Game Thread | Pittsburgh at No. 5 Notre Dame

Pittsburgh at No. 5 Notre Dame

Notre Dame Stadium |2:30 p.m. ET | NBC

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Execution Required For Hungry Pitt

In each of the last two seasons in 2016 and 2017, Pittsburgh upset two top-15 opponents in Clemson and Miami. Full execution by Notre Dame will be required as they eye next week’s bye week.

Saturday will be Notre Dame’s 71st meeting with Pittsburgh. The Irish lead the overall series *47-21-1. Notre Dame won its last meeting 42-30 back in 2015. Head Coach Brian Kelly is *5-2 in his coaching career against the Panthers. He looks for his sixth victory over Pittsburgh.

The matchup to watch will be Notre Dame’s defense led by Te’von Coney, Drue Tranquill and Jerry Tillery that has let up just 19.5 points a game against Pittsburgh’s running attack that has racked up 203.8 yards per game led by senior running backs Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall. The Irish defense is going to have to win in the trenches and rally to the ball with multiple bodies to the football to contain the Panthers lethal running attack. Ollison and Hall each surpassed 100 yards in Pittsburgh’s 44-37 win over Syracuse last week.

Offensively, Ian Book will make his fourth start of the season against Pittsburgh, and he will have to continue to progress. Book has connected with senior wide receiver Miles Boykin 19 times over the last two weeks so look for this connection to continue to grow. The Irish offense will look to be balanced as they have been since Book has been under center. Notre Dame has been successful through the air with Book hitting his big-bodied wideouts, but they have also been successfully running the football with the addition of Dexter Williams who has run for 339 yards and four touchdowns in the last couple games back from suspension.

Look for the Notre Dame offense to have another big game against Pittsburgh who let up 37 points to Syracuse last week. The Panthers will also be without their best defensive player, linebacker Quintin Wirginis who will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury he sustained last week.

Five Players To Watch

Pitt RB Qadree Ollison
Pitt's lead back can run with power and has enough speed to damage the Irish if they are undisciplined. If Pitt is going to win this game, they need Ollison to have a monster performance like the one he had last week against Syracuse (192 yards).

Pitt DE Reshad Weaver
Pitt's secondary has struggled all season, and it would help them greatly if their pass rush helped them out. Weaver is the best pass rusher and might be their best run defender as well. 

Notre Dame WR Chase Claypool
Claypool could be matched up with a generously listed 5'10" cornerback for most of this game. If that's the case, then this could be a game where we see him targeted more than in recent weeks. Look for him to continue to dominate as a blocker on the perimeter as well.

Notre Dame DE Daelin Hayes
It sounds like Hayes is going to be a go for this matchup, even if he might not play as much as he usually would. The Irish need him healthy for the homestretch, and they are much better with their Dime package up front when he is a part of it.

Notre Dame LB Asmar Bilal
With Pitt being so run heavy on offense, it's going to be a game where Bilal is on the field even more than usual. With the way Pitt likes to run jet sweeps, he'll have some tackle for loss opportunities on the perimeter if he is doing his job well. 

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame LB Drue Tranquill:
“We can’t think about what it will be like to go on the road and play in a semi-final game and then for a championship. Those thoughts don’t lead you to winning during the week. Those distractions can lead you astray from the game plan, and you’re not as clean or as crisp on Saturday.” 

Notre Dame HC Brian Kelly:
"We just want to get to the bye week.  The bye week will give us time to rest these guys up. That’s really the time we’ll assess where we are. This is all hands on deck this week. We’re pushing them, and they’re pushing themselves. They’ve done a good job, and I’m pleased with our guys. No drama. 

“They know they have a break coming up after this Saturday. They have to play well on Saturday against a physical team.” 

Notre Dame DE Khalid Kareem:
“We can be even more dominant. We can clean up the messy mistakes. If we can fine tune everything, we can be elite.

"We believe in what our coaches have been telling us. We can be the best if we work hard and stay the course.” 

Countdown to Kickoff

10 - Notre Dame has won *eight of its last 10 meetings with Pittsburgh at Notre Dame Stadium, dating back to the 1989 season.

9 - Justin Yoon sits just nine field goals shy of breaking the Notre Dame career field goals record held by Kyle Brindza. Yoon has connected on 49 career field goals entering Saturday’s game against
Pittsburgh.

8 - Notre Dame has accounted for eight passing touchdowns over its past three games after combining for two touchdowns through the air over the first three games.

7 - Notre Dame was the seventh straight ranked team to defeat Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium with last Saturday’s 45-23 win in Blacksburg.

6 - Notre Dame accounted for a total of six rushing touchdowns during a 56-27 offensive onslaught at Wake Forest on Sept. 22. The Irish added six total touchdowns last week at Virginia Tech.

5 -  Notre Dame and Ohio State are the only undefeated teams remaining in the FBS that have each recorded five wins over teams from Power Five conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12).

4 -  Notre Dame is one of just four remaining undefeated teams that has exclusively played FBS competition through six weeks of the season.

3 - Notre Dame is off to its third 6-0 start under head coach Brian Kelly in the last nine seasons (2012*, 2014 and 2018).

2 - Notre Dame is the only team in FBS football to earn two victories over opponents ranked in the national top 15 after six weeks (No. 7 Stanford, No. 14 Michigan).

1 - Justin Yoon became Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Allen Pinkett and his 320 career points during last week’s game at Virginia Tech. Yoon has 322 career points entering Saturday.

Yoon Watch 

Justin Yoon broke Allen Pinkett's career scoring record at Notre Dame on Saturday but he has another record on the horizon.

Yoon (49) sits just nine career field goals shy of breaking the program record of 57 set by his predecessor Kyle Brindza in 2014.

For Your Nerves