Friday, September 26, 2014

Week 4 Preview: Notre Dame vs. Syracuse

Notre Dame (3-0, 8th ranked) will play their third primetime game of the season tomorrow night when the Fighting Irish travel to East Rutherford, New Jersey to take on the Syracuse Orange (2-1) at MetLife Stadium. Notre Dame is coming off their first bye week and should be much healthier than they were when they last left the field against Purdue on September 13th. On the other hand, Syracuse will be looking to have a bounce-back performance after a disappointing 34-20 loss to Maryland last Saturday.  How will the Irish fare in their first official ACC contest under the new agreement?

Notre Dame has had a good start to the season offensively, and they will look to continue that success tomorrow night. The Irish have averaged 36.3 points in their first three games, but they will get their best test in the early season against a Syracuse defense that has allowed just 21.0 points per game. Syracuse has thrived at stopping the run by allowing opponents to rush for only 104.3 yards per game, good for 26th best in the country. I know Notre Dame really wants to get their ground game going, but this might not be the best week for that to happen. I expect Brian Kelly to try to establish a running game early on to see if they have any advantages in the trenches. As a result of the early season struggles, Notre Dame has made four changes to the offensive line unit. Matt Hegarty will start at center while Connor Hanratty has been removed from the starting left guard spot. As a result, former center Nick Martin will shift to occupy the vacant position. Christian Lombard and Steve Elmer will swap positions with Lombard moving to right tackle and Elmer to right guard. In the end, the only player retaining the same position will be Ronnie Stanley at left tackle. Brian Kelly and offensive line coach Harry Hiestand believe this will help give the Irish a bigger push up front, especially by having arguably their two best linemen (Stanley and Martin) handling the left side of the line.

Despite the issues up front, Everett Golson has played at an elite level through the first three games. Golson has accounted for 11 touchdowns, but more importantly no turnovers. Golson should be able to throw against the Orange who rank 53rd in the country with 220.7 passing yards allowed per game, but he will be without Amir Carlisle. Carlisle sprained his MCL against Purdue, so C.J. Prosise and a now healthy Torii Hunter Jr. will be asked to fill in. Prosise has flashed some explosiveness in the past, most notably a 53-yard touchdown in the opener versus Rice, but Hunter has yet to see the field after battling injuries since arriving at Notre Dame. Brian Kelly says that Hunter looks great in practice, so I’m excited to see what the once high-profile recruit has to offer. I think Notre Dame has too many weapons in the passing game for Syracuse to handle, so look for Golson and company to excel once again.

I’d be lying if I said I knew a lot about Syracuse offensively, but I do know that Notre Dame will have their hands full with quarterback Terrel Hunt. The senior only has only completed 58.7 percent of his passes for 488 yards and one touchdown, but Hunt is most dangerous with his legs. Hunt has rushed for 273 yards and five touchdowns on 39 attempts, with 156 yards coming last week. Notre Dame will have to be disciplined enough on the edge to keep Hunt between the tackles to allow Joe Schmidt and Jaylon Smith to make the tackle. Notre Dame’s front four will need to get a big enough push to ensure that Schmidt and Smith remained unblocked as much as possible. If Hunt is able to get wide running lanes and break through the first level, then it could be a long day for the Irish defense. The good news is that Notre Dame’s defense has done a great job early on dealing with mobile quarterbacks and potent rushing attacks by allowing just 99 yards a game. That 19th ranked rush defense is due in large part to Notre Dame establishing some bigger leads causing teams to abandon the run, but there is no doubt that this Irish defense is one of the fastest and most athletic units they have had in a while. If Syracuse wants to win this game they will need to run the ball consistently all game long. Hunt is not a great passer and I expect defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder to dial up plenty of blitzes and different coverage schemes to confuse Hunt all night long.

Notre Dame might start off rusty after the bye week, but I expect the Irish to win comfortably after they establish a lead and force Syracuse into throwing the ball more than they would like.

Prediction: Notre Dame 34, Syracuse 17


Twitter: @etichel07

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