Kyle Smedley, South Bend TribuneFri, November 21, 2025 at 9:00 AM UTC·4 min readNotre Dame is one of the hottest teams in all of college football right now, stacking up eight straight wins after dropping the first two games of the season to No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 15 Miami (Fla.).
It would be a shocker if Notre Dame’s streak was stopped before a projected College Football Playoff (CFP) appearance, as their final two regular season games look like cakewalks on paper. This Saturday, Nov. 22, will mark the Irish’s final home game of the regular season, and it’ll come against a Syracuse Orange (3-7) squad that has lost six straight games after beating Clemson in Week 4.
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Notre Dame is a 35.5-point favorite, and here’s how they can live up to that lofty expectation on Senior Day (3:30 p.m., NBC).
Don’t sleepwalk
Do the Irish have to play their best game to beat Syracuse? Probably not. Should they approach this game with that mindset? Absolutely not.
This is by no means the same Notre Dame team as last season, but Northern Illinois proved it’s possible for unexpected teams to beat the Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. That’s not to say the Orange are on the same level as a Mid-American Conference (MAC) program, but they aren’t exactly an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) heavyweight either.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn college football, no team can afford to take a game off, especially a squad with two losses to its name already. Put the hammer down on Syracuse and move one step closer to a virtually guaranteed CFP spot.
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No Angeli, BIG problem
This game was circled on the calendars of many Notre Dame fans prior to the season for one reason. Former Irish quarterback Steve Angeli was likely to be under center for the Orange after transferring out of South Bend in the offseason.
Angeli started four games for Syracuse to begin the season before tearing his Achilles against Clemson. The six games since have been started by redshirt sophomore Rickie Collins, and the results couldn’t be more different.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAngeli passed for 1,317 yards, 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions in less than four total games played. Collins, who has appeared in seven games, has 1,042 passing yards, six touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
A Notre Dame defense that has intercepted the third-most passes of any FBS team with 17 should be wide-eyed looking at the prospect of Syracuse’s middling offense without Angeli.
How many highlight reel plays like Jeremiyah Love have this week?
It seems like Jeremiyah Love adds at least one huge play each week to his Heisman-worthy highlight reel. Last week against Pittsburgh, it was an incredibly agile spin move that led to a 56-yard touchdown.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe week before it was a rush that looked dead in the water before Love somehow stayed on his feet to score a 48-yarder against Navy. The list goes on.
Love now has 1,409 total yards and 17 total touchdowns, already accumulating more yards and scoring just two less touchdowns than his impressive sophomore campaign last year in six less games so far.
He should have no trouble lighting up a Syracuse defense that allows 31.5 points and 163 rushing yards per game.
South Bend Tribune staff predictions for Notre Dame vs. Syracuse football
Mike Berardino, Notre Dame football beat reporter: No. 9 Notre Dame 44, Syracuse 0: Another Senior Day blowout for the surging Irish.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTom Noie, columnist: No. 9 Notre Dame 44, Syracuse 8: Why this score? This has been the average of Notre Dame Senior Day games since 2019, where the Irish have outscored the opposition 264-49. The Irish can see that 10-2 finish line.
Kyle Smedley, sports reporter: No. 9 Notre Dame 49, Syracuse 6: The Irish haven’t lost to Syracuse since 2008, and the Orange haven’t beaten Notre Dame by more than one point since 2003. You really think this is going to be a close game?
Austin Hough, sports content coach: No. 9 Notre Dame 45, Syracuse 7: The lack of the “Steve Angeli return game” storyline makes this an uneventful contest.
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at [email protected] or follow him on X @KyleSmedley03.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 3 keys, staff predictions for Notre Dame vs Syracuse football
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