SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Brady Quinn threw two touchdown passes and Leo Ferrine returned an interception for a touchdown, giving sixth-ranked Notre Dame a 34-10 victory over Syracuse on Saturday.<br>
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Darius Walker, who rushed for 123 yards on 26 carries, added a 3-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. The Irish struggled on offense, with Quinn not as sharp as he has been and receivers dropping catchable balls, but were still good enough to beat the Orange (1-9).<br>
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Notre Dame (8-2) needs to beat Stanford next week to remain eligible for its first Bowl Championship Series berth since 2000. Students threw tortillas back and forth throughout the game in anticipation of a possible Fiesta Bowl invitation. Someone also threw an orange on the field after an Irish touchdown.<br>
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Syracuse lost its eighth straight - its longest losing streak since losing its final game of 1972 and the first eight games of 1973 - and must beat No. 18 Louisville to avoid the first 10-loss season in school history. <br>
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The West Coast offense that Syracuse ran was reminiscent of the offense the Irish ran the past three season: ineffective and riddled with mistakes. After managing 105 yards and a field goal in the first quarter, Syracuse managed just 47 yards of total offense the rest of the way until Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis took out the defensive starters with 7 minutes to play and put in seniors, some of whom had not played this season.<br>
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Syracuse scored its only touchdown, on an 18-yard pass from Perry Patterson to Joe Kowalewski, after the Irish emptied their bench. Much of Syracuse's offense against Notre Dame's starters came on three plays: runs of 30 and 23 yards by Patterson and a 51-yard run by Damien Rhodes, who finished with 112 yards rushing. Patterson was 9-of-22 passing for 78 yards.<br>
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Despite the off day by the Irish offense, it was still more than Syracuse could handle. The Irish had 420 yards of offense, compared to 221 yards for the Orange, and Walker had his sixth 100-yard game, the first Notre Dame player to do that since Autry Denson in 1998.<br>
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Quinn was 21-of-37 passing for 270 yards, becoming Notre Dame's all-time leading passer. Quinn has 7,618 yards passing, moving past Ron Powlus, who threw for 7,602 yards from 1994-97. He has 3,201 yards passing this season, becoming the first Irish quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season.<br>
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The Irish were held scoreless in the first quarter, but finally kicked into gear in the second quarter after Chase Anastacio partially blocked a punt by Brendan Carney, giving them the ball on Syracuse's 36. Notre Dame scored just three plays later, a 25-yard TD pass from Quinn to Maurice Stovall.<br>
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After Notre Dame held Syracuse to a three-and-out, the Irish struck quickly again. Tom Zbikowski returned the punt 8 yards to the Syracuse 40. After an 11-yard run by Walker, Quinn threw a 29-yard TD pass to Jeff Samardzija.<br>
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Syracuse had just 4 yards of total offense in the second quarter and trailed 14-3 at halftime.<br>
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On Syracuse's first possession of the second half, Ferrine intercepted a pass by Patterson and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown, giving the Irish a 21-3 lead. D.J. Fitzpatrick added field goals of 44 and 29 yards.<br>
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Notre Dame tied the school record set in 1991 by scoring at least 30 points for the ninth time this season.<br>
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