Notre Dame Football: Irish Won't Have Any Trouble Taking Care of Pitt

Just to make sure we're all clear on one thing, whatever BCS aspirations Notre Dame entered the season with went out the window as soon as the Irish let Denard Robinson have his way with them a couple Saturdays ago.

On the bright side, at least the Irish are entering the fourth week of the season with a win under their belts, and against a ranked team no less. On the even brighter side, the Irish are now entering the much easier portion of their schedule, which includes exactly one ranked team between now and Nov. 19.

So despite the fact the Irish won't end the year in a BCS bowl, they at least have a golden opportunity to crawl their way back into the Top 25. The road back started with their win over Michigan State, and it will continue at Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Contrary to Notre Dame's first three games, the vibes heading into the Irish's tilt with the Panthers are decidedly more relaxed, even if the Irish are going to be on the road. There are a couple of good reasons for this.

Chief among these is the fact that Tommy Rees and his band of pass-catchers should be in for a field day against Pitt's defense. Through their first three games, the Panthers have allowed over 336 yards passing per game, a figure that ranks 119th in the country.

Yup, out of 120 teams. And keep in mind that these numbers were racked up against some pretty lackluster opponents. Pitt started by beating Buffalo and Maine (St. Mary's School for the Blind and St. Mary's School for the Blind A&M) at home, but were then subjected to the horrors of James Vandenberg's arm in their loss at Iowa.

The Iowa game and Vandenberg's arm in particular represented Pitt's first true test, and the Panthers ended up flunking it thanks to their pass defense.

So for Rees, who has one of the best receivers in the country at his disposal in the incomparable Michael Floyd, racking up gaudy numbers really shouldn't be all that difficult.

Ah yes, the turnover problem. There's always that, and it is a blasted inconvenience.

However, the turnover problem did become less of a problem against Michigan State, as the Irish committed just (I use the term relatively) three turnovers. That's down from five in consecutive games, so the Irish have clearly figured out the mechanics of how to properly hold on to the football.

We saw against Michigan State what the Irish defense is capable of when it doesn't have to defend a short field every time out. The Spartans ended up with okay numbers, but the Irish didn't allow the Spartans offense to establish any kind of consistency.

It's a simple formula: move the ball, hold onto it, play defense. The Irish haven't really managed to combine all three at once yet this season, but they should be able to do just that against Pitt.

Prediction: Notre Dame 31, Pittsburgh 17