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Notre Dame Football: Top Storylines vs. Syracuse

By Connor McJunkin

EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 03: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish leads his team onto the field prior to a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 3, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 03: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish leads his team onto the field prior to a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 3, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – NOVEMBER 10: Nick Coleman #24 of the Notre Dame football team reacts after returning an interception 27 yards against the Florida State Seminoles in the first quarter of the game at Notre Dame Stadium on November 10, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – NOVEMBER 10: Nick Coleman #24 of the Notre Dame football team reacts after returning an interception 27 yards against the Florida State Seminoles in the first quarter of the game at Notre Dame Stadium on November 10, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame football is 10-0 and sitting at No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings. This weekend they travel to Yankee Stadium to take on No. 12 Syracuse. Here are the biggest storylines for this late-season Top-12 matchup.

Coming off a dominant 42-13 Senior Day win over Florida a week ago, the Irish are a perfect 10-0 and finished the season with an undefeated record in South Bend. The win marks the first back-to-back 10 win seasons for the Irish since 1992-1993.

Now, all the attention turns to No. 12 Syracuse at Yankee Stadium. This will be the next installment of the Shamrock Series, which was played annually from 2009-2016 before taking a gap year in 2017.

Notre Dame football in November at Yankee Stadium — tweet me a better combination.

Coming into the season, everyone had the Michigan, Stanford, Virginia Tech, FSU, and USC games circled. Huge rivalry games, playing in Blacksburg, revenge against the Seminoles, the schedule looked like a gauntlet from the beginning of September to the end of November.

That being said, if you told me that possibly the toughest matchup on the back-end of Notre Dame’s schedule would be Syracuse, I wouldn’t have believed you — at all.

Yet, here we are, with the Irish preparing for an 8-2 Syracuse squad that is ranked 12th in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings.

Just like we all predicted before the season, right?

Syracuse has more wins this season than they do in their last two seasons combined. The last time the Orange had an eight-win season was in 2012 when they finished 8-5. This team is pretty darn good. Their two losses came against No. 2 Clemson (a game they should have won) and in overtime to Pittsburgh.

All the pressure is on the Irish in this matchup, who are still controlling their own destiny in their path to the postseason. For Syracuse, as explained by head coach Dino Babers, this week’s game is a “freebie” for them. They’ve already won eight games and are bowl eligible. This isn’t a conference game and they aren’t fighting for a bowl spot. Lose, and they’re 8-3, still ranked, and still bowl-bound. If they pull off the upset, they become a Top-10 team and hit the college football world with some postseason chaos.

Regardless, these are two of the best teams in the nation and are hungry to keep their momentum rolling late in the season. Here are the top storylines for the Week 11 matchup.

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