Notre Dame vs Syracuse: Confidences & Concerns
As I sit and write this I can’t help but think of what a rollercoaster this column has been since I started it a month or so ago here at Fighting Irish Wire. Much like the actual Notre Dame season, these confidences and concerns come and go and rise and fall rapidly. Too rapidly. I take this as a sign that Notre Dame has struggled to find itself this year. Items that appear as a confidence one week and concern the next are inconsistent, a perfect description of this Irish team overall in 2022.
Despite having no shot at reaching any postseason games that will carry much weight, Notre Dame has a shot at ending the year strongly against 3 highly ranked teams in Syracuse, Clemson, and USC that would help change the narrative entering the first Freeman offseason. Let’s take a look are some New York state of mind confidences and concerns.
Confidence 1: Notre Dame Plays Better On Road
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Notre Dame has simply played better away from Notre Dame Stadium this year and against the upper middle tier of the schedule at the time the games were played as well. The trip to the venue formerly known as the Carrier Dome matches that exact description.
Let it be known, Notre Dame’s inability to defend its home turf this year versus inferior opponents is not to be condoned in any way, it’s not an overall positive. But maybe there’s something to be said for this year’s team feeling more comfortable away from South Bend. Ever since the Marshall loss, there is a feeling of angst on home game days. It feels like half excitement/half dread of what’s coming next to me. If I feel that the minute I step on campus, can’t the team also feel it? It’s an awkward vibe.
Confidence 2: Michael Mayer for Mayor
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[autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag] is Notre Dame’s best player. It’s clear when you watch him that he is soon going to be playing on Sundays. While it’s terrific that Notre Dame has a player this gifted, it’s hard not to be frustrated that he won’t be on a Notre Dame team that is known for its overall accomplishments.
Notre Dame can and should continue to lean on Mayer. Whenever he is even remotely open, throw him the ball. But I’d also like to start seeing [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag] use Mayer as more of a decoy when it makes sense to do so. Lead defenses to him with his eyes then hit a different target. Mayer can impact plays in this way without even catching balls in this way.
Confidence 3: Stopping Syracuse's Offense
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Syracuse was undefeated up until last week’s game with Notre Dame’s next opponent, also undefeated Clemson. They are a very solid team and should be respected as such. But for as respectable as they are, I see their offense as fairly straightforward to slow down, unlike some others the Irish have or will face.
Syracuse quarterback Garret Shrader was by far the Oranges’ leading rusher last week. He’s nifty and loves to pull the ball and make plays happen to scramble. In the passing game, 6’5 wide receiver Oronde Gadsden, II is the clear and number one most dangerous target. If the Irish can focus on containing Shrader’s legs and ensure solid coverage on Gadsden, the rest of the Syracuse offense can be tamed.
Concern 1: Irish Inconsistency
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After the rockiest of rocky 0-2 starts imaginable, Notre Dame settled in and went on a winning streak. The team seemed to be gradually getting incrementally better culminating in wins against North Carolina and BYU. But then Stanford happened.
The reality is, the Stanford game showed that one can never really be sure what kind of Notre Dame team will show up to play on any given Saturday. Right when the Irish seemed to be trending up, they came crashing down. This is now a week-by-week grind of wait-and-see. This is and should be anxiety-provoking for all with Irish interests.
Concern 2-Drew Pyne
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When the starting quarterback does not have the strongest arm, is small in stature, and is not ultra-fast, he needs to be extremely accurate to produce quality results. This is the exact position Drew Pyne finds himself in currently.
In wins against North Carolina and BYU, Pyne had a 75% completion rate. Things were trending up. But in the Stanford and UNLV games, his completion rate has dropped to 49%. This rate is unsustainable for someone with a limited physical skillset. He must be more efficient for this offense to function.
Concern 3: Play 60 Minutes
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This game will provide less margin for error than games against Stanford and UNLV, and both of those were hard to watch either at times or in full due to Irish mistakes. Notre Dame has been frustratingly inconsistent all year. They have spurts of playing really solid football and bouts of bad that follow immediately after. A full game of solid play will be required to win this week.
[autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] often talks about the notion of the Irish being a really good team that doesn’t play really good football all the time, and he’s right. And it has to be stabilized and corrected immediately if the Irish have any hopes of salvaging the back end of the 2022 campaign.
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