Notre Dame @ Syracuse preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 22, 2008 ) Syracuse 24, Notre Dame 23

The Notre Dame defense has been ferocious through the first three weeks of the season, and the offense hasn't been too shabby either. The eighth-ranked Fighting Irish look to continue their dominant start to the campaign when they take on Syracuse on Saturday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The teams are meeting for the first time since 2008, when the Orange scored the decisive touchdown in the final minute, but this Fighting Irish team is on a different level than that 2008 squad - particularly on defense.

Notre Dame enters this matchup having allowed a total of 31 points on the season, including just seven points in the second half. The Fighting Irish forced three turnovers in their last game - a 30-14 victory over Purdue in which they got a lift offensively from Everett Golson, who passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a score. The Orange dropped a 34-20 decision to Maryland last Saturday despite outgaining the Terrapins, 589-369.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ABC. LINE: Notre Dame -11

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (3-0): The Irish have received stellar play from Golson, who has seven touchdowns and no interceptions on the young season while adding four of the team's six rushing touchdowns as well. Sophomore wideout William Fuller has a TD catch in all three games and leads the team with 19 receptions for 225 yards, a season after catching a total of six balls for 160 yards and one score. Factoring in Notre Dame's tremendous start on defense, coach Brian Kelly obviously has high expectations for the rest of 2014, saying this week that "I really like the potential of this football team. It's a young team that is learning and getting better. ... So I think the potential is as high as any team that I've had here at Notre Dame."

ABOUT SYRACUSE (2-1): Quarterback Terrel Hunt and running back Prince-Tyson Gulley combined to rush for almost 300 yards and the Orange had 370 as a team in the loss to Maryland. For the season, Hunt is averaging seven yards per carry and Gulley has a 7.8-yard average while Adonis Ameen-Moore isn't far behind at 6.9 yards on 28 attempts. "We’re playing one of the best teams in the country in Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium," said Syracuse coach Scott Shafer, whose team committed two turnovers and eight penalties against the Terps. "We have to do a better job of controlling the things that we can control. That would be penalties, pre-snap penalties and discipline with our hand placement, and trying to continue to work to get those turnovers."

EXTRA POINTS

1. Syracuse WR Ashton Broyld, who has a team-high 11 catches, will miss a couple of weeks with a leg injury.

2. The all-time series between the Fighting Irish and Orange is tied 3-3.

3. After rushing three times for 14 yards in an injury-plagued freshman season, Notre Dame RB Greg Bryant leads the Irish with 119 yards on 22 carries in 2014.

PREDICTION: Notre Dame 33, Syracuse 16