Notre Dame-Syracuse: Get Ready For Life In The Fast Lane

Back in 2014, new Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder’s first major indoctrination to the way offenses have changed in college football came during the 50‑43 victory over North Carolina. The Tar Heels’ fast-paced offense ran 84 plays (42 rushing and 42 passing) for 516 yards.

Thereafter, many other Irish opponents used a similar blueprint during Notre Dame’s 7-5 regular season, and VanGorder admitted it was a major change because his scheme was predicated so much on situational substitutions. The up-tempo, no-huddle attacks don’t allow the time for defensive players to shuffle in and out of the lineup.

VanGorder was relieved of his coaching duties last weekend by head coach Brian Kelly, who is installing a more basic defense that newly titled coordinator Greg Hudson, hired this summer as a defensive analyst by the Irish, will help operate. Welcome to the fast lane — literally!

The 2016 Syracuse Orange could be as fast-paced as any offense Notre Dame has ever played. During its 2‑2 start, Syracuse has averaged 86 plays per game, ranking in the top 4 nationally with a style with which schools such as Houston and Baylor have prospered. After running a “mere” 81 plays in the season-opening win over Colgate, Syracuse ran off 93 plays for 414 yards in the 62‑28 loss to Louisville Sept. 10, and then had an astounding 105 plays for 549 yards in the 45‑20 defeat to South Florida the next week.

Last week during its 31-24 win over UConn, Syracuse was normalized to 66 plays, but produced 469 yards total offense, 407 via the air. Headlining the charge is fifth-year senior Maryland graduate transfer Amba Etta-Tawo, whose 12 receptions against the Huskies totaled 270 yards. Syracuse's strength, a deep and veteran receiving corps with a seasoned quarterback (Eric Dungey), matches well with Notre Dame's top concern: a mainly rebuilt secondary replete with youth.

For context, consider that Notre Dame ran 66.5 plays per contest last year. For even more perspective, the 1970 Notre Dame team that finished No. 2 nationally under head coach Ara Parseghian averaged what is still an NCAA-record 92.4 plays per game.

There are numerous bugs to work out for the Orange under first-year head coach Dino Babers, who was 18‑9 at Bowling Green from 2014‑15 and 19‑7 at Eastern Illinois from 2012‑13, but his system has proven to be effective.

At Eastern Illinois, Babers inherited a 2‑9 program that he transformed into 7‑5 his first year with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who is now with the New England Patriots. The next year, the Panthers went 12‑2 and ranked No. 1 in the Football Bowl Subdivision with Garoppolo in total offense (589.5 per game) and scoring offense (48.2 points per game).

At Bowling Green last year, the Falcons finished fourth nationally in total offense (546.8 yards per game). His influence already is being felt at Syracuse, which was 118th in total offense last year at 319.9, but after three games this season was at 496.5 (25th nationally).

“We’re in the beginning stages because of where we started from,” Babers said of this year’s 1-2 start. “I said that out of all the places I’ve been, this is going to be the toughest transition I’ve ever had because of what was taught previously before we got here.

“It does not mean that what they were teaching was wrong. It just means that that was the ‘Z’ and we’re operating from the A-side of the alphabet. It’s a huge transition, so as we grow together we’ll get better and better at it.”

Eight starters returned on offense from last season, led by sophomore dual-threat quarterback Dungey, who passed for 1,298 yards and rushed for 351 last year despite missing four games with an injury. This year, he already had 1,367 yards through the air (341.8 per game) while running less (67 yards). An undisclosed injury reportedly has hampered him this week.

However, if Syracuse is to return to .500 level play, the defense will need vast improvement. It finished 90th in scoring defense at 31.0 points per game last year. The team’s top 2015 player, defensive end Ron Thompson, opted to forego his senior year to enter the NFL Draft, and that position was further ravaged when two freshmen (Amir Ealey and Qaadir Sheppard) were kicked off the team for a violation of team rules. In the opening weeks this year, the Orange secondary also incurred two season-ending injuries to starters Antwan Cody and Juwan Daniels.

Louisville racked up 845 yards of total offense against Syracuse.

Given Babers’ history on offense and Notre Dame’s recent history on defense, another 50-43 shootout like the one against North Carolina seems possible on paper.

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