It's Senior Week in South Bend, Indiana. This Saturday afternoon, the 8-2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the 3-7 Syracuse Orange at 3:30 PM. The Irish are victors of eight straight after dropping their first two to start the season. Since their home loss to Texas A&M, Notre Dame has beaten every opponent by double digits. Syracuse started the season 3-1, but after an injury to quarterback Steve Angeli, a Notre Dame transfer, the Orange have dropped six straight games and have failed to eclipse the 20-point mark in each of those losses.
Location: Notre Dame Stadium (Notre Dame, Ind.)
Date: Saturday - November 22
Time: 3:30 PM ET
TV: NBC/Peacock
Line: Notre Dame -35.5; O/U 51.5 (FanDuel)
Let's kick off our preview of this matchup with an overview look at the Syracuse Orange:
HEAD COACH - Fran Brown
Record At Syracuse: 13-10 (2nd season)
Fran Brown got off to a hot start in his first season with Syracuse. Heading into last November, they were 5-2 and looking to pick up a signature win. In the final week of the regular season, they defeated then-ranked No. 6 Miami 42-38 to eliminate them from playoff contention. The Orange would go on to win the Holiday Bowl 52-35 over Washington State. There were moderate expectations heading into this season for Brown and the Orange, but several key losses to the NFL Draft and the portal left many questioning the ceiling of this team.
Getting Angeli in the portal was a huge pickup for Brown and strongly fueled their 3-1 start. Their win over Clemson in Death Valley was extremely impressive; the game was in favor of the Orange from start to finish. Unfortunately, Angeli injured his achilles in their matchup with the Tigers and was lost for the season. Since then, Syracuse has lost six games in a row and have failed to score over 20 points while allowing at least 27 points in each of those losses. Brown will have his work cut out for him this weekend against a red-hot Notre Dame team.
Offensive Coordinator: Jeff Nixon (2nd season)
Defensive Coordinator: Elijah Robinson (2nd season)
SYRACUSE 2025 SCHEDULE
2025 STATISTICAL OVERVIEW
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Rushing: RB Yasin Willis - 129 att., 558 yards, 4.3 YPC, 4 TD; RB Will Nixon - 77 att., 326 yards, 4.2 YPC, 3 TD; QB Rickie Collins - 54 att., 126 yards, 2.3 YPC, 1 TD; RB Tylik Hill - 15 att., 89 yards, 5.9 YPC
Passing: QB Steve Angeli - 98-156, 62.8%, 1,317 yards, 8.4 YPA, 10 TD, 2 INT, 152.3 Rating; QB Rickie Collins - 97-181, 53.6%, 1,042 yards, 5.8 YPA, 6 TD, 10 INT, 101.8 Rating
Receiving: WR Johntay Cook - 41 rec., 518 yards, 12.6 YPC, 2 TD; WR Darrell Gill - 29 rec., 477 yards, 16.4 YPC, 5 TD; TE Dan Villari - 33 rec., 379 yards, 11.5 YPC; WR Justus Ross-Simmons - 20 rec., 312 yards, 15.6 YPC, 5 TD; RB Will Nixon - 22 rec., 171 yards, 7.8 YPC; WR Emanuel Ross - 10 rec., 110 yards, 11.0 YPC, 1 TD
Tackles: LB Gary Bryant III - 50; LB Antoine Deslauriers - 50; S - Braheem Longstreet - 47; S Duce Chestnut - 46; CB Demetres Samuel Jr. - 42; CB Chris Peal - 36; S Cornell Perry - 33; LB David Omopariola - 31; NB Devin Grant - 28
Tackles For Loss: DT Kevin Jobity - 6.0; LB David Omopariola - 5.5; LB Gary Bryant III - 4.0; DE Dennis Jaquez - 3.0; NB Devin Grant - 3.0; LB Anwar Sparrow - 3.0
Interceptions: NB Davien Kerr - 3; S Braheem Longstreet - 1; CB Demetres Samuel Jr. - 1
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