Notre Dame vs Pittsburgh: Keys to an Irish Victory over Panthers

Even without using the daisy chain method, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are bound for a difficult road trip this Saturday in taking on the Pittsburgh Panthers at Heinz Field.

The Irish, ranked No. 23 in the BCS standings, barely avoided being upset at home last week in a 38-34 victory over Navy, a team that the Panthers had lost to by just three points. Pittsburgh is on a three-game losing streak going into this matchup, but its losses have come by a combined 12 points.

It took three overtimes in last season's 29-26 win for Brian Kelly's bunch to maintain a perfect record en route to an appearance in the national championship game.

For Notre Dame to pull off a win this time and keep its BCS bowl hopes alive, there are certain tactics it must impose upon Pittsburgh from the opening kickoff.

Here is a breakdown of the Irish's keys to victory.

Relentlessness in the Running Game

There is no reason for the Irish to stray from their rushing attack, based on the superior depth in their backfield.

Between its junior duo of the bruising Cam McDaniel and explosive George Atkinson III, along with progressing freshman Tarean Folston, there are plenty able-bodied ball-carriers for Notre Dame to pound the rock.

Folston had 140 yards rushing and a touchdown in the win over Navy while Atkinson had 76 yards on just seven carries and a score of his own. McDaniel amassed 52 yards and a touchdown on seven carries as well.

Pittsburgh has the 63rd-ranked rush defense in the country, so it will be vital for Notre Dame to stick with its three-headed monster of a running game.

The Irish must command time of possession after holding the ball for just 22:24 last Saturday against the Midshipmen.

Win the Battle on Third Down

Notre Dame has converted 41.5 percent of its third downs this season while the Panthers' percentage is 37.4. That isn't too much of a difference, but it's clear the Irish are superior.

A tremendous effort on both sides of the ball by Notre Dame will be required for that trend to continue. Pittsburgh is coming off of two tough losses and is going to give the Irish their best shot in a bid to clinch a bowl game.

That could make Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph—who deploys a very balanced attack—that much more difficult to read.

Senior quarterback Tom Savage has two big weapons in classmate Devin Stills and freshman phenom Tyler Boyd, who leads the team in receiving. Boyd had a personal-best 11 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown in Pitt's loss to Georgia Tech.

Navy's ground-and-pound attack gave Notre Dame trouble, as the Midshipmen converted 10-of-16 third-down situations. If the Irish put forth a similar effort against the Panthers, their chances of being upset are legitimate.

With NFL-caliber players such as Louis Nix III and Stephon Tuitt on the defensive line, and rangy linebackers Dan Fox and Jaylon Smith also on the front seven, the Irish must throw exotic looks at the veteran Savage.

Thanks to the rapid development of Smith as a freshman, the Notre Dame defense has become more flexible in being able to do that as the season progresses:

As for the offensive side of the ball, it again depends on getting into manageable situations on third down and not forcing the game into quarterback Tommy Rees' hands.

Rein in Rees

The strategy of giving Rees' arm a rest has turned into a trend over the past three games, as the senior signal-caller has averaged 21 passes, with a season-low of 20 last week.

However, Rees threw two costly interceptions that kept Navy in the game. He needs to make simple reads and take advantage of the one-on-one matchups that present themselves with a great running game to complement his passing.

That can be accomplished by splitting massive 6'7" tight end Troy Niklas out wide more often, or throwing it to TJ Jones' back shoulder. Jones is as reliable as they come and has found the end zone in six straight games.

But Rees can't force the issue. In throwing for 242 yards on only 20 attempts versus Navy, he capitalized on big-play opportunities, but also got too greedy at times with two interceptions.

The other times that Rees threw more than one pick this season, the Irish lost to Michigan and Oklahoma. That can't happen again, especially against a Pitt pass defense that yields an average of only 202 yards per contest.