Well folks, I have no idea how we already made it here — it seems like just yesterday we were waiting until a Sunday night to watch CJ Carr throw 1000 screens against a Miami team who hasn’t looked that good since — but it’s officially Senior Day and the final home game of the season for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (well, at least final regular season home game — I guess it’s still very much in play for ND to sneak into a first round CFP hosting spot).
Our 9th-ranked Irish are 8-2 and fresh off
a 37-15 shellacking of a then-ranked Pittsburgh team who was hosting College Gameday, and so now they return home to host the Syracuse Orange, who are 3-7 and have lost 6 straight games as they’ve lost some really key players to injuries, including former ND QB Steve Angeli, who was really playing well early in the year before he went down with a torn Achilles.
So, instead of a potentially fun/nervous home finale for the Irish as they faced the odd man out from this off-season’s QB competition, ND comes into this one favored by more than 5 touchdowns and looking to just get through the game with some style points and no major injuries as they gear up for the finale on the west coast and hopefully for the College Football Playoff. So what should we expect against this hobbled, stumbling Syracuse team that Fran Brown is bringing to South Bend?
To find out, we reached out to our longtime friends over at Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, SB Nation’s resident experts on anything and everything Syracuse Orange. I got to pepper Site Manager Kevin Wall with all sorts of questions, including what’s driven the disappointing season, potential playmakers remaining on the Syracuse offense, which mascots he’d most and least like to consume, comparing Syracuse hoops greats to Syracuse football greats, and more.
Let’s dive right in and get learnin’, y’all — we need to make sure we have a crisp, worry-free Senior Day this Saturday, and knowing everything we can about the Orange is going to be the key to that.
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1. The Orange started the year 3-1, Steve “Peanut Butter” Angeli was absolutely slingin’ it, and then the world came crashing down for the 2025 Syracuse team. What’s happened this year, and is it something you’re concerned about long-term, or just some bad injury luck that you expect Fran Brown’s program to bounce back from in 2026 and beyond?
Kevin Wall, TNIAAM: It’s terrible injury luck for a team that was replacing five starters on offense who are on NFL rosters. Angeli seemed to get it figured out late against UConn and his injury meant a lot of flaws were exposed.
Syracuse fans are concerned about how badly the offense has fallen off, but with a top 25-30 recruiting class coming in, there is hope for a much better future for this program. I will say that Fran is going to have to do some work in the portal.
2. For at least a while it seemed like a true QB competition between Angeli and Rickie Collins prior to Angeli winning the job. Now that Collins is QB1 following Steve’s injury, what’s he done well this season and what weaknesses or limitations does he have that this ND defense can exploit?
Kevin Wall, TNIAAM: Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it sounds like you won’t see Collins this week. Instead you will get our own Jordan Faison in freshman long stick midfielder/quarterback Joe Filardi.
Filardi got the start against UNC and his performance was underwhelming (7-21), but the coaching staff likes how he can run the passing offense they want. Filardi led a garbage time TD drive last week and he’ll get another chance in South Bend.
3. Who are the key names to know on this Syracuse offense that could do some serious damage on Saturday? Also, how has the Syracuse o-line looked and do you anticipate they’ll be able to get any sort of push against ND?
Kevin Wall, TNIAAM: Syracuse’s offensive line has been up and down and now it’s dealing with injuries. We don’t know if the Orange will be starting their 3rd-string center again this week but there has been shuffling going on and that’s likely going to limit the running ability of Yasin Willis. If Syracuse had a chance it would revolve around using Willis to grind out yards and bleed the clock. He’s broken some big runs this year but too often is bottled up at the line.
Tight end Dan Villari is going to be Filardi’s first read on a lot of plays. UNC threw two and three defenders on him and that was a big reason the Orange got dominated in that one. If for some reason the Irish let him roam in the middle, Villari can keep the chains moving.
If the offensive line holds up, both Johntay Cook and Darrell Gill have big-play ability. Since Angeli went down, neither has been able to make an impact as the Syracuse quarterbacks have struggled getting them the ball in space beyond a couple of plays against Georgia Tech.
Honestly the biggest threat to Notre Dame will be punter Jack Stonehouse and his elite moustache. He’s the one guy who can make it tougher for the Irish to get 40 points.
