Notre Dame Offense Has A Chance To Get Right Against Pitt
Notre Dame has been a wildly inconsistent offensive football team in 2023, with the unit dominating in the first four games of the season but struggling for much of the last four. After the bye week the Notre Dame offense will get a chance to get back on track,
If Notre Dame is going to be the dominant team it needs to be in the final five weeks of the season the offense needs to wake up and get rolling. We saw signs of life in the win over USC, with the offense turning turnovers into touchdowns, making big plays in "must score" situations and the deep ball came back, at least for a couple of plays.
That performance will need to be built upon in the final four games, and Pittsburgh offers the first shot. This is an intriguing matchup because the Panthers aren't the dominant defense they've been in past years, but it's still a quality group with good players and excellent coaching. It will certainly provide a first glimpse into whether or not Gerad Parker and the offensive staff have been able to push the right buttons to get this unit back on track.
Let's take a look at the matchup between the Notre Dame offense and the Pitt defense.
Notre Dame Rush Offense vs Pitt
Notre Dame's run game was good to start the season, with the Irish rushing for 198.8 yards per game and 5.9 yards per carry in the first five games of the season. In the three since the Irish have gone for just 109.3 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry. That's quite a drop, and while the offense showed some glimpses of getting back on track against USC, it wasn't an overly impressive performance considering how sub-standard the USC defense is at stopping the run.
Notre Dame rushed for 125 yards and 4.3 yards per carry against the Trojans, which was partly due to the short fields and the fact the offense only ran 47 plays. But in the week prior to its matchup against Notre Dame the Trojan defense gave up 203 rushing yards (4.8 YPC) in a win over Arizona and 247 yards (5.3 YPC) in a loss to Utah.
The overall yards per carry average is solid, but it's fueled by the strong early start. Notre Dame's offensive line has struggled mightily in the run game in recent weeks, and it will need to get right in a hurry. Pitt is giving up 127.7 yards per game on the ground this season, but the Panthers rank 21st nationally in limiting yards per carry and they rank 12th in tackles for loss per game. Pitt will certainly load the box and be aggressive attacking the Notre Dame offensive line, especially the guards.
Pitt is vulnerable to getting gashed by the run, much like it was in 2015 when Notre Dame gashed it for 175 yards, which included a 147-yard performance from Josh Adams. In the last two games, however, Notre Dame rushed for just 80 yards and 115 yards against the Panthers, although the Irish won both games.
Notre Dame must find a way to get running back Audric Estime back on track. Mixing up their runs (inside and out) and allowing Estime to hit the line more aggressively would be helpful. Perhaps getting Estime on the field more out of 11 personnel (three receivers on the field) and perhaps getting him on the field with Jeremiyah Love or Jadarian Price could open up some creases for the big Irish back.
Notre Dame Pass Offense vs Pitt
Just like the run game, the Notre Dame pass offense has been quite erratic this season. After racking up over 300 yards per game in the first four games, the Irish have gone for just 194.3 passing yards in the last four games. Notre Dame went from 11.4 yards per attempt in the first four games to 6.8 in the final four games.
There are reasons for this beyond the normal criticisms, with the biggest being injuries and a lack of production from the wide receiver position. Veteran Jayden Thomas and freshman Jaden Greathouse are expected to be back to full speed, and that should give the offense a shot in the arm. Both were limited the last month, and getting them back provides some dependability to the pass game.
That's a good start, but the pass game needs to be more dynamic against a Pitt defense that is going to look to lock down the quick to intermediate game that has been prominent in the Irish offense the last month. Pitt is going to play a lot of man coverage, they are going to blitz and they are going to find different ways to pressure the quarterback.
This has left Pitt vulnerable in the pass game on the outside and in the deeper parts of the middle of the coverage. That has been an area where Notre Dame has struggled to make plays in the last month. Notre Dame needs its outside receivers - which includes Tobias Merriweather - to make plays in this game. The slots - Chris Tyree and Jordan Faison - also will get chances to make big plays in this game. If the wideouts step up and play well the Irish offense will dominate, but if they don't it will be much harder to consistently put scoring drives together.
Pitt is one of the best pass rushing teams in the country, and that's an area where Notre Dame has also been very up-and-down. Notre Dame's pass protection struggled against Duke and Louisville, but it was excellent against a USC defense that came into that game ranked 2nd nationally in sacks per game. Notre Dame will need a strong pass protection scheme and the line will need to execute that against the Panthers.
Notre Dame Scoring Offense vs Pitt
If Notre Dame can find some balance in this game it will be hard for the Panthers to stop the Irish. A balanced Notre Dame offense is one that can beat teams multiple ways, which makes them much harder to stop. When Notre Dame is balanced it generates big plays, it converts third downs and it puts a lot of points on the board.
Pitt is a very well coached football team that limits yards and yards per play, although its points per game average is not on the same level due to its poor offense and poor punt team, which has given up two blocks and allowed a 52-yard return for a score against North Carolina.
If Notre Dame gets on track against this defense, with this level of quality coaching, it will be a great sign of things to come. If they don't make the necessary adjustments and improvements the offense will continue to struggle. The opportunity is there, now we'll find out if the unit is able to turn the corner.
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers
2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook
