Notre Dame vs Syracuse: Biggest Storylines, Key Battles And Players To Watch On Offense

Notre Dame travels out west to take on Stanford in the battle for the Legends Trophy in their final regular season game. The Irish are riding a nine-game winning streak and are preparing to face a team that is 4-1 at home. The Cardinal have defeated Boston College, San Jose State, Florida State and Cal at home this season. That being said, this is a Stanford program that has struggled all season long. Their defense has struggled but still plays hard and is scrappy in the run game.

This is also Notre Dame's last chance to make an impression on the playoff committee since they won't be playing in a game on Championship Weekend. The offense has been exciting throughout this win streak, but has one final opportunity to put it all together in their final regular season outing. Here are the biggest storylines, key battles and a player to watch for the Fighting Irish offense.

1. Love's Heisman Finale - Junior running back Jeremiyah Love has had a magical season up to this point. He's already surpassed his rushing yards total from their 16-game season in 2024 and has matched his rushing touchdown numbers from a season ago with a game left in the regular season. Love is on the brink of surpassing the all-time single-season rushing record at Notre Dame which is significant given the lineage of running backs that have came through South Bend. The St. Louis native is now well within the Heisman Trophy conversation and a big performance on Saturday night will help further the cause.

2. Last Opportunity For Pass Offense - On paper, it was weird to see Notre Dame beat an opponent 70-7 but quarterback CJ Carr only threw the ball nine times. Granted, one of those throws went for a touchdown, but it wasn't the passing performance many of us expected to see against Syracuse. But when your offense rushes for 329 yards and six touchdowns, you understand why the box score was the way it was. That being said, Notre Dame's offense has one last opportunity to get the passing game into a rhythm before they head into the playoffs. Stanford has one of the worst pass defenses in the country and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has to take advantage.

3. Tighten Some Loose Screws Before Post Season - As good as this offense has been over the last few months, there are still areas for improvement. Yes, being perfect is an unrealistic standard, but striving for perfection is certainly the main goal. This offense still ranks No. 122 in the country in the red zone. Short yardage, especially down in the scoring zone, has seemingly been this team's only kryptonite this season. If the Irish wish to make another run in the playoffs, this aspect of their offense has to be shored up. Now, if they put on another scoring clinic like they did against Syracuse, you won't hear me complaining too much either.

1. Interior Offensive Line vs Clay Patterson - Stanford's best interior defensive lineman is Clay Patterson. He currently leads the team in sacks and is second on the team in pressures. Patterson also ranks 3rd on the team in tackles for a loss with 5.5. Notre Dame's interior offensive line, specifically left guard Sullivan Absher and center Joe Otting, will have to prevent Patterson from blowing up any opportunities in the run game and do their part in keeping Carr's jersey clean. Otting and Absher are coming off of their best performance as a duo this season. They played extremely well against Syracuse and will have to replicate that performance against a quality defensive tackle in Patterson.

2. Malachi Fields vs Outside Corners - Let's face the facts, Virginia transfer Malachi Fields was not brought to Notre Dame to beat Stanford or Syracuse. He was, however, brought to South Bend to beat teams they'll face in the playoffs and Saturday is the last opportunity to really get him going and build momentum heading into the post season. Fields stacked two strong back to back performances against Navy and Pitt and went for over 95 yards in both games. Tomorrow night, he'll be going against Stanford's best cover corner in Brandon Nicholson. Look for Carr to target the 6-4, 223-pound boundary receiver early and often in this matchup.

There's no way around it, this is Love's final regular season game in a Notre Dame uniform. What we've witnessed over the past two seasons has been certified greatness and Love has the opportunity to etch his name in the Notre Dame record books tomorrow night. This season, the 6-0, 214-pound running back has totaled 1,306 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns, averaged 7.1 yards per carry, 274 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. In his last outing, he had 171 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries. He'll be gearing up to face a solid Stanford rush defense that ranks 25th in the country. Love's career is starting to come to a close at Notre Dame; enjoy watching this special player while you can.

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