Notre Dame Looks to Make a Statement: Keys to Pittsburgh

Liam Farrell
3 days ago
4 min read

No. 9 Notre Dame has its last ranked matchup of the regular season as it travels to Pittsburgh to face off against the No. 22 Panthers.

Photo by Notre Dame Athletics

With the College Football Playoff committee giving Notre Dame a substantial amount of respect, the Fighting Irish's path is right in front of them.

Win and you're basically going to be in.

There are two games that can throw a wrinkle in Notre Dame's march to December, as Texas and Oklahoma potentially dethroning two top 5 teams would be a detrimental hit for the Irish. Outside of this, if Notre Dame handles their business, they will be a near CFP lock.

That brings the Irish to their next matchup with the Pittsburgh Panthers. A team that seemed to be lackluster before making a change at quarterback that has electrified their team. Since freshman Mason Heintschel has taken command of Pat Narduzzi's offense, the Panthers have been on a five-game winning streak. Heintschel has tremendous talent and some weapons around him that have made Pitt's offense one of the highest scoring units in college football. Defensively, the Panthers are stout against the run, an identity that is similar in all of Narduzzi's teams, but a bit lackluster in the aerial attack.

Let's take a look at the keys to Notre Dame's matchup against Pitt.

Turning Red Zone Trips into Touchdowns

One of Notre Dame's biggest Achilles' heels this season has been sputtering once the Irish reach the red zone. Whether it be turnovers or short-yardage woes, Notre Dame has struggled converting red zone trips into touchdowns.

On the inverse of that, Pitt has one of the worst red zone defenses in the country, and if the Irish are able to reach the red zone, they need to convert these trips into touchdowns. The fact that Pitt struggles to keep teams out of the goal line is surprising due to the Panthers' rushing defense prestige. Pitt has the No. 3 rushing defense in the country, and this will certainly be a battle for the Irish offensive line and running back tandem of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price to tackle.

It will be interesting to see if Pitt stacks the box like Boston College and Navy have done in recent weeks, but there is no doubt that the Panthers have to pick their poison between stopping Love and Price or attempting to limit CJ Carr's downfield passing.

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Forcing Heintschel's Hand

Mason Heintschel has had a phenomenal first five games for Pittsburgh, as he has racked up 1,547 yards and 12 touchdowns. Heintschel does it all from throwing with confidence from the pocket to scrambling and making the magic happen. Heintschel's playing habits remind you of a skilled freshman quarterback, like an Everett Golson for Fighting Irish fans.

While his play style is electric, Heintschel does make his fair share of mistakes. Through five games, Heintschel has already thrown five interceptions, and he puts the ball in harm's way quite often. If Notre Dame can limit Pitt's rushing attack, that is an below-average unit, then Chris Ash and the Notre Dame secondary can confuse the young quarterback in his first big game.

Pittsburgh has many capable weapons including Kenny Johnson and Desmond Reid, but if the Notre Dame pass rush can find a way to contain Heintschel's improvisation, then the opportunistic secondary can have a field day.

Win the Middle Eight

Part of Notre Dame's success this season has been their ability to perform out of the halftime break. Ash's defensive unit has played lights out in the second half of basically every game this season, as he has displayed a great ability to make the necessary adjustments from the first half.

On offense, Notre Dame has stalled a bit in the second quarter this season, and ultimately rarely gets out to a big first quarter lead. With this in mind, the middle eight is ever important in a game of this magnitude. If the Irish can control the final four minutes on the first half and the first four minutes of the second half, it will be difficult for the more skilled team to fall behind in this game.

Notre Dame's talent does outshine that of Pitt, but the Irish will need to play a disciplined game of football against the Panthers, as ACC officials will certainly be stingy against the Irish. Notre Dame is coming off the heels of their first penalty free game since the 1990s after being a rather heavily penalized team. One of the main differences last week was the fact that the referees were from the American conference. To continue to pile onto this notion, the ACC Football social media account has also attempted to put down the Irish's playoff legitimacy. With College Gameday and many eyes on this game, the Irish must play lights out for the officiating to not even come into question.

However, if Notre Dame can lean on the run, exploit a heavy box with aerial deep shots, and confuse the eyes of a freshman quarterback, then the Irish can leave Pitt with two wins away from their second consecutive College Football Playoff appearance.

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