ISD Staff Game Predictions: Pittsburgh
It’s Friday, and that means game prediction time once again. The Irish are coming off a week of rest as they prepare to close out the 2023 season. Pittsburgh is trying to salvage a dissapointing start to their season with an upset over ND in Notre Dame Stadium. Which team comes out on top on Saturday?
Mike Frank
The Irish should win rather easily on Saturday if they play well. They’re clearly the better team in all aspects of the game, but that doesn’t mean they will win. Bye weeks are always a good thing in that you can get your team healthy, but sometimes it takes a bit of time for a team to get back into the mental mindset of playing football at a high level.
I think we may see some of that in the first quarter, but then Notre Dame will take over the game and win comfortably against a struggling Pitt team. Look for Notre Dame’s passing game to get going again on Saturday as Sam Hartman throws for three touchdowns.
Notre Dame 33, Pitt 13
Greg Flammang
This is the first game in over a month that isn’t being played against a ranked, undefeated opponent for Notre Dame. In my mind that could be to the benefit of the offense, which should play with a little more mental freedom. It’ll be interesting to see how that unit responds coming off the bye though, given that it’s been that same amount of time since they’ve looked like a unit that resembled anything close to high powered. And while Pitt is not a good team, that’s more a function of their offense than their defense.
I do think we know the Notre Dame defense is good enough to cause Pitt more problems than any other team this season, and a lot of defenses have given Pitt problems this season.
As some may have noticed, my pre-season picks are a perfect 8-0 this year, so I will be referring everyone to those weekly from now on.
Notre Dame will come out sharp, they were force three interceptions, and the Irish will roll at home.
Notre Dame 42, Pitt 17
Andrew Mentock
Pitt actually takes an early lead, capitalizing off of a first-quarter interception from Sam Hartman, and stays ahead going into halftime.
The Irish come out swinging in the third quarter and out gain the Panthers by more than 120 yards in the second half and cruise to a somewhat comfortable victory.
Notre Dame 30, Pitt 17
Matt Freeman
Pat Narduzzi isn't a threat. Notre Dame can stop the run. The Irish offense hits on four passing plays of over 25 yards. Notre Dame rolls with ease.
Notre Dame 31, Pitt 13
Christian McCollum
After a much-needed off week, the Irish come back looking sharp out of the gate.
Sam Hartman looks as sharp as ever, throwing for over 200 yards and three scores in the first half alone.
Jeremiyah Love carries the ground game with a long TD run and an explosive reception.
Pitt’s offense looks more like itself than it did a couple weeks ago during its upset win over Louisville. The Panthers are unable to establish any kind of consistency as the Irish defense dominates.
Notre Dame 31, Pitt 13
Jamie Uyeyama
If Phil Jurkovec was playing in this game, I'd pick Notre Dame by a million. I know he'd try to do too much and force plays when he shouldn't and end up turning the ball over by doing that.
It's a different quarterback, though, and the new guy is someone they have been smarter about protecting by getting the ball out quicker in order to avoid pressure behind a struggling offensive line. They probably won't give up the ball as much, but I still don't see them having much success against Notre Dame's defense.
The big question is whether or not Notre Dame's offense looks much different than the last three games we saw them. I think they will, bolstered by the bye week, but won't be clicking enough to ease all concerns about them going forward.
The Irish will once again be helped by short fields and will find enough big plays to pull away from a Pitt team who struggles to put up points.
Notre Dame 35, Pitt 13