EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Notre Dame blew by Syracuse with 657 yards of offense in a 50-33 victory in front of 62,794 spectators at MetLife Stadium 62,794 in East Rutherford, N.J. on Saturday afternoon.

Junior DeShone Kizer completed 23 of 35 passes for 471 yards and three touchdowns to key the Irish offense, while the defense steadied the ship to shut out the Orange in the third quarter and allow Notre Dame to seize control of the game.

The first quarter was a memorable 15 minutes, as the Irish scored on a 79-yard pass play to Equanimeous St. Brown on the first play from scrimmage. Syracuse quickly answered, but graduate student defensive tackle Jarron Jones blocked his second point-after-attempt of the season and the ball was scooped up by senior Cole Luke who returned it for two points.

Three plays later, Kizer hit St. Brown for six points again, this time for 67 yards and the first half offensive fireworks were in full display. The first quarter saw 36 points scored (23 by Notre Dame), a 93-yard kick return for a touchdown by sophomore C.J. Sanders and a 76-yard touchdown pass for Syracuse.

After the first half fireworks, however, the Irish defense settled in and found a groove, shutting out Syracuse in the third quarter while Notre Dame posted two 50-plus yard scoring plays from freshman Kevin Stepherson and sophomore Dexter Williams to take control of the contest.

Next up for the Irish will be a trip to NC State, while Syracuse will head to Wake Forest.