I thought about writing up a draft of this post earlier this morning, assuming it would just be a matter of filling in some details. But then my kid wanted to watch the Knuckles series, so that went by the wayside.

The Knuckles series had far more drama than Saturday’s game, as Notre Dame utterly pummeled Syracuse 70-7 for its 9th straight win.

(Has anyone checked to see what the Miami vs. Syracuse score was at halftime? Just curious.)

A few thoughts about an expected but still enjoyable blowout:

One last hurrah for J Love

If that was the last time we saw Jeremiyah Love at Notre Dame Stadium, he left us with one last command performance.

In only eight touches, Love ran for 171 yards and three touchdowns. ND helpfully informed us that only 3 FBS players since 1996 have gone for 170 and 3 scores in 8 carries or fewer.

Love should be in New York, and hopefully the Heisman voters agree. I’ve never seen a Notre Dame player quite like him. Invoking the name Reggie Bush should be sacrilege in this sport, but Jeremiyah is that good and that fun to watch. None of us will ever forget getting to see him.

21-0 before taking a snap?

I knew Notre Dame would crush Syracuse today – as long as they were focused, which has never been an issue with Freeman-coached teams in November – but being ahead 21-0 before going on offense was a bit much.

The Irish got a Jalen Stroman pick-6 that was virtually identical to Tae Johnson’s last week, a blocked punt highlighted by a really athletic catch and run by Luke Talich…

…and another pick-6 from Leonard Moore (it always makes me laugh when opponents throw at him) to cap it off. The game was effectively over after the blocked punt and definitely over after Moore’s score, making the final 55 minutes or whatever it was an extended joyride.

You could make a pretty good argument the 2025 defense – once it got fixed – is better than either of Al Golden’s studly units of 2023 and 2024, which is simply remarkable. No one wants a piece of these guys.

(I did not get good vibes from the Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa departure. I hope I’m wrong.)

Keeping your focus

Northern Illinois game excepted (and without being an insider, I’d bet that coaches had as much to do with that one as players), the thing that’s impressed me most about second-year-and-beyond Marcus Freeman is that Notre Dame almost never lays an egg – or if they do, it’s a Boston College type situation where the team is clearly controlling the game and just not finishing the way they should.

The Irish may not win every time, but you never get the sense that they blew the week of prep off, or that they don’t take their opponent seriously. That was clear from the opening kick Saturday, as Irish defenders were flying all over the field delivering big hits and letting the Orange know without preamble that they were in for a long day. Never mind that since the loss of Steve Angeli (what a bummer that he was unable to play, but how cool that so many Irish players and coaches were ready to bear-hug him before and after the game) and several other key contributors to injury that Syracuse has been a glorified FCS team; the Irish were there to win and win big.

A lot of times late in these games – the Kenny Minchey and Aneyas Williams touchdowns were evidence of this – the impression is there that the other team is making business decisions, and I think that is a reflection of the Irish strangling the will to compete out of them.

I am by no means equating Marcus Freeman to Nick Saban, but that’s something Saban was always great at – you’ll recall he beat 100 consecutive unranked opponents at one point during his legendary run, and without looking it up I’d guess very, very few of those 100 were close. It’s a pretty great quality to have, and Freeman teams have it (again, since NIU, and I suspect it will be a long time since Marcus forgets that one).

One more guaranteed

The headline said it, but it’s worth reiterating – we only know we get this team as constructed one more time. There’s nothing Notre Dame can do about what happens elsewhere – as is made painfully obvious by almost every single result that could lead to the inside-straight draw forcing the Irish out of the playoff connecting today so far – but they can control themselves. And we fans can just watch and enjoy this team, one that regardless of where this season ends has set the table to keep this run of success going in 2026.

However, every metric in existence says this Irish team is really, really freaking good. It would be a shame if an immaculately kicked-in-the-air interception or a flukily flubbed extra point keeps the Irish out of the playoff. Let’s hope we have a lot more left to celebrate.