Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time and More

Say what you will about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but if the past two years have taught fans anything, it's to watch all four quarters of their games. No matter the opponent.

Notre Dame's flair for the exciting horrified, frightened and enthralled fans last season as it made a trip to the national championship game. This year's Irish won't share the same season-ending fate, but they may be on their way to taking a similar formula to a January bowl appearance.

Last week's win over Navy was a perfect example. Facing a team whose most impressive win was a three-point home jaunt against Pittsburgh, the Irish scuffled to the very last minute. It took a critical fumble on an errant pitch from Keenan Reynolds to stop a possible game-winning drive from the Midshipmen, giving the Irish a 38-34 victory.

But a victory it was. At 7-2, Notre Dame heads into Saturday's trip to Pittsburgh the No. 23 team in the country and on the precipice of creeping up on the national conversation. The Irish are favored against the Panthers and will almost certainly be against BYU on Nov. 23, which puts 9-2 as a good possibility prior to their regular-season capper against Stanford. Win out, and an at-large BCS berth suddenly isn't so far-fetched. 

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is a 4-4 squad scuffling just to claim bowl eligibility. The Panthers are slowly climbing out of the rubble left at their feet in the wake of Todd Graham's sudden departure after the 2011 season, but they're still staring at a possible third straight losing campaign. With three losses in their last four games, it'll be an uphill battle to stick around on Saturday.

But recent history points toward this being closer than expected. The Panthers have lost each of their last three meetings with Notre Dame but only by 12 points. With that in mind, here's a quick check-in on the action from Heinz Field, highlighting the game's biggest storyline and predicting the outcome.

Game Information

When: Saturday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: Heinz Field in Pittsburgh

Watch: ABC

Stream: WatchESPN

Spread: Notre Dame -4.5 (Vegas Insider)

Player	Pos.	Injury	Status
Cory King	G	Back	Questionable
Adam Bisnowaty	T	Back	Questionable
Cullen Christian	CB	Foot	Questionable
Brendon Felder	CB	Foot	Questionable

Player	Pos.	Injury	Status
Austin Collinsworth	S	Neck	Questionable
Chris Watt	G	Knee	Questionable
Louis Nix III	DT	Knee	Questionable
Elijah Shumate	S	Hamstring	Probable
Ben Councell	LB	Knee	Out
Ishaq Williams	LB	Knee	Out
Tony Springmann	T	Knee	Out
Christian Lombard	G	Back	Out

Top Storyline: How Will the Running Games Match Up?

Notre Dame's running back situation has been a running (get it?) storyline all season long. The Irish have deployed four different backs—Cam McDaniel, George Atkinson III, Tarean Folston and Amir Carlisle—as their lead option, but none of them have been able to stick for long.

McDaniel leads the pack with 92 carries and has gotten the most consistent work. Only three times this season has he received 10 or fewer carries; the other three have just six 10-carry games among them (equal to McDaniel's number).

The problem is that one of McDaniel's low-usage games came a week ago—right about the time Folston was bursting onto the scene. The highly touted freshman, seldom used in the first half of the season, rushed for 140 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries in last week's win over Navy. Though none of those attempts went for more than 15 yards, Folston had only five attempts that went for fewer than five.

"Yeah, we think he's making nice progress," coach Brian Kelly said, via the team's official site, of Folston prior to his outburst last week. "Look, he's trying to take reps away from George Atkinson, who has been in the program for three years. Amir Carlisle, who is a kid who played at USC as a freshman, transferred in with very good ball skills. And Cam McDaniel, who has been a tough, physical runner for us."

Now, Kelly's left with a dilemma. Not only did Folston take carries away from the aforementioned backs, but he also performed better than any freshman running back since Julius Jones in 1999. With Tommy Rees putting up three straight games completing 60 percent or more of his throws, Notre Dame's offense could break out down the stretch.

But without clarity at the running back position, it'll be a never-ending guessing game—one that will limit this team's offensive potential on Saturday. Pittsburgh ranks in the nation's bottom half against the run, giving up 164 yards per game and 13 touchdowns. The Panthers aren't at the bottom-barrel level of Navy or Air Force, but the Irish should have no trouble establishing a ground game.

Establishing a hierarchy is another problem entirely. 

On the other side of the ball, however, Notre Dame may be getting the most integral member of its defense back at the perfect time. Defensive tackle Louis Nix has missed each of the past two games while dealing with knee tendinitis but practiced Tuesday, and the hope is that he'll be in action. Kelly, admitting that Nix will need surgery this offseason and underwent platelet-rich plasma therapy, seemed cautiously optimistic. 

"We don't want him hobbling around and putting himself in harm's way," Kelly said, via NFL.com's Mike Huguenin. "He feels good about it, and he knows he can help the football team."

Should Nix miss a third straight game, the Irish's injuries elsewhere will be even more noticeable. Linebacker Ben Councell will miss the rest of the season and defensive linemen Kona Schwenke and Sheldon Day will probably both sit out on Saturday. Considering the Irish have given up more than 600 rushing yards over the past two weeks, it's safe to say Notre Dame will spend much of its pregame prep working on its patchwork line.

Neither James Conner nor Isaac Bennett has had consistent success this season. But that could change and open up the passing game for Tom Savage if the Irish need to load the box.

Prediction

Nix or not, the Irish have more than enough talent to win this game. Pittsburgh doesn't look to deceive with option attacks the way Air Force and Navy did, and the Irish have fared quite well against more traditional rushing attacks. Conner and Bennett are both replacement-level talents at best, with a majority of their production coming against the bottom of the FBS barrel.

It'd be surprising to see Pittsburgh get past the 20-point barrier.

Where the Panthers will make this closer than expected is on defense. They're among the nation's 20 best pass defenses in the country at 202 yards per game against and have allowed 12 touchdown passes all season. Rees has been better of late, but he's still quite inconsistent—as evidenced by his two interceptions last week against Navy.

With it still being uncertain week to week who gets top billing in the backfield, it's very possible this game starts out slow and develops into a closer-than-expected contest. Talent always seems to win in this space, and Notre Dame is better in that department, so we'll go with the Irish. 

Covering might be an issue.

Score: Notre Dame 20, Pittsburgh 17

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