Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh: 5 Reasons Fighting Irish Beat the Panthers

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish got off to a rough start this season, with losses to South Florida and Michigan, but bounced back last week with a win over Michigan State.

Notre Dame travels to Pittsburgh this week and the Panthers are 2-1, with wins over Buffalo and Maine, and a loss last week to Iowa.

The Panthers are not as good as they've been in years past, and the Fighting Irish will have a great opportunity to get to .500 this week against them.

Let's look at five reasons the Fighting Irish will beat the Panthers this week.

1) Notre Dame will dominate Pittsburgh through the air

Pittsburgh has given up 1,009 yards passing in just three games this season, which includes matchups against Maine and Buffalo, two terrible teams.

Fighting Irish quarterback Tommy Rees is a good young player and will have little trouble completing passes against the Panthers pass defense.

2) Passing attack will set up the running game for Irish

The Notre Dame ground game has been very good this season, and running backs Cierre Wood and Jonas Grey have played great so far.

Wood has rushed the ball for 299 yards and four touchdowns this season, while Grey has rushed for 148 yards with a 6.4 yards per carry average.

If the Irish are protecting a lead, their versatile and talented running backs will be able to put the game away.

3) Michael Floyd will demand double-teams

Notre Dame star wide receiver Michael Floyd will demand double teams this week, which will allow his teammates to find openings in the Pittsburgh defense.

Floyd has 33 catches for 337 yards this season, and is a red zone treat with his great catching and jumping skills.

If the Panthers' secondary can't handle him, Rees could find Floyd in the end zone quite a bit Saturday.

4) The Notre Dame defense will cause turnovers

Pittsburgh Panthers' quarterback Tino Sunseri has thrown for 658 yards this season and, even though that's a good number, he also has four interceptions.

The Fighting Irish defense will capitalize on Sunseri's poor decision making this week and intercept him at least once.

Notre Dame did a fine job limiting the Michigan State offense last week, and will do even better against a worse Panthers' offense on Saturday.

5) Notre Dame is making fewer mistakes, poor decisions

One of the biggest problems for the Fighting Irish in their two losses to begin the season were mistakes and poor decisions.

Rees has since become a more patient player in the pocket, and cut down on his mistakes. The Irish look a bit more polished than they were at the beginning of the year, and will execute better at Pittsburgh this week.

Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow @NicholasGoss35.