Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 DEC. 5, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED that limited North Carolina, Boston College and Clemson to point totals well below their season averages. "We're not converting on third down," Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said during his post-Louisville press conference. "Those guys had twice as many plays as us and our defense was out there twice as [often]. "It gets to be disappointing not be- ing able to produce on one side of the ball. It's extremely frustrating." The strength of this defense has been its ability to generate turnovers. Heading into its Nov. 28 matchup with North Carolina State, Syracuse had 20 turnovers gained, tied with UCF for best in the nation. More than half the turnovers gen- erated are interceptions, with 6-1, 230-pound sophomore linebacker Mikel Jones leading the way with three to go along with a team-lead- ing 60 tackles. As a freshman, he was named a Pro Football Focus third- team All-Freshman selection. However, the offense does its best to mitigate any advantage the Orange may have by turning the ball over 17 times through nine games, which was among the seven highest of the 127 FBS teams playing. Junior Ifeatu Melifonwu is a long and rangy cornerback with elite size at 6-3 and 213 pounds — big enough to play the rover position at Notre Dame. He has just one pick on the season but is tied for the team lead in passes defended with five and possesses the highest PFF grade on the team. He also leads the team in snaps played because he almost never comes off the field. With an older brother already in the NFL (Obi Melifonwu, a second-round draft pick by the Oakland Raiders in 2017), Melifonwu comes with the tal- ent and pedigree that likely makes him the team's top pro prospect. On the defensive line, the team leaders in tackles for loss are McKin- ley Williams (7.0) and Stefon Thomp- son (6.5) but none of the Syracuse de- fenders have more than two sacks on the season. Yet, the weakest aspect of this Syra- cuse defense is likely its inability to stop the run. Even poor rushing teams such as Boston College, which barely averages 100 yards per game, ran all over the Orange and finished with 191 yards on the ground. This should prove to be a compro- mising matchup against Notre Dame, even if two Fighting Irish starting of- fensive linemen are still out when Syr- acuse comes to town Dec. 5. All Notre Dame should have to do is avoid costly turnovers, and their backups should see ample playing time, just as they did against a 10-win Syracuse team in 2018. ✦ GAME PREVIEW: SYRACUSE Junior cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu is tied for the team lead in passes defended (five), has one intercep- tion and has the highest Pro Football Focus grade on the team. PHOTO BY DENNIS NETT/COURTESY SYRACUSE ATHLETICS 2020 SYRACUSE SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 12 at North Carolina L, 31-6 Sept. 19 at Pittsburgh L, 21-10 Sept. 26 Georgia Tech W, 37-20 Oct. 10 Duke L, 38-24 Oct. 17 Liberty L, 38-21 Oct. 24 at Clemson L, 47-21 Oct. 31 Wake Forest L, 38-14 Nov. 7 Boston College L, 16-13 Nov. 20 at Louisville L, 30-0 Nov. 28 NC State L, 36-29 Dec. 5 at Notre Dame (NBC) 2:30 p.m. 2020 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 12 Duke W, 27-13 Sept. 19 South Florida W, 52-0 Oct. 10 Florida State W, 42-26 Oct. 17 Louisville W, 12-7 Oct. 24 at Pittsburgh W, 45-3 Oct. 31 at Georgia Tech W, 31-13 Nov. 7 Clemson W, 47-40 (2OT) Nov. 14 at Boston College W, 45-31 Nov. 27 at North Carolina W, 31-17 Dec. 5 Syracuse (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at Wake Forest TBA