Notre Dame Cruises Past Pitt in Ranked Matchup

Liam Farrell
Nov 15, 2025
3 min read

No. 9 Notre Dame dominated the No. 22 Pittsburgh Panthers, 37-15, in the Irish's last ranked matchup of the regular season.

Photo by Notre Dame Athletics

PITTSBURGH - In what was labeled to be a competitive game against a surging ACC foe, the No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish completely dismantled the No. 22 Pittsburgh Panthers.

The Notre Dame defense, which was an abysmal unit in the first 10 quarters of the season, has completely flipped the script and become an elite unit. Coming into today's matchup, Pitt was averaging 39.7 points per game, along with 426 yards per game; however, the Irish handled everything the Panthers had to offer. Pitt only gained 219 total yards and only accounted for nine points offensively.

Chris Ash and the Notre Dame defense have finally started playing free, fast, and smart football. It all starts with the pass rush up front, as the Notre Dame defensive line was causing havoc all game. The Irish finished with four sacks in this game, as Josh Burnham was the main source of pressure and ended the game with two sacks.

On the backend, the Irish are finally healthy and playing their most optimal personnel. With Christian Gray and Devonta Smith back from injury, they have been an enormous boost for the Notre Dame secondary. Tae Johnson continues to mature within the eyes of Notre Dame fans, as his pick six in the first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game. Adon Shuler also had a 100+ yard interception return on Pittsburgh's two-point conversion attempt.

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Offensively, the Irish offense struggled a bit but benefitted from many big plays. Jeremiyah Love had his weekly mind-boggling run, this time, a 56-yard touchdown scamper that included one of the best spin moves in recent memory. He finished this game with 147 yards and the aforementioned touchdown.

The passing game from the Irish was a bit hit and miss, with CJ Carr throwing two touchdowns, but also two interceptions. On the first interception, Carr never saw DB Kavir Bains-Marquez sitting in coverage in the middle of the field. The second interception was a pick six on another WR bubble screen, a play call that has provided more bad than good for the Irish. It may be time to forever ban the WR screen.

Outside of the two interceptions, Carr did a good job hitting on more deep shots, specifically to Malachi Fields who ended this game with 99 yards and two touchdowns. Fields' combination of size and speed is a weapon that offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock needs to feature more. Denbrock had a pretty rough performance in this game as well, specifically with the Irish's goal line play calling. With the ball sitting a half yard away from the goal line, the Irish wanted to get cute and give Eli Raridon his first touchdown catch of the regular season and failed to convert. The Irish still have a short-yardage problem.

In the kicking department, Erik Schmidt missed his only field goal attempt of the day, a 46-yarder that he pushed out right, yet he made all his PAT attempts, which feels like a win at this point.

In the end, this game did not shape up to be the College Gameday-caliber competition, as the Irish were far and away the more talented team. The Irish took care of their last ranked matchup of the season, but still have two more tests to refine themselves before a possible postseason push.

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