Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh Complete Game Preview
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame football began its late-season stretch of road games with a four-point win over previously unbeaten Temple on Saturday in Philadelphia, and the Irish head right back to Pennsylvania this week for a matchup with Pittsburgh.
The Panthers, who had climbed to No. 23 in last week’s AP poll, are again unranked after their 26-19 home loss to North Carolina on Thursday. Now at 6-2, Pitt welcomes 7-1 and eighth-ranked Notre Dame, which is still trying to avoid any potholes on its way toward the regular-season finale against No. 9 Stanford.
“October is for pretenders, and November will be for contenders,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said leading up to the Temple game.
Kelly uttered that familiar refrain two years ago, too, at the end of October, two weeks before Notre Dame’s clash with Pittsburgh at Heinz Field. The Irish, 7-2 at the time, still had a shot at a BCS bowl berth but fell to the Panthers, 28-21. Notre Dame had been 11-1 in November under Kelly before that setback.
Each of the last six matchups in the series has been decided by no more than seven points.
Date: Saturday, November 7
Time: Noon ET
Place: Heinz Field in Pittsburgh
TV: ABC
Radio: IMG College Sports, SiriusXM Channel 129
Spread: Notre Dame by 7.5, according to Odds Shark
Notre Dame's Keys to Victory
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Capitalize in the Red Zone
Twice within the first two quarters Saturday, Notre Dame trudged into the red zone, only to come up empty, as quarterback DeShone Kizer tossed a pair of interceptions.
The first time—on Notre Dame’s fourth drive of the game—the play clock wound down, and Kizer felt pressure and threw off his back foot. The second time, Kizer gunned for Will Fuller near the goal line, only for Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich to come up with the interception off the deflection.
“The first one is just an unacceptable mistake on DeShone’s part,” Kelly told reporters after the game. “He knows that. He can’t throw that ball into traffic like that.”
And though Kelly didn’t put the second turnover on his quarterback, the fact remains: Notre Dame can’t afford to continue coughing up the ball in the red zone.
“You can’t go down there twice and come out with no points,” Kelly said. “They’re very alarming when you have those.”
Notre Dame ranks 99th in the country in red-zone conversions, coming away with points on 78.8 percent of its trips inside its opponent’s 20-yard line. Notre Dame’s red-zone touchdown rate of 57.6 percent is 85th in the nation.
Defend the Big Play
Kelly said Notre Dame did a better job of not allowing big plays against Temple, a problem for the Irish defense all season long and a key for his squad moving through November.
Temple running back Jahad Thomas did rip off one 39-yard run, but Notre Dame was solid otherwise. Owls quarterback P.J. Walker’s longest completion was a 31-yarder to Robby Anderson.
Pittsburgh ranks 91st in the country in total offense, averaging 364.9 yards per game, and 89th in scoring offense (26.1 points per game). The Panthers have 91 plays of at least 10 yards from scrimmage, which is among the lowest totals in FBS (tied for 114th). Their 14 plays of at least 30 yards from scrimmage are tied for 92nd.
Star receiver Tyler Boyd (63 receptions for 578 yards and four touchdowns) has big-play ability but is averaging just 9.2 yards per catch and has four receiving touchdowns. The Panthers, of course, have been without star running back James Conner (the 2014 ACC Player of the Year) since he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second quarter of the season opener against Youngstown State.
Pittsburgh's Keys to Victory
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Start Fast
Following a 20-3 halftime deficit against North Carolina, Pitt outscored the Tar Heels, 16-6, in the second half—only to fall by a touchdown.
“That was a tough one out there,” first-year Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi told reporters after the loss. “I told the players we have to play a great 60 minutes. I thought we started slow. We played a little better in the second half. … That’s two weeks in a row that I haven’t been happy with the way we played in the first half. There’s no magic to it.”
The Panthers have been outscored 112-105 in the first half through eight games this season, including an 86-48 deficit in the second quarter.
Finish in the Red Zone
Pitt has left the red zone with points on 83.3 percent of its possessions this season, tied for 69th in the nation. The Panthers have scored touchdowns on 60 percent of their red-zone trips, tied for 71st in the country.
Pitt attempted three field goals Thursday against North Carolina, one from within the red zone, en route to a 19-point offensive showing.
“One of our keys to victory was that you can’t kick field goals in the red zone,” Narduzzi told reporters after the game. “Give North Carolina credit for what they did. They are a good football team. They executed and are well-coached. Obviously, with us kicking so many field goals, it’s tough to win a game just kicking field goals. You have to score touchdowns.”
Notre Dame Players to Watch
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C.J. Prosise
Against Temple on Saturday, Irish standout running back C.J. Prosise was limited to 25 yards on 14 carries (1.8 yards per attempt).
“We felt it was going to be difficult,” Kelly told reporters after the game of running on the Owls. “The box was crowded, obviously.”
Still, the Irish benefit from a successful ground game. Kizer (17 carries for 143 yards and two scores, including the 79-yard sprint) helped ease the burden, and he’s proved himself a capable runner even beyond short-yardage situations, but those long bursts can’t be counted on.
Pitt ranks 37th in the nation in rushing defense, allowing 138.8 yards on the ground per game.
