Game Thread | No. 3 Notre Dame at Pittsburgh

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

Heinz Field | 3:30 p.m. ET | ABC

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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