Notre Dame found a way to score 21 straight points against Syracuse without the offense even taking the field on Saturday at South Bend.
In one of the wildest starts of the 2025 college football season, the Fighting Irish scored 21 points in the first quarter before its offense even took a snap because of its defense.
Here’s how it happened within three consecutive Syracuse drives on offense…
- Syracuse quarterback Joseph Filardi threw a pick-6 to Notre Dame safety Jalen Stroman
- Stroman blocked a Syracuse punt for safety Luke Talich to return for a touchdown
- Filardi threw another pick-6 on the next drive to Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore
What an absolute disaster of a start for Syracuse without even facing the Notre Dame offense at first.
“Un-believable start for the Notre Dame defense!” – NBC’s Dan Hicks as Notre Dame goes up 21-0 on Syracuse before taking one offensive snap. pic.twitter.com/gVhoqd1pYC
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 22, 2025
The Notre Dame offense eventually got in on the fun with three touchdowns of their own to go up 42-0 early in the second quarter.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: How Notre Dame went up 21-0 on Syracuse without playing offense
