Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 OCT. 15, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED "There's some decent talent at cor- nerback," Peak said. "Senior Dane Jackson is a good player, but even he struggled in Pitt's week five loss at UCF. Phillipie Motley is a redshirt senior who has started every game. The backups, second-year players Jason Pinnock — who was a Notre Dame target in the 2017 class — Damarri Mathis and Paris Ford, are athletic players off the bench. "The safety group has struggled, both in assignments and tackling. The safeties in Pitt's defense — se- nior Dennis Briggs and junior Damar Hamlin — rely on linebackers throw- ing slot receivers off their routes near the line of scrimmage. Not enough of that is happening, which leads to the safeties being stuck in single cover- age, often without good leverage." Pittsburgh did find success through five weeks rushing the ball, going for 191.6 yards per contest, which was good enough for 54th nationally. But that may not be quite an advantage against the Irish. "There isn't a lot that stands out," Peak stated when asked what areas the Panthers could exploit against Notre Dame. "Pitt's strongest area is in running the ball, but that hasn't been a weakness for Notre Dame. Defensively, there don't seem to be any mismatches in Pitt's advantage, based on the way the two teams have played in the first half of the season." The matchup with Notre Dame presents more concerns than just the rush offense being able to find its footing. "Pass defense and pass protection are two major issues for Pitt this sea- son," Peak explained bluntly. "Lately the Panthers' rush defense — once their pride and joy — hasn't been so hot either. Also, special teams have been a peculiar vulnerability for Pitt this season." When it comes to Notre Dame his- tory, Pittsburgh is one of the most common opponents, with the two programs meeting 70 times from 1909 to the last in 2015. In the previ- ous five matchups, the Irish won four of the five, but the average margin of victory was just 6.2 points. "Right now, it's tough to call this one in Pitt's favor," Peak said. "A road game against a talented team with a potent offense doesn't ex- actly bode well for a team that has been nearly doubled in points dur- ing its first two road games this season. " T h e P a n t h e r s h a v e h i s t o r i - cally given Notre Dame a chal- lenge, though, and on their last trip to South Bend they took the Irish into overtime before yielding. The 2018 matchup looks pretty uneven though." ✦ GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH Redshirt sophomore defensive end Rashad Weaver will be a key piece for the Panthers to put pressure on Irish junior quarterback Ian Book. PHOTO COURTESY PITT ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS 2018 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 1 Michigan W, 24-17 Sept. 8 Ball State W, 24-16 Sept. 15 Vanderbilt W, 22-17 Sept. 22 at Wake Forest W, 56-27 Sept. 29 Stanford W, 38-17 Oct. 6 at Virginia Tech W, 45-23 Oct. 13 Pittsburgh (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Oct. 27 vs. Navy* (CBS) 8 p.m. Nov. 3 at Northwestern TBA Nov. 10 Florida State (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 vs. Syracuse^ (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 24 at USC TBA * at SDCCU Stadium in San Diego; ^ at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, N.Y. 2018 PITTSBURGH SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 1 Albany W, 33-7 Sept. 8 Penn State L, 51-6 Sept. 15 Georgia Tech W, 24-19 Sept. 22 at North Carolina L, 38-35 Sept. 29 at Central Florida L, 45-14 Oct. 6 Syracuse W, 44-37 (OT) Oct. 13 at Notre Dame (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Oct. 27 Duke TBA Nov. 2 at Virginia (ESPN2) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 Virginia Tech TBA Nov. 17 at Wake Forest TBA Nov. 24 at Miami (Fla.) TBA