South Bend, Ind. — Suffering your program’s worst loss since 1893 can be deflating and demoralizing, and the mood of Syracuse after its 70-7 loss at No. 9 Notre Dame was somber.
Head coach Fran Brown looked like a man that just finished fighting tears. He once told his team after a 45-0 loss in the 2023 Boca Raton Bowl that it’d never lose like that again.
But Saturday’s loss was worse.
Still, Brown sought to find a positive takeaway from the blowout.
“It’s a humbling experience,” Brown said. “This may sound crazy, but just the opportunity of getting the chance to learn from that and being able to watch that football game tonight and throughout the week and learn from that the entire offseason. There’s a lot of good I see from that football team that I want my football team to look like.”
Brown especially wants Syracuse’s defensive line to mimic Notre Dame’s, he said. The Irish had five sacks and 10 more tackles for loss in a game that was a shutout until the final seconds.
Notre Dame’s defense won it the game from the very beginning. The Irish already held a 21-0 lead by the time quarterback CJ Carr and the offense touched the field.
Notre Dame returned two pick-sixes off freshman quarterback Joe Filardi and returned a deflected punt for another touchdown.
“Defense took the momentum away early,” Brown said. “They did a really good job.”
Filardi finished the game with three interceptions, no touchdowns and just 83 yards passing. He said he was fooled at times by the Irish defense. He attributed other plays to Notre Dame’s athleticism and said the Irish were more physical.
“They make plays; they break on the ball,” Filardi said. “They have a lot of picks on the season, as you can tell. I think they have like five or six guys with like three picks each.”
Brown benched Filardi for two series early on for Luke Carney, which put the freshman at four game appearances this season, the limit to preserve a season of eligibility.
Carney didn’t finish the game, though. He attempted just four passes in his three series of relief.
“We put Luke in to slow things down a little bit,” Brown said. “I just let [Filardi] know that I was gonna be there to finish the game with him.”
Filardi did, in fact, finish the game, leading Syracuse to its only points on its final possession.
Not much went right for Syracuse aside from that drive. Notre Dame inserted backup quarterback Kenny Minchey with nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Irish broke their first-quarter and first-half scoring records. Running back Jeremiyah Love turned eight carries into 171 yards and three touchdowns.
“That’s what you guys should be able to foresee coming in the future,” Brown said. “That’s what we want our team to look like. I think they’re a really good football team. They’re able to come together. They started 0-2, if I’m not mistaken, and they’ve been able to win every game ever since.”
Meanwhile, Syracuse hasn’t won a game since former Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli tore his Achilles tendon at Clemson on Sept. 20. Syracuse’s quarterbacks aren’t just less accurate than Angeli, they’re more turnover-prone.
Filardi and redshirt sophomore Rickie Collins have combined for 13 interceptions this season and only seven passing touchdowns. Angeli was already up to 10 passing touchdowns at the time of his injury, with just two interceptions in four games of action.
“We’re giving too many turnovers and not getting any takeaways,” Brown said. “We have to be able to switch that. It’s something we’ve got to keep working on this offseason.”
Syracuse hasn’t been able to run the football to alleviate these issues either, whether it be from poor offensive line play or trailing by too many points.
The Orange was without its leading rusher in sophomore Yasin Willis on Saturday, but Brown said Willis — whom he’s called the best player on Syracuse’s offense — wouldn’t have made a difference against Notre Dame.
Just as it was after the ‘23 Boca Raton Bowl, Syracuse’s focus is on the next season. Tight end Dan Villari said he believed Brown’s proclamation to never lose like that again when Brown addressed his new players in the post-bowl locker room after getting the job.
Villari had to revisit that painful loss one week before his final game as a college athlete. He said his belief Saturday is the same as it was two years ago.
“We’ve been through some unfortunate trials this year,” Villari said. “Things didn’t go as planned, but I’m not gonna question God and I’m gonna keep it pushing. But I don’t think we’ll lose like that again after this. Trust me.”
Brown shared that same belief. He once again pointed toward the future and his 2026 recruiting class.
“We’re just excited about the future,” Brown said. “They know what we’re building. They know what we’re doing.
“We need some guys to be able to come in here and help right away, and they’re excited to do that.”
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