Penalties forced Syracuse to struggle against Notre Dame Saturday.

It wasn’t the first time. The Orange (2-2) committed eight offensive penalties for 69 yards in its loss to Maryland on Sept. 20 before being flagged 10 times for 85 yards against the Fighting Irish Saturday. A number of calls killed off promising drives. And on his Tuesday teleconference, SU head coach Scott Shafer said the Orange may be putting too much pressure on itself.

“You don’t want to cause extra pressure in those situations, especially when you get down in the red zone,” Shafer said. “I think to some degree our kids have. They want it so bad that sometimes they don’t play with that balance that you have to have and that sense of calm before the play starts.”

While offsides penalties were an issue, so were fouls after the snap. Michael Lasker was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul.

“Within the framework of the play you have to stay within the confines of the rules and we’ve been bit on this situations,” Shafer said. “So we’re trying to do a good job looking at our mindset in those situations and going to work on it.”