Syracuse is the best opponent yet for Notre Dame’s leading receiver to get his first touchdown of the season. Though Ian Book is a proven winner, he has yet to throw a scoring pass to Javon McKinley in 2020. Based on McKinley’s receiving yards a catch, his best chance to find the end zone might come if the Irish are inside the red zone. He might want to get that monkey off his back before the stakes get higher after this game.
The Orange have a quality top receiver in Taj Harris. In fact, he’s been one of the few bright spots on an offense that has not been able to accomplish much this season. He will need to be one of, if not the only primary factor if the Orange are going to shock the world. At the same time, the Irish will know who to focus on to try and make that putrid unit even worse than usual, which might not even be that difficult.