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Syracuse Ready For ‘Angry Mama Bear’ On Saturday

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers spoke with the media on Monday. (Syracuse athletics)

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers is preparing his team for a “wounded” Notre Dame group entering Saturday’s noon matchup on ESPN.

Babers, of course, was referencing Notre Dame’s firing of third-year defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder after the Irish fell to 1-3 with an embarrassing 38-35 loss to Duke last week.

“What normally happens in those situations is, just like in the cowboy movies, you circle the wagons and you find out who wants to fight and who doesn’t want to fight,” Babers said of Notre Dame. “We’re going to get an angry mama bear that’s been wounded that’s going to be fighting and clawing and coming out with all they have.

“I really wish they wouldn’t have done anything and wish they would’ve won the game last week. We’re going to get their best shot, there’s no doubt.”

Babers was then asked if the Orange (2-2) are getting Notre Dame in a vulnerable spot. He dismissed that notion, stating that Duke was the team that caught the Irish at the right time.

The 55-year-old Babers has taken what he learned from Art Briles at Baylor (2008-11 as a receivers coach) and implemented it at Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green. He’ll now take that high-powered offense and put it up against a Notre Dame defense led by Greg Hudson.

“You’ve got to think about this. It’s not his defense. He hasn’t called it,” Babers said. “Now you’ve got somebody in France, and he speaks Spanish and he’s got to speak French. It can be difficult. Who knows what he’s going to be able to change.”

Syracuse, which is 9-20 since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013, gave up an on-campus home game to play the Irish at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

Babers, who was hired in December after two years at Bowling Green, made his feelings about the neutral-site setup clear.

“I get it that we get a lot of money and we’ll pay a lot of bills and that’s really good,” Babers said. “That’s great. I would hope that in the future that we’d get to play them in the Carrier Dome. In the future I’d hope to get teams like that in the Carrier Dome.”

Babers has coached against Notre Dame before. He was the wide receivers coach at Purdue from 1991-93 (three ND wins), offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M in 2001 (24-3 Aggies win), running backs coach at Pittsburgh in 2003 (20-14 Irish win), running backs coach at UCLA in 2006 (20-17 ND win), and assistant head coach/running backs coach at UCLA in 2007 (20-6 ND win).

“They’re just one of those teams that normally always has luck on their side,” Babers said. “You have to be really prepared. They have luck, they have the Irish, they have the best players in the country and they have their own TV station.

“Their coaches are well paid, their players are really good and they have outstanding traditions.”

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