CFB: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Week 13 Preview
By Stiofán Mac Fhilib
When Texas A&M left Notre Dame Stadium with a W back in September, Irish playoff hopes were left dangling by a thread. And a fairly bare one at that. Only ten straight wins would give ND any realistic chance of making the 12-team tournament. Eight consecutive wins later, and #9 Notre Dame are now very much back in the playoff mix. But they still need to take care of business against injury-ravaged Syracuse on Senior Day this Saturday.
Looking Back at Last Week
In the run-up to the hardest of Notre Dame’s three remaining regular-season games, opposing Head Coach Pat Narduzzi had a somewhat bizarre approach to motivating his Pitt team. “I don’t care if we lose 103-10 or 110-10” was not something you hear every day in fairness.
With a second under eight minutes remaining in the first quarter, a Tae Johnson 49-yard pick-six made the score 14-0 and technically had the Irish on track to meet the scoreline Narduzzi was content with. 17 seconds earlier, Jeremiyah Love had yet again demonstrated why he’s likely the best player in college football this season with another highlight reel 56-yard TD run. He may not win a QB-centric Heisman Trophy, but he surely ought to be invited to New York in early December.
In total, the Irish rushed for 175 yards at 4.9 ypc against one of the stingiest run defenses in all of college football. They held Pitt to 22 points and 187 total yards below their season averages, as the Panthers went 0-13 on third downs.
When Pitt took the ball at the start of their final possession, against the ND backups, with 2:49 remaining, they had amassed just 140 yards of total offense. By that stage of the game, Jeremiyah Love himself was resting on the bench with his helmet off, and with 167 total yards on 25 touches.
The first team Notre Dame defense (6 points) scored more than the first team Pitt offense (3 points). And even those three points came on a drive that started at the Irish 12-yard line following a CJ Carr interception. It was an exceptional performance by the ND defense that gave the Panthers’ promising true freshman QB, Mason Heintschel, a torrid afternoon. He only completed 16 of his 33 passes for just 126 yards and an interception.
The Notre Dame offense didn’t fully click, failing on fourth down several times, including inside the Pitt one yard line, when they rolled Carr out to pass rather than run the best RB in college football. And after Erik Schmidt missed a 46-yard FG on ND’s first possession, they eschewed that option on other fourth downs. It may not be needed against Syracuse and Stanford, but Freeman surely needs to see a FG or two made before the Irish head into the playoffs.
Narduzzi ended the game week in as curiously bizarre a manner as he had begun it. After marching down the field against second and third string Irish defensive players, in large part courtesy of a pair of interesting roughing the passer penalties, the Pitt HC called a run up the middle on 3rd and 10 from the Irish 25 with seven seconds remaining. The four-yard gain was surely the final action of the afternoon?
No. Narduzzi called a time out and as time expired on fourth down, backup QB, Eli Holstein threw a TD pass to narrow the winning margin to 22, 37-15. The post-game ‘handshake’ with Marcus Freeman was as brief and perfunctory as you’d expect.
The Week Ahead
Syracuse Orange (Notre Dame Stadium); 3.30pm EST; 8.30pm GMT
Notre Dame leads this series, first played in 1914, 8-3-0. Since entering into their scheduling arrangement with the ACC in 2014, the Irish have won five straight, averaging over 40 ppg, and are prohibitive favourites to extend that streak this weekend.
In his second season at the Orange, Head Coach, Fran Brown had followed up his excellent 10-3 season in 2024 with a 3-1 start. Their win over UConn looks more impressive with each passing week, and going into Clemson and coming away with a 34-21 victory was remarkable, despite the Tigers’ recent woes.
That particular win, however, came at the heaviest of prices. Starting QB and Notre Dame transfer, Steve Angeli, he of the best nickname in college football (‘peanut butter’), suffered a season-ending injury in Death Valley, and the Orange have fallen into a six-game losing streak tailspin since that fateful day.
LSU transfer, Rickie Collins, beaten out by Angeli in Fall Camp, struggled when inserted into live action, with a 7-11 TD:INT ratio. Brown then turned to true freshman Joe Filardi, a walk-on and lacrosse player, in their recent defeat at UNC. The kid is tough and can be an elusive runner, but going 4-18 for 39 yards in Chapel Hill is unlikely to keep Notre Dame DC, Chris Ash, awake at night.
Their bigger threat is running the ball, but it is difficult to see where multiple explosive plays will come from. And once in obvious passing situations, their offensive line is ill-equipped to deal with an Irish DL room that is rounding into top form at the right time of the season. Don’t be surprised to see both Orange QBs see game time this week.
Defensively, they lost a fair bit of experience after last season and are young at various key spots. They are better against the run than the pass and do like a good blitz. If the Notre Dame OL can maintain its excellent pass-blocking form, then CJ Carr ought to be well-placed to get significantly closer to a 3,000-yard regular season.
The one area where they do outshine their hosts is, of course, place-kicking. While the Irish struggle to make anything longer than a PAT, and sometimes even a PAT itself, Syracuse’s Trip Woody is perfect on his 21 PATs this season, and perfect (9-9) on FGs inside 40 yards. He may be the top scorer for the Orange on Saturday.
Game Prediction
NOTRE DAME 45-6 SYRACUSE
The Irish will better Miami’s result against the Orange last week (38-10) and then rest as many starters as possible, especially on Senior Day.
Where to Watch
Sky Sports NFL (Channel 412 on Sky) coverage starts at 8.30pm GMT
NBC (in the USA)
Playoff Picture
USC’s win over Iowa and Texas going down heavily in Athens were both very helpful to the Irish cause last week. Navy edging South Florida might also prove useful come December. However, Oklahoma winning in Tuscaloosa could be problematic for ND, depending on results elsewhere.
This is the pre-Thanksgiving bye week for much of the SEC, but there are still some crucial games that will directly impact Notre Dame’s playoff hopes. Oklahoma host Missouri with Irish fans cheering on the underdog Tigers, and USC head to Oregon. ‘Irish fans cheering on USC’ is perhaps a step too far for much of the ND faithful, but a Trojan win would be a big deal for Irish aspirations.
Pitt beating Georgia Tech would be a nice bonus, as would Cincinnati taking down BYU. Virginia Tech may not be likely to overcome the Hurricanes in Blacksburg, but if by some chance they do, Miami fans on social media may have an interesting week ahead!
STIOFÁN MAC FHILIB
COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST
A VERY LONG-DISTANCE SUBWAY ALUMNUS OF NOTRE DAME, COUNTY ANTRIM-BASED STIOFÁN HAS BEEN A FAN OF THE FIGHTING IRISH SINCE 2000. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @SMACFHILIB.