I for one am not very excited about this game…I just want to know who our next head coach is and look forward to 2009! Will the guys feel the same way though?

When: Saturday November 22nd, 2008 – 2:30 PM Eastern

Where: South Bend, Indiana at Notre Dame Stadium

Capacity: 80,795

Television: NBC

The Spread: The line opened at Notre Dame -19.5 but has since gone up to Notre Dame -20. The Over/Under is at 49 total points.

Head Coaches: Notre Dame – Charlie Weis – 4th season at Notre Dame (28-19 overall) Syracuse- Greg Robinson – 4th and final season at Syracuse (9-36 overall.)

Last time they played: In 2003 Syracuse stomped the Fighting Irish 38-12 thanks to 5 touchdown runs from Walter Reyes.

LVO’s Five things to look for this Saturday:

1) How much intensity will there be?  The executioner has finally swung his axe.  So how hard will the kids play for Robinson?  If we look to other lame ducks like Ty Willingham (no wins) and Philip Fulmer (losing to Wyoming – hey didn’t we duck a return game with them?) as guides then it’s highly likely that we’ll lay a big fat egg on the Golden Domers.

2) How many picks will Jimmy Clausen throw?  With 15 give-aways, JC is as likely to serve a few up Saturday as there will be deals to be had on Black Friday.

3) Can we get another special teams TD?  After bemoaning the lack of effort on going after kicks all season, especially given that our punt return unit is just that in name only, it was nice to see consecutive blocks turn into points.  We are going to have to get another one or take one of Clausen’s gifts to the house this week too if we expect to cover the number.

4) Greg in high-def!  I’m sure there will be a few tivo enthusiasts that could capture some facial expressions that will epitomize the fate of Robinson’s career on the Hill.  Just how does Charlie Weis survive the high def challenge on a weekly basis is mind boggling.  He has to be the fattest gastro patient out there isn’t he?

5) Out-greening the team in green.  How bad is it when I have to hang the university’s hope for respect on national TV to an eco-challenge?

Syracuse’s Offense vs Notre Dames Defense: What a horrible showing from the QB position last week. Dantley and Robinson went a combined 6 for 23 for a measly 51 yards and 3 interceptions (one brought back for a TD.) Catalina also saw the field but only took one meaningful snap on a designed QB draw. Dantley has struggled to find a receiver for the past few weeks and Robinson definitely looks like a shell of last year (which wasn’t all that great either.) Time to give the ball to Cody and see what he can do. There is really nothing to lose and from what I’ve seen at Cody (spring game, warm ups, HS tapes) he’d be just as good if not better than Cam and Arob at this point. Odds are Dantley will get the start though. I watched most of the Notre Dame/Navy game last weekend and the Notre Dame defensive line was pretty tough. Of course Navy’s offensive is pretty predictable but they tackled well and had multiple tackles for a loss. It took a while, but eventually Navy was able to wear the Irish defense down a bit and find a few holes and scare the Irish (thanks to a few nice onside kicks too.) In three of Notre Dames four losses an opposing rusher went for over 120 yards (Javon Ringer from Mich St, LeSean McCoy from Pitt, and Montel Harris from Boston College.) It seems like a steady diet of the ground game and you have a pretty good chance to beat the Irish. What better than Brinkley, Hogue, and Carter to put on a show for Touchdown Jesus? Too bad it seems Hogue is in Robinsons doghouse and Carter is still “Injured.” We can compete with the Irish…but who knows who will see PT or even put forth an effort for soon to be gone Robinson.

Notre Dames Offense vs Syracuse’s Defense: Jimmy Claussen was starting to look like the Quarterback Notre Dame expected early on this season…but lately he’s looked no better than our stable of QB’s. In his past two game Claussen has thrown no touchdowns but a grand total of 6 interceptions…ouch. Theres no doubt Claussen obviously still has a lot of learning to do – but hopefully he waits until after this weekend to figure things out. If we can find a way to put some pressure on Claussen (more Suter anyone?) its probable Claussen is going to make a few mistakes. If we give him all day in the pocket he’s more than a good enough tosser to open this one up early. Luckily Notre Dames top receiver Michael Floyd (46 receptions, 702 yards, 7 TD’s) is out for this weekend with a knee injury. Like us -Notre Dame has a three headed RB attack – only Weis uses them all. Together Armando Allen, Robert Hughes, and James Aldridge have rushed for 1,100 yards + for 9 TD’s (3 a piece) each averaging about 8-10 touches. Weis will be able to rotate these guys and keep them fresh all game long which doesn’t look good for our 108th ranked rush defense. It looks like this will probably be the game the Irish will use to re-spark their offense and get it rolling like it was a month ago.

Why Syracuse will win: The guys go out and just do whatever they can to win one for their soon to be gone HC Greg Robinson. Brinkley notches another 100 yard outing and Cameron shows Notre Dame that his dad isn’t the only legend in Notre Dame.

Why Notre Dame will win: Claussen and Notre Dames three heading running attack get back on track. Claussen has all day to throw and seems to have no problem without top receiver Malcolm Floyd. Dantley and Robinson continue to struggle and once again try to ride Brinkley for any and all offensive production.

Syracuse player to watch: RB Curtis Brinkley – 1060 yards rushing – 6 rushing TD’s – 12 receptions for 75 yards.  Really?  Is there any surprise here.  With two headed QB named Andrew Dantley experiment lowering our overall completion percentage to under 50%, it again all falls on Boonah.  How well he runs determines how long we stay in the game.

Notre Dame player to watch: WR Golden Tate – 43 receptions 742 yards and 5 TDs.  Tate leads a trio of players w/ over 40 catches.  If Notre Dames’ RBBC of  Armondo Allen, Robert Hughes and James Aldridge can be slowed, it will be Tate that will garner the throws from Jimmy Clausen.  Expect him to find plenty of room to roam in the secondary.

Lvilleorange Prediction: I just about nailed last week’s prediction (38-13 vs 39-14).  Now if I can just remove my hand from my back and come up with an offering for this week.  I’m not too confident in our offense doing much, as ARob and Dantley have looked awful and it appears there won’t be a Legree siting in South Bend.  I’ll say 38-17.

Reyes39 Prediction: Notre Dame 31 Syracuse 27

-Stats thanks to collegefootballdatabase and ncaa.org

-Photos thanks to ESPN

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 4:27 am by Sean N. . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.