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Notre Dame Vs. Pitt: Prime Matchup To Watch

On paper, the top matchup between No. 3-ranked Notre Dame and 3-3 Pitt is the classic physics inquiry of “what happens when an immovable object meets an irresistible force?”

In this case, that means Pitt’s No. 1-ranked run defense (61.5 yards allowed per game) versus Notre Dame’s potent ground attack that is 7th nationally with a 261.0 average, plus 5.9 yards per carry.

This Miles Boykin 35-yard touchdown catch provided the winning points against Pitt in the 19-14 Notre Dame win two years ago.
This Miles Boykin 35-yard touchdown catch provided the winning points against Pitt in the 19-14 Notre Dame win two years ago. (Darron Cummings/Associated Press)
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Under Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, an ultra-successful defensive coordinator at Michigan State from 2007-14, the foremost priority for the Panthers is to shut down the run. They achieved that in the 19-14 loss at playoff-bound Notre Dame in 2018 by limiting standout running back Dexter Williams to 31 yards on 13 carries, while allowing just 80 yards on the ground overall.


“We didn't establish a running game,” recalled Notre Dame heads coach Brian Kelly this Thursday, prior to the initial road trip of the year to Pittsburgh. “That won't be the case [this year]. We'll continue to run the football — that's going to be a difficult chore.”

Chances are both the Fighting Irish ground game and the Panthers' run defense will experience their share of wins in the contest.

Thus, what might be more intriguing is how Notre Dame’s passing attack with quarterback Ian Book and an unsettled and in flux receiving corps will perform against a Pitt pass defense that has been vulnerable to the pass while employing Narduzzi’s signature man-to-man defense.

The Panthers are third nationally in tackles for loss this season with 67 (11.2 per game) and second in sacks with 29 (4.83 per game). Regardless, in three straight losses Pitt's defense yielded the following passing data to QBs:

• NC State's Devin Leary 28 of 44, 336 yards, four TDs, no interceptions in 30-29 win

• Boston College's Phil Jurkovec 19 of 35, 358 yards, three TDs, no interceptions in 31-30 overtime win.

• Miami's D'Eriq King 16 of 31 for 222 yards, four TDs and two interceptions in 31-19 win.

Neither King nor Jurkovec had great completion percentages by today’s standards, and that’s not unusual against a high-press defense. But when they did, Pitt paid dearly.

Two years ago prior to facing Pitt, Book was coming off a blistering first three starts in which the Irish averaged 46.3 points per game while he completed 74 of his 102 passes (72.6 percent) for 874 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception.

Narduzzi’s highly aggressive defense and pass rush was the first to present problems to Book, limiting the Irish to two first half field goals while taking a 7-6 lead that soon would be 14-6 in the third quarter.

Notre Dame adjusted in the second half by:

• Moving the pocket more to take some of the drop-back pressure off Book against the fierce pass rush. Bootleg and play-action passes were used more frequently.

• The outside receivers worked quick, inside routes for faster developing plays.

• Because of the first two items, pass protection schemes also were tweaked.

In the second half, Book completed 13 of 14 passes for 158 yards, although his one incomplete toss resulted in an interception. However, a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool narrowed the deficit to 14-12 after a missed two-point conversion, and then Book hit Miles Boykin with a perfect 35-yard dime downfield for the winning touchdown with 5:43 left.

The buzz words here are “Claypool” and “Boykin” — big, fast and seasoned college wideouts who would become second- and third-round picks. Plus, Chris Finke and Alize Mack also caught six passes apiece in the game.

Who will emerge among Notre Dame’s pass catchers to apply that type of pressure versus Pitt’s defense?

The two safeties are highly prominent against the run, with Paris Ford leading the team in stops with 37 while the other safety, Damar Hamlin has 36.

“They're pretty much a quarters/man team, which allows those safeties free hits and they're playing really a nine man front,” Kelly noted. “…We will have to win one-on-one matchups, because it essentially is pretty much man to man throughout most of the game.”

Which is why this matchup might even surpass the immovable object versus irresistible force debate.

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