Notre Dame vs Syracuse Needs to Be A Dominant Senior Day Sendoff

The Irish must overcome emotions and continue to dominate to impress the College Football Playoff committee

Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Malachi Fields (0) goes airborne while hauling in a pass while being covered by Pittsburgh Panthers defensive back Rashad Battle (15) during the first half at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA on November 15, 2025. | Michael Longo / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It will be an emotional day in South Bend

This Saturday, as the Irish prepare to take on Syracuse, emotions will be running high. Being a student at Notre Dame isn't easy. It's a challenging and arduous mental and emotional journey that shapes a person into who they will become out in the real world.

On top of the rigors of academic life, being a football player adds an entire additional layer of responsibilities, stress, and sacrifice that is required to have a successful Notre Dame journey. I hope this Saturday, these players enjoy the embrace they will have on the field with Marcus Freeman and their families before the start of this game.

This acknowledgement is well earned and deserved.

Therein lies the inherent challenge of senior day. Can and will the Irish players be able to handle an emotional family moment of reflection and then, a few moments later, "flip the switch" and be able to physically dominate Syracuse?

The answer to this question needs to be a resounding yes, as the Irish must continue to impress the CFP committee for two more weeks.

9️⃣ in the College Football Playoff Rankings#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/nj266QYd9m

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 19, 2025

Notre Dame's remaining schedule is less than impressive

Notre Dame's remaining opponents are not good at football.

Syracuse and Stanford are both sitting on 3-7 records that should continue to get worse after facing the Irish. This is the challenge for Notre Dame. With no more "impressive" wins left on the schedule, the Irish cannot really impress the CFP committee much in the final two games of the season, even with blowout victories.

What can Notre Dame do to screw this up besides losing? Play sluggish football and win these games unimpressively, which could cause some on the CFP committee to rethink the Irish's CFP position.

This is what the Irish cannot afford to do. The bar for these two contests isn't just for Notre Dame to win the games, but to dominate both opponents in a way that leaves no doubt in the committee's minds that the Irish are indeed one of the best 12 teams in the land.

Notre Dame's defense should shine again

Notre Dame's defense is on the rise and is gaining confidence by the week. After the Irish settled in regarding personnel after the first two games, this unit is allowing just 14.5 PPG.

This is bad news for an Orange squad that has scored just an average of 11.5 PPG during its six-game losing streak since losing former Irish quarterback Steve Angeli to injury.

The Notre Dame defense should feast against Syracuse, and this should set the stage for a lopsided senior day score in favor of the Irish.