EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — After a wild first five minutes that saw the two teams combine for 36 points, Syracuse (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) fell to Notre Dame (2-3), 50-33, at MetLife Stadium on Saturday. The Orange is 0-4 at MetLife Stadium since it first played Southern California in 2012.

Here are three takeaways from the loss.

New York State of MiND

Notre Dame used big plays to bury the Orange. In six minutes, six seconds of game time, Notre Dame scored 45 points. Five plays of 50-plus yard plays contributed to 35 of those points for the Fighting Irish. UND’s first two touchdowns were scored on deep passes to Equanimeous St. Brown of 79 and 67 yards. SU cornerback Cordell Hudson was burned on both throws and committed two pass interferences later in the game.

SU followed that up by allowing a 93-yard kickoff return, a 54-yard pass in which Corey Winfield appeared to fall for a play-action fake and finally a Dexter Williams 59-yard run. On Williams’ run, Hudson had back-side contain, but forced Williams toward the middle of the field.

Despite running the Tampa-2 defense, SU has struggled, giving up big plays in each game it’s played this season. The defense is supposed to help prevent big plays, but the system has yet to work this season.

Dropkicked Murphy

Cole Murphy struggled again for Syracuse on Saturday. He had his first extra point blocked by Notre Dame nose tackle Jarron Jones and returned by cornerback Cole Luke to put two points on the board for the Fighting Irish. Then, before halftime, Murphy missed a 40-yard field goal that would have brought the Orange within three of Notre Dame.

Individually, neither error was egregious, but together, they were the difference between SU being tied and  SU being down by six. Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve isn’t always the right way to look at, but it hurt Syracuse in the first half.

Though the mistakes didn’t permanently hurt Syracuse because SU allowed 17 points in the second half while scoring only six for itself, they put the Orange farther behind.

Dungey on the Ground

Eric Dungey scored three touchdowns with his legs on Saturday. He often scrambled out of the pocket against Notre Dame, picking up 40 yards. He was SU’s best short-yardage option against Notre Dame, picking up one touchdown on a delayed quarterback sneak. Dungey’s first touchdown (also SU’s first of the game) came on a fake option that pulled the Notre Dame players out of position. His last came in garbage time, when the UND had the game all but sealed up. Dungey scrambled out of the pocket and stuck his hand over the pylon as he was being tackled.

Earlier in the game, the SU quarterback slid several times. On one of the slides, Dungey was hit in the head by UND freshman safety Devin Studstill. After a review, Studstill was ejected from the game for targeting.

Published on October 1, 2016 at 3:54 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati