Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 15, 2018 35 BY BRYAN DRISKELL PITT RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Pittsburgh averaged a respectable 191.6 yards per game on the ground in its first five contests, but overall has been inconsistent. The Panthers racked up 245 yards in a 51-6 loss to Penn State and 228 yards in a 38-35 defeat at North Carolina, but went for just 138 yards in a 24-19 win over Georgia Tech and 109 yards — and only 3.3 yards per carry — in a 45-14 loss to Central Florida. Pitt ranked 40th in yards per carry through five contests, but its 5.1 average is dragged down by its quarterback. Sophomore Kenny Pickett averaged just 2.5 yards on his 44 attempts through five games. Fifth-year senior running back Qadree Ollison rushed for a team-high 404 yards and averaged 5.9 yards per attempt to start the season, while senior running back Darrin Hall averaged 6.7 yards per rush on his first 31 opportunities. Outside of giving up a chunk of yards during the second half of a blowout win over Wake Forest, Notre Dame has thrived at shutting down its op- ponents' ground attacks. The Irish held three of their first five opponents to less than 100 rushing yards, and only Wake Forest averaged more than 3.6 yards per attempt. Heading into October, Notre Dame ranked 20th in the land in tackles for loss (37) and 26th in yards allowed per carry (3.3). Senior Mike linebacker Te'von Coney and fifth- year senior Buck linebacker Drue Tranquill have been stalwarts in the Notre Dame rush defense, combining for 74 tackles and eight tackles for loss through five contests. Advantage: Notre Dame PITT PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE The Panthers struggled with their passing attack in September, ranking 119th nationally among 129 FBS teams with just 151.6 yards per game. Pickett threw for only 55 yards in Pitt's blowout loss to Penn State and failed to top the 200-yard mark in each of the first five contests. Pitt's peripheral numbers were just as bad, rank- ing 104th in pass efficiency (121.3 rating), 109th in yards per attempt (6.2) and 120th in yards per completion (9.8). In addition, the offensive line allowed 10 sacks through five games to rank 72nd in the land. Expect Notre Dame to look to take advantage of that matchup by unleashing its defensive line. Through five weeks, the Irish led the nation with a 42.2 pass rush grade from Pro Football Focus. Notre Dame also was the lone school in the na- tion with four players that had at least 10 quarter- back hurries. Senior defensive tackle Jerry Tillery led the Irish with seven sacks, including a school- record-tying four in the 38-17 victory over Stanford. Notre Dame ranked 60th nationally in passing yards allowed per game (213.6), a byproduct of having a double-digit lead in each of its first five contests. That number doesn't do justice to how good the Irish defense was at shutting down op- posing aerial attacks. Notre Dame surrendered merely three touch- down throws in its first five games, and ranked 12th nationally in pass efficiency defense (102.5 rating), 16th in yards allowed per attempt (5.7) and 19th in yards allowed per completion (10.3). On PaPer The Pittsburgh passing attack — led by sophomore quarterback Kenny Pickett — averaged just 151.6 yards per game during its 2-3 start. PHOTO COURTESY PITT ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH