Pitt Preparing For Season's Biggest Challenge vs. Notre Dame

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers (7-2, 5-1 ACC) will host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) for the biggest matchup of the season for the Panthers at Acrisure Stadium.

This game will not only be nationally televised, but it will also feature ESPN's College GameDay and Aaron Donald's Pitt jersey retirement ceremony. Despite this, though, Pat Narduzzi made a bold claim that included that he'd be OK with Pitt losing 110-10.

Pitt is coming off a much-needed bye week after defeating Stanford on the road 35-20 for its fifth straight win. Ja'Kyrian Turner had a career game, but Mason Heintschel struggled in another road start. Shawn Lee Jr. also recorded his first-career pick-six, but Rashad Battle suffered an injury in the second quarter.

Like Pitt, Notre Dame is also on a winning streak. The Fighting Irish have gone 7-0 after losing 27-24 in Week 1 vs. No. 10 Miami and 41-40 vs. No. 16 Texas A&M. Notre Dame blew out once, 7-1 Navy, 49-10 last week, where the Irish scored a touchdown on seven of eight possessions, excluding the final drive when they ran out the clock.

Notre Dame leads the all-time series against Pitt 21-49, with many of those wins coming in recent years. The Panthers are 3-7 in the last 10 meetings and haven't beaten the Irish since 2013. The six meetings from 2009-13 all ended by a one-score margin, but the games haven't been that close as of late.

Nov 9, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers tight end Manasseh Garner (82) celebrates with the student section after Pitt defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 28-21 at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Pitt has lost 42-30, 19-14, 45-3 and 58-7 under Narduzzi, with a scoring margin of 164-54 and 103-10 in the last two meetings.

Injuries

There aren't many injury updates this week. There was no ACC Availability Report because this is not a conference game, so we'll have to wait and see who dresses for warmups before kickoff.

However, Narduzzi did confirm that Desmond Reid will be good to play. Reid suffered an injury late in the game against NC State and did not play against Stanford.

As a refresher, Rasheem Biles, Blaine Spires and Cruce Brookins missed the Stanford game. Reid, Kenny Johnson and Kyle Louis were questionable, but Louis and Johnson both played. Jaeden Moore also returned from injury and played in his first game as a Pitt Panther.

Key Stats

Pitt Offense

Scoring: 39.7 points per game (6th in FBS)
Total: 426.8 yards per game (35th)
Passing: 302.6 yards per game (11th)
Rushing: 124.2 yards per game (104th)

Pitt Defense

Scoring: 21.8 points per game (tied-42nd in FBS)
Total: 318.3 yards per game (25th)
Passing: 237.4 yards per game (96th)
Rushing: 80.9 yards per game (3rd)

Notre Dame Offense

Scoring: 38.7 points per game (tied-9th in FBS)
Total: 466.1 yards per game (15th)
Passing: 271.7 yards per game (26th)
Rushing: 194.4 yards per game (26th)

Notre Dame Defense

Scoring: 18.8 points per game (18th in FBS)
Total: 334.9 yards per game (45th)
Passing: 232.3 yards per game (tied-88th)
Rushing: 102.6 yards per game (tied-15th)

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