadsden II, tying the game at 7-7 with 11:11 on the first-quarter clock. This score would become Gadsden's sixth of the season.

  On their first official offensive drive of the game, the Fighting Irish missed on a 39-yard field-goal try by graduate kicker Blake Grupe, keeping the score tied at 7-apiece, giving the ball over on downs to the Orange on the Irish 21-yard line with 5:32 left on the fisrt-quarter clock.

  Syracuse would not capitalize on this opportunity, however, punting the ball away on a three-and-out drive.

  On their second drive of the match-up, Notre Dame would get called for a false-start, moving then to 3rd-&-11. The pass from junior quarterback Drew Pyne was reviewed and ruled incomplete, leading to the Fighting Irish punting for the first time in the game,

  Syracuse would punt for the second-straight drive, after taking their fourth possession of the match-up into the top of the second quarter.

  Notre Dame would get great field position at just shy of mid-field and would score their second touchdown off of a three-yard carry by sophomore running back Logan Diggs after wearing down the Syracuse defense all the way into their own end zone, giving the lead back to Notre Dame, 14-7. At this time in the game, the 8:23 mark of the second quarter, the Fighting Irish had over 100 yards rushing (103), with Diggs and fellow sophomore running back Audric Estime each having 47 yards and Pyne having nine.

  The Orange would punt for the third-consecutive drive after another quick three-and-out.

  Notre Dame would punt the ball right back on their own three-and-out, their second punt of the day. Sophomore wide receiver Trebor Pena would fumble the punt return, have his head held down, and somehow reach out and grab the ball from two Notre Dame players to keep the possession for Syracuse.

  With the offense continuing to sleep walk through the first half, the Orange punted for the fourth-straight time.

  Sophomore safety Ja'Had Carter would cause the first turnover of the game for the Fighting Irish, intercepting Pyne just outside the Orange redzone at the 24-yard line, returning the ball 34 yards to the Fighting Irish 42.

  Syracuse would go for it on 4th-&-7 from the Notre Dame 39 and would turn the ball over on downs when a pass from Shrader to redshirt-senior wide receiver Devaughn Cooper fell incomplete.

  Notre Dame would gain possession at their own 39-yard line with 1:18 and achieve three first downs en route to their third score of the game, a three-yard pass from Pyne to sophomore wide receiver Jayde Thomas with 17 seconds remaining, sending the Fighting Irish into the half with a two-score advantage, 21-7.

  Transfer quarterback from the Florida Gators, redshirt-freshman Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, came in for Syracuse to start the second half. He had two passes fall incomplete and the Orange would punt from well inside their own redzone on a three-and-out.

  After punting away their first drive of the second half, Notre Dame would have a short field following a 28-yard punt by Max von Marburg that placed the Fighting Irish on the Orange 35. Syracuse's defense would prevent a touchdown, but Grupe would connect from 31 yards out to extend their lead to 17, 24-7, with 7:41 left in the third quarter.

  Redshirt-senior Andre Szmyt would connect on a 54-yarder on the second possession of the third quarter for the Orange, giving Syracuse their first points since the 11:11 mark of the first quarter, ending a scoring drought of 36 minutes and 13 seconds, bringing the score to 24-10 Notre Dame at the 4:57 mark.

  The Orange would start their next drive from their own 33-yard line after forcing a punt.

  They would go 67 yards on six plays on this drive, with Del Rio-Wilson going 2-for-3, the lone incomplete pass coming from a beautiful ball deep downfield that went off the fingertips of redshirt-freshman wide receiver Umari Hatcher. Sophomore running back Sean Tucker ran the ball three times, with the third being his first score of the game, four yards to the outside left, shortening the gap to seven, 24-17 Notre Dame, with 25 seconds on the third-quarter clock.

  The Orange defense would force a three-and-out early in the fourth quarter, gaining the ball back at their own  25 with 13:57 remaining.

  But Del Rio-Wilson would have his pass tipped after seven- and eight-yard gains on the ground, with the ball being intercepted by senior linebacker Marist Liufau, starting the Fighting Irish on their own 46.

  Notre Dame would capitalize on the Syracuse turnover, getting into the end zone once again, with Estime bursting through untouched for an 11-yard score to make it 31-17 with 9:11 to go in the game. Junior running back Chris Tyree would continue the three-headed rushing onslaught by the Fighting Irish on the Orange, carrying the ball five-straight times to start this drive, which had six rushes and one pass, a completion by Pyne, to go with a 15-yard pass interference call that moved Notre Dame to the Syracuse 11, helping to set up the score by Estime.

  Syracuse would bring in another punter in place of Max von Marburg on the next drive, and sophomore James Williams would have his punt blocked by junior cornerback Clarence Lewis and recovered by junior viper (stand-up defensive end who can turn into a linebacker) Jordan Botelho at the Syracuse two-yard line.

  The Fighting Irish would score on their first play, with Estime rushing for the two yards needed to gain his second touchdown of the game, making it 38-17 Irish with 7:47 to play.

  Del Rio-Wilson would send the ball to the end zone on the next Orange drive, and the ball would be intercepted, but the takeaway would be erased as a result of an offsides penalty on the Fighting Irish defense.

  Two plays later Del Rio-Wilson would connect with redshirt-junior wide receiver D'Marcus Adams for a 13-yard score that would be reviewed and upheld, bringing Syracuse to a 14-point deficit, 38-24, with 5:44 remaining in the contest. This was Adams' second score of the season after transferring to the Orange from the Florida Atlantic (FAU) Owls. Del Rio-Wilson went 5-for-8 on this drive.

  With 1:58 to go, Grupe would add another field goal to the Notre Dame lead, his second of the game, this from 20 yards out, to make it 41-24 with 1:58 to play.

  The Orange would turn the ball over on downs with 1:05 to go to clinch it for the Irish, a 17-point victory to avenge their loss the last time they played in the Dome, 19 years ago.

  Notre Dame outran Syracuse 246 yards to 61. Estime gained 123 yards, followed by 85 for Diggs, and 23 for Tyree. Estime found the end zone twice and Diggs once, with 6.2 yards per carry for Estime and 4.3 for Diggs.

  Tucker carried the ball 16 times for the Orange for a total of 60 yards, averaged 3.8 yards per carry with one touchdown.

  No quarterback on either team threw for better than 50% and all three quarterbacks had one touchdown and one interception apiece.

  Pyne went 9-for-19 (47.4%) for 116 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

  Shrader went 5-for-14 (35.7%) for 35 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

  Del Rio-Wilson, who came in for the entire second half for the Orange, went 11-for-22 (50%) for 190 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

  With the victory, Notre Dame improves to 5-3 as an independent, while Syracuse moves to 6-2, on a two-game losing streak. The Fighting Irish are now 2-1 on the road this season, handing the Orange their first home loss of 2022, now 5-1.