GAME THREAD | Notre Dame at No. 16 Syracuse

Notre Dame (4-3) at No. 16 Syracuse (6-1) 

JMA Wireless Dome| 12:00 p.m. ET | ABC | Syracuse -1.5 | O/U: 47.5

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WILL THE REAL NOTRE DAME PLEASE STAND UP

Notre Dame sits at 4-3 entering Saturday's clash with No. 16 Syracuse and the Fighting Irish have looked good, bad and everything else this fall. The mixed bag has made it hard to figure out the identity of the team, while also making it hard to predict which team will show up on Saturday. 

The good news for Notre Dame is they have played up to the competition and have been ready to play on the road. Syracuse is not the Syracuse of old as the Orange sit at 6-1 and are coming off road loss to Clemson, which was a game Dino Babers’ squad should have won. 

If Notre Dame wants to leave New York with a win, the game plan is simple. Run the ball and stop the run. Syracuse running back Sean Tucker is one of the best in the country and ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns against Notre Dame in 2020. 

The other piece of the puzzle for Notre Dame is for quarterback Drew Pyne to play consistent football and not make crucial mistakes. Pyne will need to use his receivers while also making sure Michael Mayer gets his touches, but he can’t force the ball as the Irish offense has missed a few plays in recent weeks. 

Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame DE Isaiah Foskey
Foskey had three sacks last week and his matchup against LT Matthew Bergeron should be must-watch. When he's matched up against RT Dakota Davis, it should favor the Irish.

Syracuse RB Sean Tucker
One of the best backs in the country, Tucker only had five carries against Clemson and they won't want to repeat that. They'll hand him the football and also target him frequently in the passing game.

Notre Dame CB Clarence Lewis
Lewis made a big play on a forced fumble vs UNLV, but the reason he's mentioned here is because they may need him to match up with Oronde Gadsden II in the slot. He has a big size advantage over TaRiq Bracy and they may want to have a bigger defender going up against Syracuse's best receiver.

Syracuse LB Mikel Jones
The best player on Syracuse's defense, he's a very good blitzer and leads their team in tackles.

Notre Dame RB Logan Diggs
If the Irish want to win this game, they'll have to run the ball. They should have success doing it against a pretty bad Syracuse run defense. Diggs was the workhorse last week and he might be the workhorse in the Notre Dame backfield going forward.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
”They’ve (Notre Dame’s receivers) actually had a really good week. I challenged them Monday and Tuesday - we have to continue to gain confidence in practice in terms of how to expand our passing game. That’s the wideouts, the quarterback, the offensive line and everybody. They’ve had a really good week. 

“It’s interesting. I spent a good amount of time with them this week and you realize you have to be so unselfish. You can do everything right, you can be wide open and you’re not always going to get rewarded for it. They’re continuing to battle and continuing to get better. I looked forward to seeing what they do on Saturday.” 

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees:
"I do not think we're using him too much. Did you ask Drew the question (he was walking by)? There are times where our eyes need to go somewhere else. 

"But yeah, there are looks….guys are going to give attention to Michael Mayer. We have to be able to react; see it and understand it. We have good players elsewhere.” 

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
"He (Sean Tucker) reminds me of Gio Bernard, who we had in Cincinnati — good long speed, shifty in the middle, the ability to bounce it and get to the edge, but can lower his pads at any point. There's a lot of times where he's on the sideline and you think he's going to duck out of bounds — and he doesn't.

"And I think he might be the best that we've seen. I mean, he is that good because he's complete. On third down, he's a matchup problem out of the backfield, whether it's the angle route or the wheels, they can displace him. You can run screens with him, so he is a really, really talented back."

Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne:
“I don't care about my stats at all. I care about winning, scoring and moving the ball. I don't really care about my completion percentage. I never check it. I don't know how many yards I threw for.”

Notre Dame linebacker Prince Kollie:
"I'm getting better at block destruction. Getting better at understanding the defense and just playing free. That's what you need in a linebacker is to be able to play free and play fast. I'm figuring that out. 

"I'm getting back to my high school days, where I was really, really physical. It's showing up now. It's reassuring for me. Like, 'OK, this is no different from high school. You can still do a lot of the same things you did then. So just go play." 

For Your Nerves 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7' Inflatable Santa