Max Redfield and Matthias Farley
If we move past the discussion of the targeting call that ejected Irish senior safety Elijah Shumate from the rest of Saturday’s game, reality sinks in that Shumate is also suspended for the first half of this week’s game against Pitt.
“When we lost Shumate, that hurt us a little bit,” Kelly said.
Kelly confirmed Sunday that the plan is to start Max Redfield and Matthias Farley as the two safeties for the first half. Initially, Nicky Baratti replaced Shumate against the Owls.
Neither Redfield nor Farley has separated himself enough from the other to stake a claim to all the playing time at free safety. How will the duo fare together, especially with one playing out of position at Shumate’s vacated strong safety spot?
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Pittsburgh Players to Watch
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Tyler Boyd
Pittsburgh junior wide receiver Tyler Boyd is already one of the most prolific wideouts in program history. After a sophomore season in which he piled up 78 catches for 1,261 yards and eight scores, Boyd joined former Pitt great Larry Fitzgerald as the only players in school history to notch a pair of 1,000-yard campaigns in their careers.
Two seasons ago against the Irish, Boyd hauled in eight grabs for 85 yards in the home win. So far in 2015, Boyd has 63 receptions for 578 yards (9.2 yards per catch) and four touchdowns.
Matt Galambos
Pittsburgh junior linebacker Matt Galambos has stuffed the stat sheet this season with 46 tackles (second on the team), eight tackles for loss (second), four sacks (first) and two interceptions (tied for first).
Galambos and company allowed North Carolina to pile up 444 yards of total offense and 7.7 yards per play Thursday in the loss.
“We’ve got to be locked in on defense each and every play and try to eliminate the explosive plays,” Galambos said to reporters after the game. “We’ll go back and watch it and try to get better from it.”
What They're Saying
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“He got the game ball. Leading a drive on the road, again as a [redshirt] freshman, and then the throw in the corner of the end zone in Cover 2 was just outstanding. Great poise, great leadership, deserving of the game ball.” — Irish head coach Brian Kelly to reporters on Kizer on Saturday
“He’s a resilient kid, and he doesn’t carry any of it with him.” — Kelly to reporters Saturday on Kizer’s response after his two interceptions
“David was gonna get us a 15-yard penalty. So I have to control the sideline. I wasn’t going to let that happen. He got a little too close, and I backed him up out of the way to make sure that we didn’t get a 15-yard penalty.” — Kelly to reporters Saturday on his sideline exchange with assistant strength and conditioning coach David Grimes
“They don’t know what happened. It’s typical of those that are just looking at the video without having any of the information. Only those that are clearly near the situation that have all the information can make those judgments. It's an internal matter, and we're handling it internally.” — Kelly on Sunday when asked about those who think he owes Grimes an apology
“There’s no question there are individual playmakers on this team. Collectively, though, there’s a demeanor on this football team of they’re not gonna give in. They just keep playing. They play hard for four quarters.” — Kelly to reporters Saturday
“He was all over the field. He’s set a bar now in terms of the way he plays each and every week. He’s just a physical player, all over the place. We’re not the kind of defense that we are without him.” — Kelly to reporters Saturday on Jaylon Smith
“He played as well as I think I’ve seen him play. He was active. He was in coverage. We did a lot of things with him. He’s right now playing the best football of his career. When you have your captains playing your best football, that’s a good sign for your defense.” — Kelly to reporters Saturday on Sheldon Day
“I thought our mistakes were down. I thought we played better defense tonight.” — Kelly to reporters Saturday
“He's got great hands. He's got great athletic ability. He's going to be a really, really fine football player for a number of years here, and he's starting to feel more comfortable and gaining more confidence every day.” — Kelly on freshman tight end Alize Jones
“There were a lot of things that I can't give you answers for from that crew that worked the game.” — Kelly on the officiating Saturday
“The last three weeks, we have missed sacks. Somehow, we have got to get a guy loose and get to the quarterback. Sometimes the pressure was good and we missed tackles. Sometimes it was awful. You can’t cover their receivers forever.” — Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi to reporters after Thursday’s loss
“That’s the key right there, respond to adversity. This one hurts a lot, because we definitely wanted to win this game. It’s a big ACC game, but we’re going to turn it around and be a lot better. I know I have a lot of things I can get better on, and I’m going to use that for motivation to get better.” — Pitt quarterback Nathan Peterman to reporters Thursday
“We just have to finish plays. We were kind of relaxed on those long plays. When the ball is in the air, we need to make a play.” — Pitt safety Jordan Whitehead to reporters Thursday
Prediction
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Another road matchup. A noon start. An opponent coming off a loss.
Saturday’s tilt has trap-game potential for the Irish. After all, Notre Dame and Pitt have played a horde of close games in recent years, and the Panthers have wins by eight, four, seven and three (twice) points this season.
But, as they showed again Saturday, the Irish have proved resilient and found answers to continue notching victories. The wins haven’t been perfect, and the performances haven’t been complete. Yet Notre Dame has had enough—enough big plays, both offensively (Kizer’s 79-yard sprint) and defensively (KeiVarae Russell’s game-sealing interceptions in the last two games), enough veteran leadership and enough moxie from cogs such as Kizer.
It could be close, but expect that to continue Saturday in the Steel City.
Prediction: Notre Dame 28, Pitt 20
All quotes were obtained firsthand, and all stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.
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