Notre Dame was hoping to continue its recent surge Wednesday against Clemson. Instead, that game’s postponement means the Irish (9-10, 6-7) will enter Saturday’s game at Syracuse having not played in almost a week. Although the Irish have won six of their past eight, they haven’t gone this long without playing since the beginning of this run. Rust could play a factor, at least at the beginning.
The Irish can’t afford to come out slow given their recent history with the Orange (12-6, 6-5). Three of the past four games in which these programs have met have been decided by one or two points. The teams have split those contests, so anything can happen, even as one of them clearly is having a better season. An upset win for the Irish would be a big boost to begin a three-game road trip that also will take them to Louisville and a Boston College program that now has a coaching vacancy after Jim Christian was fired this week.