Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1050818
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 19, 2018 37 Syracuse finished 8-16 during his first two sea- sons, but heading into the matchup against Lou- isville Nov. 9, Babers had led the Orange to a 7-2 record and the No. 13 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is in his 30th season as a head coach. Heading into the team's matchup against Florida State Nov. 10, Notre Dame was 78-34 during Kelly's tenure, not including va- cated games. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES During Babers' first three seasons at Syracuse, the Orange are just 4-10 in road games — a record that doesn't include its 50-33 loss to Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Oct. 1, 2016. What Syracuse has done well during his tenure is pull off upsets against ranked op- ponents. Over the last two seasons, even when Syracuse lost to ranked teams, they competed. Syracuse beat No. 17 Virginia Tech (31-17) in 2016, No. 2 Clemson (27-24) in 2017 and No. 22 North Carolina State (51-41) Oct. 27 of this season. Last fall, the Orange dropped games to No. 25 LSU and No. 8 Miami — but both games were within nine points. All three of its wins over ranked op- ponents were in the Carrier Dome. Heading into its game versus Florida State, Notre Dame had gone 16-7 in games against ACC oppo- nents since agreeing to play at least four games per season against the league. It was 7-1 against the conference in 2017 and 2018. Notre Dame is also 8-0 in Shamrock Series games and is 2-0 at Yankee Stadium under Kelly. Advantage: Notre Dame Through nine games, junior safety Evan Foster ranked third on the team with 63 tackles, and had five stops for loss, two sacks and an interception. PHOTO COURTESY SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS GAME PREVIEW: SYRACUSE Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 80 Taj Harris 6-3 175 Fr. 5 Devin Butler 6-3 194 Jr. WR 10 Sean Riley 5-8 170 Jr. 82 Nykeim Johnson 5-8 167 So. LT 60 Cody Conway 6-6 296 Sr. 52 Carlos Vettorello 6-4 283 Fr. LG 59 Aaron Roberts 6-4 292 5th-Sr. 57 Dakota Davis 6-5 327 R-Fr. C 68 Airon Servais 6-6 293 R-So. 75 Sam Heckel 6-4 294 R-So. RG 63 Evan Adams 6-6 326 R-Jr. 72 Andrejas Duerig 6-3 308 R-Jr. RT 78 Koda Martin 6-6 304 5th-Sr. 69 Patrick Davis 6-5 318 So. TE 6 Ravian Pierce 6-3 244 Sr. 89 Aaron Hackett 6-3 228 So. or 36 Chris Elmore 6-0 282 So. WR 17 Jamal Custis 6-5 213 5th-Sr. 81 Cameron Jordan 6-3 202 R-Fr. QB 2 Eric Dungey 6-4 226 Sr. 13 Tommy DeVito 6-2 211 R-Fr. RB 21 Moe Neal 5-11 191 Jr. or 4 Dontae Strickland 5-11 204 Sr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 94 Alton Robinson 6-4 249 Jr. 57 Kingsley Jonathan 6-3 256 So. NT 98 McKinley Williams 6-4 295 Jr. or 85 Josh Black 6-3 272 R-So. DT 95 Chris Slayton 6-4 309 5th-Sr. 45 Kenneth Ruff 6-1 296 Jr. DE 55 Kendall Coleman 6-3 266 Jr. 97 Brandon Berry 6-4 251 R-Jr. WLB 25 Kielan Whitner 6-0 215 Sr. 24 Shyheim Cullen 6-0 224 R-Jr. MLB 41 Ryan Guthrie 6-2 224 Sr. 46 Lakiem Williams 6-0 234 Jr. SLB 12 Andrew Armstrong 6-2 228 Jr. or 24 Shyheim Cullen 6-0 224 R-Jr. CB 18 Scoop Bradshaw 5-11 181 Jr. 23 Ifeatu Melifonwu 6-3 200 R-Fr. FS 8 Antwan Cordy 5-8 177 5th-Sr. 19 Andre Cisco 6-0 199 Fr. SS 14 Evan Foster 6-0 223 Jr. 26 Tyrone Perkins 6-0 206 Sr. CB 3 Christopher Fredrick 5-11 194 R-Jr. 21 Trill Williams 6-2 202 Fr. SYRACUSE DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 10 Sterling Hofrichter 5-9 197 R-Jr. 92 Nolan Cooney 6-3 202 R-So. PK 91 Andre Szmyt 6-1 195 R-Fr. 10 Sterling Hofrichter 5-9 197 R-Jr. P 10 Sterling Hofrichter 5-9 197 R-Jr. 92 Nolan Cooney 6-3 202 R-So. LS 50 Aaron Bolinsky 5-11 210 Fr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. H 92 Nolan Cooney 6-3 202 R-So. 15 Rex Culpepper 6-3 223 R-So. KR 10 Sean Riley 5-8 170 Jr. 24 Shyheim Cullen 6-0 224 R-Jr. PR 10 Sean Riley 5-8 170 Jr. 82 Nykeim Johnson 5-8 167 So. Special Teams