There was a time when Notre Dame's game against Syracuse had a chance to be something special. Beloved former Fighting Irish QB Steve Angeli was supposed to return to South Bend on Senior Night and take on his former teammates. Unfortunately, Angeli is out for the year, and instead, Joseph Filardi will be under center for the Orange on Saturday afternoon.
If Irish fans haven't heard about Filardi, it wouldn't be a surprise. He's a walk-on quarterback who has thrown just 21 passes so far this year. He's being pressed into service because the Orange's season has gone down the drain, and head coach Fran Brown is desperate.
It will be the second start of the walk-on's career following a second benching of redshirt-sophomore Rickie Collins, who was only starting because the former Notre Dame veteran was injured. Filardi completed four of his 18 passes in the Halloween loss to North Carolina.
Notre Dame will face walk-on QB Joseph Filardi on Saturday
Filardi did do a better job when he came in during garbage time last weekend against Miami. He completed all three of his pass attempts for 39 yards (oddly matching the 39 yards exactly he had against North Carolina) and led Syracuse to its only touchdown in a 38-10 loss to the Hurricanes.
"Joe’s going to go in at quarterback and I’m thinking Luke [Carney] could probably get some time this week," Brown said when explaining a walk-on getting the start against Notre Dame. "I feel like Joe should go in because of being able to go down and put some points on the board. First time we’ve had a touchdown in some weeks. It sucks saying that."
Coming into today, Notre Dame was already a 35.5-point favorite over Syracuse according to the FanDuel Sportsbook. With Miami as a common opponent, it will behoove the Irish to absolutely dismantle Filardi and his mates to make yet another statement to the College Football Playoff Committee. Considering what the defense did to a hotshot freshman quarterback last weekend, how badly Filardi takes a beating will be something to watch.