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Notre Dame Football

Game Thread | No. 3 Notre Dame at Pittsburgh

October 24, 2020
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No. 3 Notre Dame (4-0, 3-0) at Pittsburgh (3-3, 2-3)

Heinz Field | 3:30 p.m. ET | ABC

Game Week Articles | Roster| Depth Chart Schedule |Staff Predictions 


Rugged Saturday

Notre Dame will hit the road for the first time in 2020 and will get to face a Pitt team looking to end a three-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers defense has stolen all the headlines this week despite teams scoring 30 or more against Pitt the last three games. 

Ian Book will need to be aggressive down the field on Saturday, but this game will still come down to Notre Dame being able to run the football against the nation’s top run defense. Pitt is only giving 61.5 rushing yards per game and it’s more impressive when you see teams are averaging just 1.85 yards per carry. The good news is Notre Dame is No. 7 in the country in rushing offense, so if you like physical football, this is the game for you...well at least when Notre Dame is on offense. 

On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame’s defense might not be getting enough credit as Pitt will likely struggle to score with redshirt freshman quarterback Joey Yellen expected to get the start for the injured Kenny Pickett. Pitt has an atrocious run game, which is odd to say, but the Panthers are averaging just 107 yards rushing per game (2.8 ypc). For perspective, 77 FBS teams have played and Pitt ranks 70th in rushing offense. 


Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame WR Kevin Austin
Two targets isn't enough for him. He needs to be involved more often. He will have the benefit of plenty of one on one matchups, so we'll see if Notre Dame can take advantage of that.

Pitt DE Rashad Weaver
Is Weaver the best defensive end in the ACC? He may be the best defensive end in the country. He's an elite player against the run and the pass. His matchup with Liam Eichenberg will be one to watch.

Notre Dame OL Robert Hainsey
There has been more attention given to Eichenberg, but Hainsey has played some of his best football for Notre Dame. He has had some issues dealing with bull rushers in the last few years and defensive end Patrick Jones is an excellent speed to power rusher. Hainsey needs to hold his own against a player who leads the nation in sacks.

Pitt S Paris Ford
Ford leads their team with three interceptions, but he can do it all for Pitt. He's an aggressive player against the run and also leads their team in tackles.

Notre Dame DE Ade Ogundeji
The Pitt starting defensive end duo is outstanding, but don't sleep on the year Ogundeji is having. He's been strong setting the edge and PFF has him second in the country in pressure percentage.


Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame DL Kurt Hinish:
"It means the world to me to go back home and play Pitt. I grew up watching Pitt. I'm excited to play at Heinz Field for the fourth time. We played there in high school, so I've played there before.

"I’m really excited to go home and play in front of my family and friends. This game means everything to me." 

Notre Dame WR Avery Davis:
“We're going to go out there and compete. I'm not worried about what happened last week. We're confident and sticking to our process. We're going to go out there and have a good game." 

Notre Dame OL Aaron Banks:
"They're really strong up front and do a lot of things with blitzes and movement that make it hard for teams to move the ball. I think we have a really good scheme for them this week and we just want to go out and dominate every single play." 

Notre Dame LB Shayne Simon:
"I kind of love road trips. I've never got to play at Heinz Field, so I'm excited to play there. As long as the excitement and we're ready to play, there isn't anything going to be different.

“We're all going to be amped up and ready to put our best effort forward." 

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly:
“I don't know that we have, maybe Clemson is the only team that we've faced that has that kind of depth at the defensive end position. Now Clemson had more depth at the tackle position that we've ever seen, but this is probably the deepest defensive end position rotation that we've seen in quite some time.”