4. Defensively, what does this Orange defense under Elijah Robinson do well, and where are they weakest? Who are the key guys who will need to have big games to slow down the Irish, and are you more worried about Jeremiyah Love putting up numbers on the ground, or CJ Carr letting it fly against your secondary?
Kevin Wall, TNIAAM: The Syracuse defense puts their corners on an island and that should make them better suited to stop the run, but they don’t tackle well and that’s a bad omen with Love looming. In order to create pressure, Syracuse has turned to more blitz calls, so screens and draws to Love got turn into long touchdowns as the Orange tackling is sub-par.
During this losing streak the defense usually starts off doing ok, but then wears down and gives up some big plays. I expect the Orange offense to once again struggle which means this pattern likely repeats.
5. Please power rank the Top 5 Mascots You Would Most Like to Eat in the FBS, and then also the Top 5 Mascots You Would Least Like to Eat. Where does the Orange land in those rankings?
Kevin Wall, TNIAAM: We’re insulted that you’d ask this, but we’ll answer because we are good sports.
Most Like to Eat
- Hokies- tis the season
- Longhorns- only a lean cut will do
- Gamecocks- dip those wings in buffalo sauce and add some bleu cheese
- Ducks- we’ll have this à l’orange
- Gators – probably also pairs well with bleu cheese
Least Like to Eat
- Orange- hands off Otto
- Mountaineers- just no
- Green Wave- we’re not getting close enough to that angry wave
- Boilermakers- way too creepy
- Cardinal- that tree likely contains way too many hallucinogens for human consumption
6. Please provide the Syracuse football equivalents of the below Cuse basketball names:
Kevin Wall, TNIAAM:
- Carmelo Anthony- Jim Brown. The GOAT
- Jim Boeheim- Ben Schwartzwalder. Gruff, successful and unfortunately watched their programs slip before they stepped aside
- Gerry McNamara- Don McPherson. Incredible college players who just didn’t fit the pro game
- Dave Bing- Art Monk. Underappreciated legends
- Scoop Jardine- Troy Nunes. From WTF to Incredible…sometimes in the same play
- Jonny Flynn- Quinton Spotwood. Absolutely electric players until injuries ended their careers
- Derrick Coleman- Ernie Davis. Maybe better college players than Carmelo and Brown, but didn’t make the professional level impact to surpass them.
- Dion Waiters- Eric Dungey. Irrational self-confidence and will always be fondly remembered by Syracuse fans.
7. As the foremost authority on oranges, can you confirm if the juice is worth the squeeze? Are there any other fruit juices more worth the squeeze than orange juice?
Kevin Wall, TNIAAM: Orange juice is definitely worth the squeeze and orange is the superior juice.
Grape would be a distant second.
8. Alright, let’s get down to it — who wins, what’s the final score, and how does it happen? Bonus points if you can use several orange-themed puns.
Kevin Wall, TNIAAM: If Angeli was healthy, this game would have been ripe for an Orange upset as he would be looking for revenge after being frozen out from your starting QB job. Now, the Syracuse offense is all pulp- just getting in its own way anytime there looks to be something good happening. Seriously though, who actually likes pulp? You’re ready to enjoy a cold, refreshing juice and you want a mouthful of this stuff?* Just watch, Syracuse will get in the red zone and then it’s false start, sack, incomplete, field goal. Who wants that?
Notre Dame’s offensive line is going to squeeze the young Orange defenders and uproot them on the perimeter. Remember that time Syracuse went into Notre Dame and won behind a walk-on Quarterback? Well sadly nothing rhymes with that either and the Irish win 52-10.
*Editor Note from Pat Rick: couldn’t agree more, pulp is disgusting
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Alright friends, I want to give a MASSIVE shout-out to Kevin for all his great and insightful responses (especially considering the flakiness of some other opponent sites this season), and especially for taking my request for orange puns seriously in his final answer. Truly fantastic stuff.
I encourage you all to head over to Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician ASAP for all sorts of great coverage of this game, including a Q&A that will be published with the ramblings of yours truly.
Furthermore, please go give both the site and Kevin some follows on Twitter — they’re excellent sources for not only great info on Syracuse and coverage for this game, but also just great commentary on college sports in general. Continue to optimize those Twitter feeds, you guys!!!
With that said, that’s all for this week — per usual, GO IRISH, JUICE ORANGES!
