Syracuse obliterated by Notre Dame 70-7, suffers worst loss since 1893
Syracuse was embarrassed Saturday at Notre Dame. It trailed 21-0 before ND's offense took the field and ultimately fell 70-7 for its worst defeat since losing 66-0 to Union in 1893. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Syracuse made history on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium.
It became the first college football team to allow three straight touchdowns before the opposing offense stepped on the field.
After falling behind 35-0 through the first quarter — SU’s largest-ever first-quarter deficit — Syracuse (3-8, 1-6 Atlantic Coast) suffered its worst blowout of the 21st century in an embarrassing 70-7 defeat at the hands of No. 9 Notre Dame (9-2, Independent). The Orange have now lost seven straight games, their longest skid since 2020.
Syracuse’s 49-0 halftime deficit was its largest of the millennium. The 63-point loss was SU’s fourth-largest defeat in program history and most lopsided since a 66-0 loss to Union in 1893. And the Orange’s 70 points allowed were the most by a Power Four team this season.
SU head coach Fran Brown told his players in the locker room postgame that Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame team is what he wants Syracuse to look like going forward.
However, the Orange are a long way from that.
“That’s what we’re coaching you guys for our football team to look like,” Brown said of his message to players. “The character, the way they play together, that’s what we want our team to look like. That’s what you guys should be able to foresee (for us) coming in the future.”
The first time SU’s defense stepped on the field, at the 7:08 mark of the first quarter, it trailed 21-0. Two plays later, Notre Dame’s probable Heisman candidate Jeremiyah Love — who detonated for eight carries, 171 rushing yards and three scores Saturday — ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run to make it 28-0.
And it just kept getting worse. And worse. And worse.
Freshman walk-on quarterback Joe Filardi, who started his second game of the year Saturday, threw two pick-sixes in the first quarter. That included his first throw of the contest, which Fighting Irish safety Jalen Stroman ran back for a 44-yard touchdown. SU failed to run the ball effectively, finishing with 2.2 yards per carry, and punted six times.
Redshirt senior punter Jack Stonehouse’s first attempt of the day was blocked, caught in midair at the 22-yard line by Notre Dame’s Luke Talich and returned for a touchdown. That made it 14-0.
Syracuse was without its leading rusher Yasin Willis, who was unexpectedly ruled out with an undisclosed injury a day prior, and nobody could pick up the pieces.
Again.
“We’ve played through some unfortunate trials this year,” SU redshirt senior tight end Dan Villari said postgame. “Things didn’t go as planned.”
“I don’t think we’ll lose like that again after this, trust me,” he added.
Syracuse head coach Fran Brown embraces Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman after ND’s thrashing of the Orange. Brown mentioned to his team postgame that he wants SU to be like the Fighting Irish in the future. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
It’s a broken record at this point, but Syracuse’s once-promising 2025 season fell off the rails in an unthinkable manner. Week 1 starting quarterback Steve Angeli, a Notre Dame transfer, led the nation in passing yards (1,317) through four games, helping SU start 3-1. But after Angeli tore his Achilles in the Orange’s Week 4 victory over Clemson, they haven’t won since.
LSU transfer Rickie Collins initially started in place of Angeli. He only lasted four games before Brown benched him for Filardi.
Going from one of the country’s top passers to lacking a well-functioning quarterback is a difficult switch. The Orange have proven that one injury can dash a team’s hopes. Especially when it involves the quarterback position.
When Brown was asked why he chose Filardi over a redshirt sophomore with more experience in Collins, he said to simply look at the results. No quarterback has proven enough to Brown for him to stick with one guy. He’s going to keep switching players in and out until something works.
“(The) same thing happened last week,” Brown said, referencing Collins’ statline of 80 passing yards and no touchdowns in SU’s 38-10 loss to then-No. 18 Miami.
A little over 70 minutes before kickoff Saturday, Filardi stood near the 25-yard line along Syracuse’s sideline, grabbed a shoulder tube with his right arm and wagged it around to get loose. He stoically paced around while his eyes darted around Notre Dame Stadium, basking himself in the scene as Fighting Irish fans piled in.
Filardi never thought he’d be here. The freshman lacrosse commit walked on to SU’s football team in the fall. After Syracuse’s quarterback situation became a mess, Filardi earned a surprise start against North Carolina on Oct. 31. On Monday, Brown announced he’d receive a second starting opportunity versus Notre Dame.
Filardi completed 4-of-18 passes in his starting debut — a 27-10 loss to UNC. When asked the following Monday about what Filardi does well as a quarterback, Brown declined to specify. For Filardi, a Long Island lacrosse kid at heart, it’s more than likely he envisioned himself taking the field at Notre Dame’s historic Arlotta Family Lacrosse Stadium. But not this.
One pass in, Filardi was caught in a chasedown with a defender returning his first throw of the day back for a touchdown — a desperate sprint that led to nothing, much like this final stretch of Syracuse’s 2025 season.
“It’s a game I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life,” Filardi soberly stated.
