At one point, this weekend’s Senior Day matchup with Syracuse was circled on every Irish fan’s calendar, as they looked forward to seeing former Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli return to South Bend with Fran Brown’s talented squad of underdogs. 

With Angeli out for the season and Syracuse sitting at a disappointing 3-7, this game has lost much of its luster for the fans at home, but Marcus Freeman and Co. have a College Football Playoff berth on the line; they will not be caught unprepared. 

The Irish are a 35.5-point favorite over the Orange, and looking at the statistical profiles of these teams, it is not hard to understand why.

Notre Dame is averaging .597 points per play offensively (No. 3 nationally) and allowing .266 points per play defensively (No. 14 nationally). By contrast, Syracuse is averaging .237 (No. 130) and .466 (No. 111) in the same respective categories.

The Orange are outside the Top 100 in opposing yards per rush (4.9, No. 111) and opposing yards per pass (8.0, No. 109) allowed, while Notre Dame is Top 30 in both categories. 

 The Orange quarterbacks are being sacked on 8.22 percent of dropbacks (No. 115) and throwing interceptions on 3.4 percent of attempts (No. 109 nationally). 

Key Predictions:

– All Irish running backs will combine for 200+ yards and four or more touchdowns

– CJ Carr throws two touchdown passes in a lighter day of work

– The Notre Dame defensive line will create six or more havoc plays, including sacks, tackles for loss, passes defended, and interceptions. 

– Tae Johnson snares yet another interception

– Tyler Buchner over 2.5 rushing attempts

Notre Dame 49, Syracuse 7