Notre Dame Opponent Preview: Pitt Panthers
Notre Dame and Pittsburgh square off this weekend as the third-ranked Fighting Irish head to the Steel City to take on the 3-3 Pittsburgh Panthers. We’ll kick off our coverage of Pittsburgh with a first glance at the Panthers.
Game Date: Saturday, Oct. 24
Start Time: 3:30 PM (Eastern)
Network: ABC
Early Line: Notre Dame -10.5
Now let’s look at the Panthers.
SCHEDULE/RESULTS (3-3)
Austin Peay - Win 55-0
Syracuse - Won 21-10
Louisville - Won 23-20
NC State - Lost 30-29
at Boston College - Lost 31-30
at Miami - Lost 31-19
STATISTICAL OVERVIEW
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Rushing Yards: RB Vincent Davis - 235 yards, 2.8 YPC, 3 TD; QB Kenny Pickett - 119 yards, 2.6 YPC, 5 TD; RB AJ Davis - 105 yards, 3.9 YPC
Passing Yards: QB Kenny Pickett - 108-180, 60.0%, 1,389 yards, 8 TD, 3 INT, 136.16 rating
Receiving Yards: WR Jordan Addison - 38 catches, 444 yards, 11.7 YPC, 3 TD; WR DJ Turner - 19 catches, 332 yards, 17.5 YPC, 1 TD; WR Shocky Jacques-Louis - 17 catches, 233 yards, 13.7 YPC; WR Taysir Mack - 15 catches, 231 yards, 15.4 YPC, 2 TD
Tackles: S Paris Ford - 37 tackles; LB SirVocea Dennis - 37 tackles; S Damar Hamlin - 35 tackles; LB Phil Campbell III - 25 tackles; DE Patrick Jones II - 25 tackles
Tackles For Loss: DE Patrick Jones II - 8.5; DE Rashad Weaver - 8.5; LB SirVocea Dennis - 6.5; DT Calijah Kancey - 6.0; DE John Morgan - 5.0
Sacks: DE Patrick Jones II - 7.0; DE Rashad Weaver - 4.5; LB Phil Campbell - 3.5; DE Dayon Hayes - 2.5
Interceptions: S Paris Ford - 3; CB Marquis Williams - 2
HEAD COACH
Head coach Pat Narduzzi is in his sixth season running the Panther program. Narduzzi is 39-32 in his career, and 26-19 in ACC play. Narduzzi led the Panthers to four bowl games in his first five seasons. The Panthers won the AC Coastal Division championship in 2018 after going 6-2 in league play.
In 2016, Pittsburgh beat eventual national champion Clemson (43-42) on the road.
Narduzzi built a name for himself as the defensive coordinator at Michigan State, a job he held from 2007-2014. He spent three years running the Cincinnati defense before heading to Michigan State with Mark Dantonio.
OFFENSIVE OVERVIEW
Pitt’s offense is run by Mark Whipple, the former UMass head coach (1998-2003, 2014-18), who also coached in the NFL for nine seasons. Whipple ran the Miami (Fla.) offense from 2009 to 2010.
The Panthers are a pro-style offense, utilizing a variety of motions, shifts and personnel groupings. It is a pass-heavy offense, with Pittsburgh averaging 39.3 pass attempts per game. Pitt averaged 39.5 attempts in 2019, Whipple’s first season, which led the ACC.
Pitt runs a lot of quick game throws, which is essentially its perimeter ground attack. There are a lot of high-low concepts, and the Panthers will throw the ball vertically quite a bit. In six games, Pitt quarterbacks have attempted 49 passes that have traveled at least 20 yards past the line of scrimmage. Compare that to just 12 for Notre Dame.
The Pitt ground game has been nothing but a complement to its pass game since Whipple arrived.
DEFENSIVE OVERVIEW
Pitt’s defense has been strong for much of Narduzzi’s tenure, and it’s certainly the best aspect of the squad in 2020. Randy Bates is the defensive coordinator for the Panthers, but this is ultimately Narduzzi’s defense. Bates is in his third season with the Panthers after he spent the 12 previous seasons at Northwestern.
Pitt is a 4-3 defense, but it’s structure can easily be used in a 4-2-5 look that is similar to what Notre Dame does, at least with its linebackers. The Panthers use their safeties to be weapons against the run game, which is a big reason why safeties Paris Ford and Damar Hamlin rank first and third in tackles for the defense.
Pitt puts its cornerbacks in a lot of man coverage looks, but they will mix up their coverage looks more than they did early in his tenure with the Panthers.
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