Notre Dame's Program Maturity Key To Pitt Win

The Irish program is proving CFP mettle with its experience and ability to know how to win games.

Nov 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Eli Raridon (9) runs after a catch against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Notre Dame's defense dominates

Entering Saturday's matchup between Notre Dame and Pitt, the Panthers' offense was flying high. Major credit and hype were given to their 18-year-old quarterback, Mason Heintschel, who had his undefeated offense averaging nearly 40 PPG since taking over the starting job six games ago.

Notre Dame shut down the Pitt hype machine emphatically. Until garbage time, the only points the Panthers could muster came from Irish mistakes that put them in prime scoring position. The Irish also held Pitt to just 70 yards rushing on the day, to go along with a meager 149 yards through the air.

The Irish defense is rounding into form at the most perfect time, playoff time. Chris Ash and his players and coaches deserve a ton of credit for overcoming their early-season issues and for continuing to stay the course and improve week to week.

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CJ Carr takes it himself 💪☘️#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/EAhBBD5YSQ

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 15, 2025

Notre Dame plays with "winning margin"

For as impressive as this victory was in a must-have game on the road vs a ranked opponent, Notre Dame was far from perfect. Short yardage and red zone issues persist, the kicking game is still a mess, and CJ Carr was intercepted twice, once for a walk-in pick six. All of this happened, and the Irish still won by a lopsided score and physically dominated the game.

This is how you know a team is reaching a higher ceiling. When a squad goes on the road vs a ranked team, it doesn't play clean and wins in a rout anyway. This isn't to say that these mistakes are acceptable; they will cost the Irish in the CFP if they persist.

But I'm not nitpicking flaws; rather, I'm impressed that Notre Dame's program is at the level where it can play flawed football and blow ranked teams out on the road.

What comes next for the Irish?

No disrespect to Syracuse or Stanford, but Pitt genuinely is the best remaining opponent left on Notre Dame's schedule. In an ideal world, the Irish handle the Orange and Cardinal rather comfortably, get healthy, and ride an upward trajectory straight into the CFP.

With two losses, I consider it a blessing for the Irish to be in the playoff field at all, I don't have it in me to complain or worry about seedings at this point. Notre Dame simply needs to finish at 10-2 and let the chips fall where they may in this regard.

Anything can happen in the playoffs, as long as you are in them.