We’ve yet to see how Syracuse plays after a loss this season. After a heartbreaker against Clemson last weekend, that won’t remain the case for much longer. The opponent? A Notre Dame squad coming to Central New York for the first time since 2003, and there are storylines aplenty surrounding this Irish squad.
SEASON/PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Notre Dame is deeply engraved in the history of college football. From Knute Rockne to Lou Holtz to Brian Kelly, the Irish have been in the national spotlight for a long time. 11 national championships (though none since 1988). The famous “Play Like a Champion” sign. The Band of the Fighting Irish. Rudy. Touchdown Jesus. What more could you ask for?
However, Notre Dame hasn’t exactly had the luck of the Irish in 2022. ND came into the season ranked #5, but two losses straight out of the gate put the top-5 notion to bed rather quickly. When you factor in that one of the losses was to an unranked Marshall squad, it looks even worse. Since then, the Irish have suffered another home loss at the hands of Stanford. This year’s Notre Dame is definitely not what we’re used to seeing.
HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN
First-year coaches tend to go through growing pains, and Freeman is no exception. A former linebacker at Ohio State, Freeman worked his way through college football coaching ranks before securing the defensive coordinator job at Notre Dame for the 2021 season. After Kelly left South Bend for LSU, Freeman stepped in. As mentioned above, it hasn’t come easy for the Dayton, OH native. The Irish are just 4-3. It certainly hasn’t been the prettiest route for Freeman thus far, but it wasn’t exactly pretty for Dino Babers at Syracuse (with the exception of 2018) entering this season.
QB DREW PYNE
Tyler Buchner, Notre Dame’s preseason starting QB, saw his season end due to a shoulder injury in week two. Pyne stepped in and has had an interesting time under center. The New Canaan, CT native looked great in a win over then-ranked BYU, tossing for over 260 yards and three scores while completing over 75% of his passes. The very next week, Pyne had a completion percentage under 50% against Stanford. So that begs the question, which version of Pyne will the Dome crowd witness on Saturday?
TE MICHAEL MAYER
It’s not very often a tight end leads a collegiate team in receiving yards and has nearly double the yardage of said team’s second-leading receiver. However, Mayer is not your ordinary tight end. The Independence, KY native has three 100-yard receiving games this season and six scores. No one else on the team has reached the century mark in that category, and no other player on the Irish has more than one touchdown. It’s hard to not see similarities to Syracuse with Oronde Gadsden II. Mayer is easily Notre Dame’s best, and perhaps only, receiving weapon.
DL ISAIAH FOSKEY
One week after facing a vaunted Clemson D-Line, the task doesn’t get any easier with Foskey roaming the middle. The California native had 11 sacks last season, the third-most in a single season in program history. He’s continued that trend into 2022. Foskey has gotten to the passer six times so far this year, no one on the team has half of that. Despite only having five carries, Sean Tucker averaged over ten yards per rush against the Tigers. With Foskey looking to wreak havoc, it’ll be tough to replicate that.
DB BRANDON JOSEPH
Joseph transferred to Notre Dame from Northwestern after an All-American campaign in 2021 and has not missed a beat. The College Station, TX native’s 25 tackles are second among Irish Defensive Backs, and he has a pass breakup and a forced fumble with it. Sure, no interceptions, but do you think the fact that he had nine over the past two seasons in Evanston has led to defenders not throwing it anywhere near him? After only throwing one pick in SU’s first five games, Garrett Shrader has thrown three in the last two. Chances are that number will go up if the ball is thrown in Joseph’s vicinity.
To make things clear, even though Notre Dame is not what we thought it was going to be before the season started, the roster is chock-full of talent. There’s a reason this game is sold out to the general public. It’s going to be an electric atmosphere inside the JMA Dome as the Orange could pick up their first win over the Irish since 2008.