For Your Nerves 

TEAM STATS Notre Dame Pittsburgh
Points Per Game 33.3 29.5
Points Allowed Per Game 11.5 20.3
Total Yards 440.8 390.2
Yards Passing 179.8 283.2
Yards Rushing 261.0 107.0
Yards Allowed 300.8 274.7
Pass Yards Allowed 193.3 213.2
Rush Yards Allowed  107.5 61.5

Game Thread | No. 3 Notre Dame at Pittsburgh

102,360 Views | 659 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by tjhaley
mattfreeman
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Staff
Where the Ben Skowronek haters at?
Sgt Hulka
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The Crafty Cracker is going off!!
SWANSEA
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dcl02003p said:

That was definitely not pretty. I half expected a flag for offensive PI.
We had a no penalty coming to us.
Hrothgar
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leofitz said:

The ghost of Samarja.
thinking the same thing
emeyers
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Hard to complain about that. 11 can't get separation, but you can throw it to him anyway. That works.
bmhend54
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Look what happens when you throw to an area and let a receiver make a play instead of holding on till they flash wide open.
tayirish14
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LOL! Nicely done
Rwolf101
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mattfreeman said:

Where the Ben Skowronek haters at?

Disappointed he only took it for 73 and a TD.

Clemson receivers would've taken it 103 yards
Firefighter8196
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Losing contain on the kickoff 2x now
mattfreeman
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Staff
dunwoodyfan
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MTA wearing shorts?
andrew32
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Great throw by Book. Put it where your guy can make a play and trust him to make it.

Hopefully it gives him the confidence to keep trusting his WRs.
ND_Chelu
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Hrothgar said:

leofitz said:

The ghost of Samarja.
thinking the same thing

Even his gait flashes of the Shark
mattfreeman
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Staff
Yeet.

NDTerry
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Are mouthpieces not mandatory anymore? Because Joey Yellen is not wearing a mouthpiece.
What do I know?
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ND_Chelu said:

Hrothgar said:

leofitz said:

The ghost of Samarja.
thinking the same thing

Even his gait flashes of the Shark
And Im not sure any of the members on this board can spell either of their names correctly.
mattfreeman
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Staff
dunwoodyfan said:

MTA wearing shorts?
Lmao. I said the same thing.
Rwolf101
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andrew32 said:

Great throw by Book. Put it where your guy can make a play and trust him to make it.

Hopefully it gives him the confidence to keep trusting his WRs.

love this post! He needs confidence in his receivers but they also need to prove its justified every so often
Sgt Hulka
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Let's go. 6 more could be a kill-shot against their pathetic offense
Rwolf101
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I know I sure can't
mattfreeman
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Staff
Skowronek getting manicure on the sideline.
Rwolf101
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How did Kyren find that hole?
Rwolf101
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mattfreeman said:

Skowronek getting manicure on the sideline.

Dude earned it. Give him pedicure too
mattfreeman
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Staff
Timeout Notre Dame. Irish facing a 3rd-and-1
jtthedomer
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Does Book not have any awareness in the pocket to get rid of the ball sooner or does our Oline suck in pass pro? I really loved the long td pass,but every time Book is in the pocket he wants till he's about to get sacked.
If he can't operate in the pocket and step up in time to get rid of the ball,start rolling Book out some.Would like to see Rees start calling some quicker pass plays.TR needs to start calling for some quick slants or bubble screens. Please, get Jafar in the game and run a damn wheel route .He would probably walk in .
Firefighter8196
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Rwolf101 said:

How did Kyren find that hole?


That's what she said....Michael Scott
andrew32
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Rwolf101 said:

andrew32 said:

Great throw by Book. Put it where your guy can make a play and trust him to make it.

Hopefully it gives him the confidence to keep trusting his WRs.

love this post! He needs confidence in his receivers but they also need to prove its justified every so often

Very well said. The circle of trust!
Sgt Hulka
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Line TT up at H-back and run some mofo's over
Rwolf101
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Sgt Hulka said:

Line TT up at H-back and run some mofo's over

yeah I could watch that all day.
mattfreeman
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Staff
Kyren Williams picks up 1 on 3rd-and-1.
Rwolf101
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Great tough run
Rwolf101
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Good time for a 7 minute scoring drive
ejsjr
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What happened to the precise, accurate Book?
Firefighter8196
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I swear we get one negative play we might as well just punt. Even if he completes that it's not going anywhere!
atl irish
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I don't even know what that was
 
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