Complete Domination: Notre Dame Aims to Elevate against Syracuse

Liam Farrell
7 hours ago
3 min read

No. 9 Notre Dame hosts the 3-7 Syracuse Orange at Notre Dame Stadium for the Fighting Irish's Senior Day.

Photo by Notre Dame Athletics

After Notre Dame's ranked road victory against the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Irish must take care of business in their final two games against teams with a combined 6-14 record. This week, the Irish welcome the Syracuse Orange into Notre Dame Stadium, a team that has been on a downward slide after the injury to former Notre Dame QB Steve Angeli.

With the Fighting Irish set to face inferior opposition, they still have the opportunity to make statements in their final two games of the season. Just look at the difference between the Boston College and Navy games from this year. The Irish scratched and clawed through Boston College in an unconvincing victory that left many national media talking heads questionable about Notre Dame's legitimacy. That performance juxtaposed to the fundamentally sound splattering against Navy is completely night and day and displays the difference that a triumphant victory can make. Against Syracuse, the Irish will need a dominate performance both in terms of on film and the box score, to maintain their perception in the committee's eyes.

Let's take a look at the keys against the Orange.

Confuse the Eyes and Pressure the Quarterback

After the injury to Steve Angeli, Syracuse has had a rolodex of quarterbacks. The Orange first handed the reigns to LSU transfer Rickie Collins, but Collins struggled. His 6:10 TD:INT ratio forced Fran Brown's hand to pull Collins from the starting lineup. Syracuse's answer in South Bend will be Joseph Filardi, a walk-on quarterback who was a high-level lacrosse recruit.

Filardi earned the starting nod against UNC on Halloween night but struggled in his first start. On the season, Filardi is 7-21 for 78 passing yards, which points to blood in the water for an explosive and hungry Notre Dame defense. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash was able to confuse and disguise many looks last week against freshmen phenom Mason Heintschel, which points to a long day for Filardi making his second career start.

Out of Reach Early

The biggest X factor in any game that is aiming for an upset is the longer the lesser team stick around, the better the odds are. Notre Dame has been a team that has let lesser teams linger around. At halftime this season, the Irish only led NC State 10-7, Boise State 14-7, and Boston College 12-7.

The Irish need much more of an emphatic statement against Syracuse, like its performances against Arkansas, Pittsburgh, and Navy perchance. The Irish have yet to have as dominant of a game as they did last season when the offense and defense were clicking at the same time. If Notre Dame can put together a 49-7 type of performance, then the Irish will certainly have a defendable case as the season comes near a close.

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Win by More than 28 Points

If the CFP wants to discuss mutual opponents with Miami, then the committee must be willing to recognize Syracuse as a common opponent as well. Miami currently has the upper hand in terms of mutual opponents against the Irish with Pittsburgh being the most talked about discussion in terms of the Hurricanes and the Irish. Miami knows the score they have to out-perform, and will certainly attempt to lay it on the Panthers next week.

In a similar way, I expect the Fighting Irish to know the number they have to beat, in this case, a 38-10 victory. Head coach Fran Brown and Marcus Freeman have a good relationship as two young head coaches that have transformed their football programs. I expect that relationship to take a quick sidebar during Saturday afternoon.

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