EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Orange defense forced five turnovers, but it wasn't enough to upset No. 8 Notre Dame on Saturday night as Syracuse fell to the Fighting Irish, 31-15, in front of a MetLife Stadium college game record crowd of 76,802 in New York's College Classic.
Syracuse had three takeaways via fumble recovery and another two by way of interception, including Durell Eskridge's 29-yard return for touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Syracuse finished with 429 yards of offense, its third straight game with more than 400 total yards. The Orange passed for a season-high 294 yards and added 135 on the ground. Notre Dame amassed 523 total yards.
Terrel Hunt was 22-of-38 passing for a career-high 294 yards and one interception. He added 26 yards on the ground and scored the 13 rushing touchdown of his career.
Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson was 32-of-39 for 362 yard with four touchdowns and two interceptions. He completed 25 consecutive passes at one point, one shy of tying the FBS record held by East Carolina's Dominique Davis.
Orange wide receiver Jarrod West was Hunt's top target with 103 yards on eight receptions. Notre Dame's Will Fuller was Golson's top receiver with six grabs for 119 yards and two scores.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter after the teams were in a scoreless deadlock for the first 19 minutes of the game. Fuller found the end zone on back-to-back drives for the Irish, scampering in from 23 yards out after a screen pass from Golson. The pair hooked up on the first play of the following drive on a 72-yard deep ball over the top of the Orange defense to open up a two-score lead.
Freshman kicker Cole Murphy got the Orange on the board with 3:07 to go in the first half on a 38-yard field goal and the Orange had another opportunity to cut into the lead even more with 11 seconds remaining in the half. Golson lost control of the snap while attempting to spike the football and fumbled which was scooped up by Julian Whigham who ran it into the end zone. However, the play was ruled an incomplete pass on the field before being overturned to a fumble after a review, which nullified the return and 'Cuse was forced to settle with heading into the break trailing, 14-3.
Following an interception, Golson drove the Irish 60 yards in nine plays and lofted a touchdown pass to Corey Robinson to give Notre Dame a 21-3 advantage early in the second half.
The Orange found the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter when Hunt broke free for 7-yard touchdown run after leading the Orange on a seven-play, 72-yard drive. Murphy's extra point attempt was blocked.
Following a failed onside kick attempt by SU, Notre Dame tacked on its fourth touchdown of the night, a 13-yard scoring pass to Torri Hunter Jr. to take a 28-9 lead.
It was with 5:09 remaining that Eskridge jumped a pass to the right flat and took it 29 yards for a touchdown. It was the All-ACC safety's fifth career interception and the first Orange pick-six sinceKeon Lyn returned an interception for a touchdown at Temple in 2012.
Kyle Brindza finished the scoring with 1:57 left when he hit a 37-yard field goal for the Fighting Irish to make it 31-15.
Syracuse returns to action on Friday, Oct. 3 when it hosts ACC newcomer Louisville in its conference opener. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN.
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