Rex Culpepper’s play went viral this past Saturday for his mistake of spiking the ball on 4th and Goal with the game on the line against NC State. I won’t dive much into that because a) there really isn’t too much to dive into and b) I tend to give Culpepper a pass on these types of things considering what he’s had to do to even get to this point.

Before I dive into Rex’s story, I want to dive into his parents. I didn’t watch Brad Culpepper play at Florida nor did I notice his play in the NFL. The first time I noticed anyone of the Culpepper family was in the winter of 2012 when Brad’s wife (and Rex’s mother) Monica Culpepper first appeared on the reality TV competition show Survivor. Monica then appeared with Brad a couple of seasons later, sporting a hat with a gold P on it. I personally thought nothing of it at the time. Brad is liked enough by the production team behind Survivor to be brought back three and a half years later, this time boasting a Syracuse hat, telling the production team he was wearing it or not going back. This brought fury among Florida fans, or at the very least confusion.

Rex Culpepper committed to Syracuse in June of 2015 and enrolled the following year, right as his dad was going on Survivor, supporting his son. In the spring of 2018, after his redshirt freshman season where he saw mostly special teams duty, Rex flexed his survivor muscles, just a little different than how his parents. In March 2018, Culpepper was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He underwent 10 weeks of chemo treatments and was declared cancer-free in June of that year. Right by his side as he rang the bell? His mother Monica, and his dad Brad, proudly in a Syracuse hat.

Syracuse at Notre Dame (-33.5)

Notre Dame Stadium
South Bend, Indiana
Date: Saturday, December 5, 2020
Time: 2:30 PM ET
TV: NBC

There are many jokes to be had about the different paths Notre Dame and Michigan, most notable this tweet:

The one diverging of paths that seems to have fallen off the wayside is the diverging of the paths between Notre Dame and Syracuse. Coming into their 2018 showdown at Yankee Stadium, Syracuse was riding high at 8-2 and #12 in the CFP and an outside shot at a New Year’s Six Bowl. Since they lost to Notre Dame, the Orange are 8-16 and will miss a bowl for the second straight season. This year has been a true bottoming out for the program, with their lone win against the equally rebuilding Georgia Tech. Let’s take a look at what will line up against the Irish.

Syracuse’s Offense

The Syracuse offense is, by the numbers, one of the worst offenses of any Power 5 school, and may be one of the worst on a per game basis. They are ranked 124th in points per drive, with only Bowling Green, Kansas, and UMass worse. They are equally derided in SP+, where they also rank 124th, with Akron, UMass, and Bowling Green worse (all of those teams have played four games to Syracuse’s ten).

I’d say that there is one solution to this problem, but that would be plugging one hole in a sinking boat, ignoring the others, and not bailing out water. Their rushing offense is 124th at 78.3 yards per game. Their top rusher is also the only one who has scored a rushing TD for the Orange this season, Sean Tucker. Tucker, a true Freshman, may not be 100% for the game on Saturday after briefly leaving last week’s game against NC State with what appeared to be a high ankle injury. Tucker leads the team in rushing with 525 yards.  The next closest rushing attack is sophomore Cooper Lutz, who only has 127 yards on the season.

For passing, the Orange have done relatively better, averaging 172 yards per game. That has been split primarily through Culpepper and Tommy DeVito (whom Irish fans will remember fondly for his performance in 2018). The primary target has become Taj Harris, who is currently top five in receptions and yards and leads the Orange with 5 TDs. The 6’ 2’’ Junior WR will almost assuredly be the focus of Clark Lea and the defense. It is also worth noting that in his first two seasons for Syracuse he has attempted at least one pass for the Orange. He hasn’t yet but it wouldn’t shock me, with this being their final game, that Harris is involved in a trick play to give the Orange an offensive spark.

Syracuse’s Defense

The defensive side of the ball is, relatively speaking, exponentially better than the Orange offense. The allow 2.53 points per drive, which is 81st in FBS, which while not great, has at least some potential to keep the Orange in games. They had a pre-season All American in Safety Andre Cisco, before he was injured prior to the Georgia Tech and opted out for the NFL Draft. Despite that the Orange pass defense is their strength, averaging 251 yards per game.

Taking control of the middle of the defense is sophomore Linebacker Mikel Jones, who currently leads the Orange in tackles and interceptions (67 and 4 respectively). Stefon Thompson, who leads the Orange in TFL with 7.5, also looks to disrupt the Irish offense from the Linebacker position. Yet another LB is a leader in sacks in Marlowe Wax. The defensive line is anchored by the other team leader in the senior Kingsley Jonathan.

On the rush defense side, well let’s just say they’re not in last in FBS. They give up an average of 200 yards per game on 4.3 yards per rush on the ground. So despite their seemingly successful front seven on the pass rush, they do not replicate that success in the running game. With this being a true tune-up for the Irish we may see all of the RBs get some successful run, even probably Jafar Armstrong. So while their defense is respectable, they will probably be unable to stop the Irish attack over four quarters.

Prediction

I hinted at this a little bit on both the offensive and defensive preview, but I just don’t think that Syracuse has the explosive talent on either side of the ball to control the game and make it close enough to make it a game. The Orange were close in their game last week against NC State before the aforementioned incident happened. They led for almost three quarters. I don’t think Notre Dame, who has been playing it’s best football the past couple of games, will allow this game to be close from the opening kickoff. So the question for me was, how high is the number going to be?

Notre Dame 42

Syracuse 3

I think the Irish backups see major second half action and the Orange, much like in 2018, only can muster a field goal late to get on the board. The gap between these two will continue to grow another season, as the Irish prepare for their first (and only) ACC Championship Game while Syracuse looks towards the future. Luckily for them, they appear to have a Quarterback from California on the way, from El Dorado Hills, who went to Oak Ridge High School. Maybe he’ll be as successful as the last Power 5 QB who came from there…

Go Irish