SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Jeremiyah Love bolstered his Heisman Trophy candidacy with 171 yards rushing and three touchdowns on just eight carries, and No. 9 Notre Dame blew out injury-decimated Syracuse 70-7 on Saturday.
Love's touchdown runs covered 45, 14 and 68 yards.
Notre Dame (9-2) set a modern-era scoring record, topping its 69-point outing against Georgia Tech on Nov. 5, 1977. The Fighting Irish had not scored 70 points since they had 73 against Haskell
in 1932.
Syracuse allowed 70 points for the first time since it gave up 75 to Union in 1891.
Notre Dame scored 21 points before its offense even took the field on Saturday — returning two interceptions and a blocked punt for touchdowns — en route to its ninth straight win after an 0-2 start. Syracuse (3-8) has lost seven straight.
The Fighting Irish also set a school record for first-quarter points with 35. The previous record was 28, which happened four times, most recently in 2017 against Miami (Ohio).
It could have been more: The quarter ended with the Fighting Irish on the Syracuse 1.
Notre Dame's 49-0 halftime lead was also a school record. Its previous high for points in a half was 45 against Georgia Tech in 1973.
Jalen Stroman, starting in place of injured defensive back Tae Johnson, returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown on Syracuse’s second play. Four plays later, Stroman blocked a punt that Luke Talich caught and returned 22 yards to the end zone.
Leonard Moore had Notre Dame’s third pick-6 in its last two games, intercepting a pass by Joe Filardi and racing 46 yards to the end zone.
When Notre Dame’s offense finally took field at the 7:08 mark of the first quarter, the Fighting Irish showed their explosiveness, with Love's 45-yard TD run on their second offensive play and a 58-yard TD run by Jadarian Price on their fifth play.
Notre Dame's C.J. Carr played sparingly, completing 5 of 9 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Filardi, a walk-on freshman, threw for 83 yards with three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. After his second pick-6, he was pulled briefly for Luke Carney. Filardi returned and ran for a 6-yard touchdown with 7 seconds left in the game.
Syracuse is in build-for-the-future mode amid a lost season.
Notre Dame looked like a solid College Football Playoff contender, and with some help, the Fighting Irish could host a first-round game.
Syracuse hosts Boston College next Saturday.
Notre Dame plays at Stanford next Saturday.
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