Notre Dame Football: 3 players who earned game balls in win over Syracuse

The Notre Dame football program picked up a very big win on Saturday in what turned into more of a route with a 41-24 victory over Syracuse on the road. The Irish entered the game as an underdog in New York but never trailed at all in the contest. It was tied briefly early on, but after that it never got closer than 7 points.

Syracuse came into this game as the 16th-ranked team in the nation. They will fall now after this latest loss to the Irish. This is now back-to-back losses for Syracuse with losses to Clemson a week ago, and to Notre Dame football on Saturday.

Head Coach Marcus Freeman said it best earlier this week in a press conference, “we are a good football team that doesn’t always play that way.”

On Saturday the Irish definitely played like a good football team. Notre Dame now has two ranked wins on the year over BYU and Syracuse. They will have two more opportunities with Clemson and USC still on the schedule the rest of the way.

This 2022 season for Notre Dame has really been a rollercoaster ride for anyone who follows the program. Every week it seems to be which team is going to show up. The Irish seem to show up and are competitive against ranked teams but at the same time struggle against teams like Marshall and Stanford.

There have been some growing pains for the first-year head coach in Freeman but those are expected.

At the same time, Freeman and the staff have done some very impressive things which is very exciting to see as well. Look no further than the future recruiting classes that the Irish are building.

Here are a few players who had a really good day on the field to help secure a road victory for Notre Dame and deserve game balls.

3. Brandon Joseph and Isaiah Foskey

The game could not have started better for Brandon Joseph. The ball-hawking safety picked off Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader on the first play of the game and took it back 29 yards for a touchdown.

Joseph really helped set the tone and quieted a rowdy sold-out crowd. He also had another interception in the 4th quarter, but that was wiped out due to an offside penalty. The former Northwestern Wildcat in Joseph finished the game with two tackles to go along with the interception.

Isaiah Foskey had another impressive day on the field. He seemed to pick up right where he left off last week when he blocked not one, but two punts against UNLV.

Foskey finished the game with 3 tackles on Saturday. Two were for a loss, and one was a sack. With the sack on Saturday, he is knocking on the door of breaking Notre Dame football legend Justin Tuck’s all-time record of 24.5 sacks in an Irish uniform. Foskey should break it in the next week or two with how he has been playing as of late.