Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 29, 2022 33 GAME PREVIEW: SYRACUSE win of the season (and of Freeman's ten- ure) and former Irish linebacker Manti Te'o making a return to South Bend. Is anyone absolutely amped for the Boston College game Nov. 19? Crickets. Notre Dame fans probably had the same feelings of indifference toward the Syracuse game prior to the start of the season. Orange head coach Dino Babers has pulled his best Lee Corso and said, "Not so fast, my friend." The Orange started 6-0 for the first time since 1987. Their last win in that sequence was their most impressive; a 24-9 domination of then-No. 15 North Carolina State. The victory vaulted Syr- acuse to No. 14 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the coaches poll. Syra- cuse was 5-7 in 2021. The Orange have not had a winning season since Babers lead them to a 10-3 mark and a win in the Camping World Bowl in 2018. Ba- bers' combined record in every year he's been at Syracuse excluding that one and this one is 19-40. There is, however, something differ- ent about this edition of the Orange. And Babers credits it all to the players making it happen between the white lines, especially the elder statesmen who have stuck it out to see this sort of success through. "You just knew we were going to have something good even though the noise from the outside wasn't that positive," Babers said. "I just felt like these guys had too much going internally not to be good." NOTING THE 'CUSE It's the defense that has led Syracuse here. Through Week 7, the Orange ranked No. 8 in total defense, allowing 268.8 yards per game. The only other compa- rable unit Notre Dame played in its first six games was Ohio State's No. 5 total defense at 253.5 yards per game. The Buckeyes held Notre Dame to a season- low 253 total yards in the season opener. Quality of opponents was certainly a factor in Syracuse getting out to such a hot start defensively. The best team the Orange faced in the first five games was Purdue, and the Boilermakers piled up 424 passing yards despite compiling just 61 yards rushing. Stymieing FCS- level Wagner for 31 rushing yards and 19 passing yards in a 59-0 victory certainly aided in Syracuse's averages in being a top-10 defense. There wasn't much defensive merit in Syracuse topping North Carolina State, either because the Pack played without their starting quarterback and weren't a prolific offense to begin with. NC State ranked 99th in total offense through seven games at 355.0 yards per game. None of that is to say Syracuse does not have players Notre Dame needs to be wary of. That wouldn't be true. There are a couple linebackers who could make it a long afternoon in the dome for Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne and the Irish offense. Redshirt junior Mikel Jones has 257 total tackles in his career, a team-lead- "We got a long way to go. We're still finding ourselves as an offense and as a team. But we're really excited about what we've done. It's a testament to us." SYRACUSE JUNIOR QUARTERBACK GARRETT SHRADER Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME AT SYRACUSE Date: Oct. 29, 2022 Site: JMA Dome (Syracuse, N.Y.) Kickoff: 12 p.m. Television: ABC Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame IMG affiliates. Series Facts: This is the 11th all-time meeting between Syracuse and Notre Dame. Notre Dame leads the series 7-3. The Fighting Irish won the last meeting 45-21 in South Bend on Dec. 5, 2020. Head coaches: Syracuse — Dino Babers (35-44, seventh season); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (4-4, first season). Noting Syracuse: The Orange were one of nine remaining FBS teams with an undefeated record through Week 7 … It was just the third time since 1935 Syracuse had started a season with six wins in a row … Tucker had the sixth-most career rushing yards (2,766) in Syracuse history through Week 7; he rushed for a school record 1,496 yards on 6.1 yards per carry in 2021 … Syracuse started the season scoring 26 times on 28 red zone attempts, and one of those two non-scores was the result of kneeling at the end of a victory over Wagner … Sophomore tight end Oronde Gadsden II was the first player in the ACC with three games of 100-plus receiving yards this season … Syracuse's 13.2 points allowed per game ranked No. 6 in the nation through Week 7 … Syracuse's 16 punts through Week 7 were tied for the ninth-fewest total in the country. Syracuse linebacker Mikel Jones led the Orange defense with 42 total stops, 5.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks through six games. PHOTO COURTESY SYRACUSE ATHLETICS