EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Saturday, November 17^th, the (10-0) Notre Dame Fighting Irish will take on the (8-2) Syracuse Orange at Yankee Stadium.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of Notre Dame 35.0 – Syracuse 26.9 with an over/under of 62.0.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of Notre Dame 47 – Syracuse 17.

Mark is predicting a final score of Syracuse 34 – Notre Dame 30.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: Syracuse 266.1 YPG > Notre Dame 254.3 YPG

Rushing offense: Syracuse 216.1 YPG > Notre Dame 199.4 YPG

Scoring offense: Syracuse 44.4 PPG > Notre Dame 34.5 PPG

Scoring defense: Notre Dame 18.7 PPG > Syracuse 27.6 PPG

Passing defense: Notre Dame 191.2 YPG > Syracuse 261.3 YPG

Rushing defense: Notre Dame 138.9 YPG > Syracuse 169.0 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Syracuse +1.2 > Notre Dame +0.2

Summary:

Notre Dame is a perfect (10-0) with wins over #14 Michigan, Ball State, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, #7 Stanford, #24 Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Navy, Northwester, and Florida State.  Notre Dame smashed Florida State 42-13 last week piling up 365 yards rushing.  Quarterback Brandon Wimbush started in place of the injured Ian Book who will be healthy for the upcoming game versus Syracuse.  The Fighting Irish rank 31^st in points per game (34.5) and 15^th in scoring defense (18.7 PPG).  Ian Book has completed 74% of his passes for 1,824 yards with 15 touchdowns to 4 interceptions.  Running back Dexter Williams has rushed for 777 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season.  Miles Boykin leads the team in receiving with 654 yards and 8 touchdowns.  The Fighting Irish defense ranks 29^th against the pass (191.2 YPG) and 41^st against the run (138.9 YPG).

Syracuse is (8-2) with victories over Western Michigan, Wagner, Florida State, UConn, North Carolina, #22 NC State, Wake Forest, and Louisville.  They were defeated by #3 Clemson and Pittsburgh.  Syracuse has won four straight games including last week’s 54-23 win over Louisville.  The Orange rank 7^th in points per game (44.4) and 70^th in scoring defense (27.6 PPG).  Quarterback Eric Dungey has completed 60% of his passes for 2,193 yards with 14 touchdowns to 5 interceptions.  Dungey is also a threat on the ground where he has rushed for 690 yards and 12 touchdowns.  Moe Neal leads the team in rushing with 716 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Syracuse has two receivers with over 600 yards in Jamal Curtis and Sean Riley.  The Orange defense ranks 107^th against the pass (261.3 YPG) and 70^th against the run (169.0 YPG).  Syracuse has the 5^th best turnover margin (+1.2) in the nation.

Bottom Line:

Ian Book’s return to the starting lineup will be crucial for Notre Dame as they are averaging nearly 39 points per game with him at the helm.  Eric Dungey is one of the more dangerous dual threat quarterbacks in the country but Notre Dame ranks 15^th in scoring defense (18.7).  The Fighting Irish will execute when they have to especially on third down where they have the fifth best conversion rate 45% in the country.  Syracuse doesn’t have enough on defense to stop all of Notre Dame’s playmakers.

Notre Dame wins 35-24

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