Syracuse bounced back with consecutive loses with its first road win in eight tries after the Orange knocked off the UConn Huskies on Saturday. Now, the Orange travel south to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for a neutral site clash against the infamous Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Syracuse may have luck on their side entering this matchup.
Things haven’t exactly gone well for Syracuse against Notre Dame in the recent past. Most recently, the Orange fell to the Irish at Metlife Stadium 31-15 in September of 2014. However, the Irish are reeling after dropping three of their first four games, including a 38-35 home loss to Duke last weekend.
Syracuse, even in the loss to USF, has shown some signs of improvement, particularly early in games. Syracuse jumped out to a fast 17-0 lead against USF and an even quicker 14-0 lead against UConn. If, and it is a big if, the Orange can jump out to an early, multiply score lead against the Irish, it is possible Notre Dame begins to implode.
In many ways, the Irish are a team in crisis. They were a top-10 team in the first AP poll and there were more than a few people who saw them as outside playoff contenders. Now, they have to win out if they are going to play in a bowl game of similar reputation to what they are accustomed to. In short, the Orange could not be catching their big, bad, opponents at a better time.
This game, in many ways like the Louisville game, is a no pressure situation. If you are still trying to draw a path for the Orange to get to six wins, it is likely you are marking up Saturday’s game as an “L”. The Orange are a 13 point underdog on Saturday. They need to come out and play like they have nothing to lose because in reality, they have nothing to lose. If Syracuse would ever have a chance to upset Notre Dame, this might just be the time.
