Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 15, 2018 37 ing down opposing passing attacks. Through five weeks, the Panthers ranked 77th in yards allowed per game (229.8), 100th in pass efficiency defense (144.7 rating) and 105th in yards allowed per at- tempt (8.2). The Panthers permitted a relatively low 169.3 yards per game during their first three games, while giving up four touchdown passes and pick- ing off three passes. During that stretch, they held Penn State standout quarterback Trace McSorley to less than 50 percent passing (46.7 percent) and just 145 yards. In their next two matchups, however, the Pan- thers surrendered a combined 641 yards and six touchdowns. Pitt failed to pick off a single pass while opposing quarterbacks completed 61.5 per- cent of their passes. North Carolina threw four interceptions in a loss to California and three in a loss to Miami (Fla.), but the Panthers failed to come down with a Tar Heel throw. Pitt registered five sacks against Football Cham- pionship Subdivision opponent Albany in the sea- son opener, but it had just one sack in each of its next four games — all against Football Bowl Subdivision teams. It also had just one interception in its four games against FBS squads. Notre Dame struggled to throw the football consistently in its first three contests, averaging 200.7 yards with just two touchdowns and four interceptions. Those struggles led to Notre Dame making a quarterback change, with senior Brandon Wim- bush going to the bench and junior Ian Book step- ping into the starting lineup. Book was outstanding in his first two starts of the season, throwing for 325 yards in a 56-27 win over Wake Forest and 278 in the 38-17 victory over Stanford. The junior completed 73.1 percent of his passes and tossed six touchdowns, good for a quarterback rating of 181.21, which would have put him seventh in the country if he had enough attempts to be eligible for the rankings. Senior wideout Miles Boykin was the top pass catcher through five games, hauling in a team-best 20 catches for 311 yards and one score. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Pitt has become progressively worse on special teams during head coach Pat Narduzzi's tenure, and the 2018 season has been its worst yet. The Panthers ranked 50th in special teams efficiency according to the S&P+ in his initial season (2015). They were 62nd in 2016, 75th in 2017 and 127th through their first five games of this season. Notre Dame ranked 53rd in special teams ef- ficiency through five weeks, but the unit put to- gether strong back-to-back performances in wins over Wake Forest and Stanford. Fifth-year senior punter Tyler Newsome was especially effective against Stanford, out-dueling Stanford's Jake Bailey, an Athlon Sports preseason All-American. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING Narduzzi went 8-5 in his first two seasons in the Steel City, taking the Panthers to back-to-back bowl games. His program dropped to 5-7 in 2017, but the start to the 2018 season has been a rough one for the former Michigan State defensive coordinator. The Panthers were blown out by top-25 pro- grams Penn State and UCF, and also dropped a game to lowly North Carolina a week after beating Georgia Tech. This is a critical season for Narduzzi, who needs a bounce-back campaign to keep the natives from getting restless. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has had a great deal of success against Narduzzi. Kelly and the Irish dropped their first matchup against Michi- gan State in 2010, falling in overtime to a team that had Narduzzi as the defensive coordinator. Notre Dame won the next three contests, including giving the Spartans their lone loss in 2013. The two coaches have squared off just once at their current schools, with Kelly's Notre Dame squad besting the Panthers 42-30 in Pittsburgh in 2015. It was a game Notre Dame led 42-17 late in the fourth quarter. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES The Panthers went 4-1 on the road during Nar- duzzi's first season in charge, but since then they have been just 3-9 away from home. Notre Dame went 2-4 at home in 2016, but since losing its final home game of that season the Irish have gone 10-1 in the house that Knute Rockne built. During that stretch, Notre Dame beat those 10 opponents by an average score of 36.5-18.2, and half of those wins have been by at least 21 points — with three of those foes ranked among the top 25. Notre Dame was a confident team entering Oc- tober and the Panthers were reeling heading into their matchup against Syracuse Oct. 6. Turnovers always play a vital role in almost every game. Through five contests, the Irish defense had forced nine turnovers, while Pitt turned it over eight times. Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 18 S. Jacques-Louis 6-0 180 Fr. 88 D. Butler-Jenkins 6-0 210 R-Fr. WR 82 Rafael Araujo-Lopes 5-9 190 5th-Sr. 2 Maurice Ffrench 5-11 190 Jr. WR 11 Taysir Mack 6-2 195 R-So. 5 Tre Tipton 6-0 190 R-Jr. TE 86 Tyler Sear 6-4 250 So. 10 Will Gragg 6-4 250 R-Jr. LT 70 Stefano Millin 6-5 300 5th-Sr. 59 Carson Van Lynn 6-5 290 R-Fr. LG 76 Connor Dintino 6-3 315 5th-Sr. 56 Brandon Ford 6-5 305 R-So. C 67 Jimmy Morrissey 6-3 300 R-So. 60 Owen Drexel 6-3 290 R-Fr. RG 66 Mike Herndon 6-4 310 5th-Sr. 71 Bryce Hargrove 6-4 310 R-So. RT 78 Alex Bookser 6-6 315 5th-Sr. 57 Gabe Houy 6-6 310 R-Fr. QB 8 Kenny Pickett 6-2 220 So. 12 Ricky Town 6-3 215 R-Jr. TB 30 Qadree Ollison 6-2 225 5th-Sr. 22 Darrin Hall 5-11 225 Sr. 21 A.J. Davis 6-0 215 So. FB 35 George Aston 6-0 240 5th-Sr. 81 Jim Medure 6-2 235 R-Jr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 8 Dewayne Hendrix 6-4 265 5th-Sr. 91 Patrick Jones II 6-5 265 R-So. NT 93 Shane Roy 6-4 280 5th-Sr. 90 Rashad Wheeler 6-3 285 R-So. DT 10 Keyshon Camp 6-4 285 R-So. or 34 Amir Watts 6-3 290 Jr. DE 17 Rashad Weaver 6-5 260 R-So. 40 James Folston Jr. 6-4 250 5th-Sr. LB 25 Elijah Zeise 6-2 240 5th-Sr. or 9 Saleem Brightwell 6-0 225 R-Jr. LB 58 Quintin Wirginis 6-2 250 5th-Sr. 36 Chase Pine 6-2 250 R-So. or 44 Elias Reynolds 6-2 235 R-So. LB 23 Oluwaseun Idowu 6-0 230 5th-Sr. 28 Anthony McKee Jr. 6-2 220 R-Jr. SS 20 Dennis Briggs 5-10 195 5th-Sr. 24 Phil Campbell III 6-1 200 R-So. FS 3 Damar Hamlin 6-1 195 Jr. 7 Jazzee Stocker 6-2 190 R-Jr. CB 32 Phillipie Motley 5-10 180 5th-Sr. 15 Jason Pinnock 6-0 195 So. CB 11 Dane Jackson 6-0 185 R-Jr. 16 Damarri Mathis 5-11 190 So. or 12 Paris Ford 6-0 195 R-Fr. PITTSBURGH DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 97 Alex Kessman 6-3 195 R-So. 49 Jake Scarton 6-3 195 R-Fr. P 98 Kirk Christodoulou 6-1 210 R-Fr. 97 Ethan Van Buskirk 5-10 220 Fr. KO 97 Alex Kessman 6-3 195 R-So. 49 Jake Scarton 6-3 195 R-Fr. H 49 Jake Scarton 6-3 195 R-Fr. 48 Kellen McAlone 6-2 210 5th-Sr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 94 Cal Adomitis 6-1 225 So. 51 Grey Brancifort 6-1 225 Fr. KR 2 Maurice Ffrench 5-11 190 Jr. 12 Paris Ford 6-0 195 R-Fr. PR 82 Rafael Araujo-Lopes 5-9 190 5th-Sr. 12 Paris Ford 6-0 195 R-Fr. Special Teams