Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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36 OCT. 3, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED tal defense, allowing 480.7 yards per game. Junior linebacker Zaire Franklin was the team's leading tackler with 18 stops, while sophomore defensive lineman Chris Slayton — a Phil Steele preseason All-ACC fourth-team se- lection — is the team's top NFL pros- pect on defense. Junior safety Ant- wan Cordy was also expected to have a big role before fracturing his fore- arm against Louisville, an injury that will force him to miss the remainder of the season. The rest of Syracuse's new Tampa-2 defense is a huge question mark. "Coming into the year we knew it was going to be thin," Mink said. "This is a team that has no defensive ends on their roster who have ever taken a college snap. You're playing young, inexperienced guys at the point of attack, which is going to be a recipe for disaster. Then your back four is mostly substitutes. "They just can't get stops. It's a byproduct of just low numbers and inexperience. They don't recruit at a high level to begin with, so you really need your starters to be on the field. When you lose a couple starters in the secondary, those are just holes you can't account for." ✦ GAME PREVIEW: SYRACUSE 2016 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 4 at Texas (ABC) L, 50-47 (2OT) Sept. 10 Nevada (NBC) W, 39-10 Sept. 17 Michigan State (NBC) L, 36-28 Sept. 24 Duke (NBC) L, 38-35 Oct. 1 vs. Syracuse* (ABC/ESPN/2) 12 p.m. Oct. 8 at North Carolina State TBA Oct. 15 Stanford (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29 Miami (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 5 vs. Navy^ (CBS) 11:30 a.m. Nov. 12 vs. Army# (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 19 Virginia Tech (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 26 at USC TBA * at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; ^ at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.; # at Alamodome in San Antonio 2016 SYRACUSE SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 2 Colgate W, 33-7 Sept. 9 Louisville L, 62-28 Sept. 17 South Florida L, 45-20 Sept. 24 at Connecticut W, 31-24 Oct. 1 vs. Notre Dame* (ABC/ESPN/2) 12 p.m. Oct. 8 at Wake Forest TBA Oct. 15 Virginia Tech TBA Oct. 22 at Boston College TBA Nov. 5 at Clemson TBA Nov. 12 NC State TBA Nov. 19 Florida State TBA Nov. 26 at Pittsburgh TBA * at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Junior linebacker Zaire Franklin compiled a team-high 18 tackles during the Orange's 1-2 start. PHOTO COURTESY SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS