Know Your Foe: Notre Dame
Pitt-Notre Dame Preview
Game Three: Pitt (3-3) @ Notre Dame (6-0)
Last Week
Pitt scored an upset rain-interrupted victory on Homecoming over the Syracuse Orange to keep their realistic bowl hopes alive. Notre Dame beat Virginia Tech to stay undefeated and confirm their status as a playoff hopeful.
Notre Dame Offense
The Notre Dame offense is led by Quarterback Ian Book. The Sophomore signal-caller took over for Brandon Wimbush starting with their fourth game of the season against Wake Forest. The difference has been stark, with Book completing 73.3% of his passes compared with Wimbush’s 55.3% completion rate and a 9 to 1 Touchdown to Interception ratio versus Wimbush’s 1 to 4 ratio. Additionally, over the first 3 games, when Wimbush was the main Quarterback, the Fighting Irish scored 23.3 points per game, while over the next 3 games, with Book as the main Quarterback, Notre Dame has scored 46.3 points per game. Needless to say, an already dangerous Notre Dame team has been elevated to a serious playoff contender with Book’s emergence.
Book hasn’t been the only player that has given the Notre Dame offense a boost recently after not seeing much playing time at the beginning of the season. Running Back Dexter Williams, who missed the first four games of the season due to suspension, has been a force over the last two games. In games against Stanford and Virginia Tech, Williams has rushed for 161 and 178 yards respectively. Last week against the Hokies he also had 3 touchdowns and has averaged 8.9 yards per rush over the two games. Tony Jones, Jr. is also involved in the rushing attack, with a 118-yard game against Vanderbilt before Williams’ return.
Miles Boykin is the receiver to look out for in the Notre Dame offense. The senior wideout has 428 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns, but has been pretty boom-or-bust this season. While he has 3 games over 100 yards, his highest win total in the other 3 games was only 28 yards. Tight End Alize Mack is utilized to relatively high degree, as his 19 receptions on the season is the 13th most in the country at the position. If there is anywhere that the Notre Dame offense is susceptible, it’s along the line. This is particularly the case with Guard Alex Bars out for the remainder of the season. If Pitt’s defense is going to have success against the Fighting Irish, their Defensive Line is going to need to exploit that to get pressure on Book.
Notre Dame Defense
While Notre Dame may be susceptible at the line on Offense, they are the strength of their Defense. The whole unit is a force, but in particular Tackle Jerry Tillery and End Khalid Kareem have been a pain to opposing offenses. Tillery leads the team and is tied for 2nd in the country in Sacks with 7, while Kareem has an also impressive 4 himself. The two also lead the team in tackles for loss with 8 and 6.5 respectively and have 2 Forced Fumbles each.
Things don’t lighten up much for the Panthers at the next level, as Notre Dame has a formidable Linebacking corps. The position group is led by a trio of seniors, Te’von Coney, Drue Tranquill, and Asmar Bilal. While all three are valuable to the strength of the Defense, Coney in particular has put together a nice season. He has 48 tackles, 5.5 for a loss, with a sack and interception as well.
Though Notre Dame’s Front 7 is formidable, if there’s anywhere that their Defense is susceptible, it’s through the air. Junior Julian Love has been a shut-down Cornerback with 11 Passes Defended. He’s also added an interception and 3 Fumble recoveries. The other top Cornerback, Troy Pride, Jr. may be slowed down due to a sprained ankle, but he should be available to play this weekend. Pride Jr. and Safety Jalen Elliot lead the team with 2 interceptions each. Like Pitt though, Notre Dame has proven vulnerable at the Safety position as a whole.
Notre Dame Special Teams
Handling place kicking duty for Notre Dame will be Justin Yoon. The Senior is now the all-time leading scorer in Notre Dame history with 322 points through last week’s game against Virginia Tech. Though he has a career Field Goal percentage of close to 80% (79.0%), he’s only 7 for 10 on the season so far, which would represent a career low. The Fighting Irish have another Senior handling punting duties in Tyler Newsome. On the season he has a 46.3 yard average per punt. Through their first six games Notre Dame has yet to record a kickoff or punt return.
Key Matchup – Pitt Offensive Line vs. Notre Dame Defensive Line
Pitt had their hands full last weekend against Syracuse’s Defensive Line. Overall, though their run blocking has been decent, the Panthers have struggled pass blocking. Last weekend, they even completely abandoned the passing game down the stretch. Although they’ve had success running the ball this season, given Notre Dame’s Front 7, they won’t likely see as much success doing that this weekend as they have against other teams. Because of this, Pitt will likely need to take advantage of Notre Dame’s Secondary through the air if they have any hope of winning. In order to do that, the Offensive Line is going to need to step up and give Pickett time to lead the Panther air attack.
Prediction: Notre Dame 41-24
Pitt has had a recent history of pulling off upsets in games like this weekend’s match-up against Notre Dame. Despite this, Pitt faces a massive uphill battle in attempting to knock off the Fighting Irish this weekend. Notre Dame has distinct advantages at almost every position group. If the Panthers have any chance of winning, they are likely going to need to play mistake-free football and control the ball. On top of this, they will likely need to be the beneficiaries of turnover luck and maybe get a game-changing kickoff or punt return. In the end, I predict that Pitt may be able to keep it close into the 2nd half, but Notre Dame will likely pull away by the end.
*Stats courtesy of college football reference
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