Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1509682
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 28, 2023 47 GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH of his current program and is just a couple years removed from an 11-win season there. Narduzzi isn't elite by any means, but it's not crazy to trust the coach who's been at this for nearly a decade over the one who's in his 30s and is still very much learning on the fly. First-year offensive coordinator Gerad Parker still has much to prove as well. He did not call a great game in Notre Dame's loss to Louisville. Until he shows he can do more with less, Notre Dame is at a disadvantage on the offensive side of the ball. People might not want to hear it, but former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees called a Head coach Pat Narduzzi guided Pitt to 20 wins, two top-25 finishes and 1 ACC title (2021) over the past two seasons. PHOTO COURTESY PITT ATHLETICS better offense with Drew Pyne at quarterback than Parker has called with Hartman lately. Advantage: Pitt INTANGIBLES Notre Dame's 30-game regular-season winning streak against Atlantic Coast Conference oppo- nents was snapped by Louisville, so it's time to start a new one. Pitt is a good bet to do it against; the Irish have beaten the Panthers the last three times these teams have matched up by an average of 19.7 points per game. That was in large part due to a 45-3 shellacking the last time they met on Oct. 24, 2020. Pitt has not won in South Bend since Nov. 1, 2008. That was a couple coaches ago for the Fight- ing Irish and half a dozen coaches ago for the Pan- thers, including interims. Ironically, current Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph was one of those interim head coaches for Pitt. Notre Dame should be well rested coming off its first bye week of the season, one that saw the Irish play eight games in a row since Week 0 before it ar- rived, but will Freeman's team be too rested? How will the players come out of the time off? After last year's bye, Notre Dame regrouped and beat BYU 28-20 in Las Vegas. Something to monitor there. Advantage: Notre Dame OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 0 Bub Means 6-2 215 R-Sr. 84 Jake McConnachie 6-5 205 R-Jr. 83 Lamar Seymore 6-1 185 Fr. WR 9 Konata Mumpfield 6-1 185 Jr. 23 Zion Fowler-El 6-0 190 Fr. 18 Israel Polk 6-1 175 Fr. LT 78 Branson Taylor 6-5 330 R-Jr. 77 Jackson Brown 6-6 305 R-Fr. LG 68 Blake Zubovic 6-4 330 Sr.+ 50 Jason Collier Jr. 6-6 330 R-Sr. C 53 Jake Kradel 6-3 305 Sr.+ 58 Terrence Moore 6-5 305 R-So. RG 55 BJ Williams 6-3 315 Fr. 50 Jason Collier Jr. 6-6 330 R-Sr. 72 Isaiah Montgomery 6-4 300 R-Fr. RT 70 Ryan Baer 6-7 330 R-Fr. 74 Terrence Enos Jr. 6-4 320 R-So. TE 86 Gavin Bartholomew 6-5 250 Jr. 8 Karter Johnson 6-2 255 R-Sr. or 7 Malcolm Epps 6-6 255 Sr.+ or 88 Jake Renda 6-4 230 R-So. WR 3 Daejon Reynolds 6-2 210 R-So. 2 Kenny Johnson 6-1 195 Fr. 21 Che Nwabuko 5-10 175 R-Fr. QB 11 Christian Veilleux 6-4 220 R-So. 5 Phil Jurkovec 6-5 235 Sr.+ 19 Nate Yarnell 6-6 215 R-So. RB 6 Rodney Hammond Jr. 5-9 195 Jr. 24 C'Bo Flemister 5-11 205 Sr.+ or 4 Daniel Carter 5-10 230 R-Sr. 34 Derrick Davis Jr. 6-0 210 R-So. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 50 Dayon Hayes 6-3 265 Sr. 4 Nahki Johnson 6-2 255 R-So. 8 Samuel Okunlola 6-4 245 R-Fr. DT 0 Deandre Jules 6-3 310 R-Sr. 95 Devin Danielson 6-2 290 Sr.+ 55 Sean FitzSimmons 6-3 290 R-Fr. DT 2 David Green 6-1 285 Sr.+ 92 Tyler Bentley 6-2 300 Sr.+ 94 Elliot Donald 6-3 280 R-So. DE 57 Bam Brima 6-5 270 R-Sr. 6 Nate Temple 6-4 250 R-Sr. 44 Jimmy Scott 6-2 260 R-Fr. Star 23 Solomon DeShields 6-3 225 R-Jr. 38 Kyle Louis 5-11 220 R-Fr. Mike 32 Shayne Simon 6-3 235 Sr.+ 30 Brandon George 6-3 245 R-Sr. Money 11 Bangally Kamara 6-2 230 Sr. 35 Braylan Lovelace 6-2 220 Fr. or 59 Nick Lapi 6-2 220 R-So. CB 14 Marquis Williams 5-9 180 Sr.+ or 9 A.J. Woods 5-11 195 Sr.+ SS 3 Donovan McMillon 6-2 210 Jr. 25 Stephon Hall 6-1 190 R-So. FS 7 Javon McIntyre 6-1 195 R-So. 5 Phillip O'Brien Jr. 6-0 185 Jr. CB 12 M.J. Devonshire 5-11 190 R-Sr. 10 Ryland Gandy 6-0 180 R-Fr. Pittsburgh Panthers Depth Chart SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 90 Ben Sauls 5-10 185 R-Jr. 94 Sam Carpenter 5-11 180 Fr. KO 90 Ben Sauls 5-10 185 R-Jr. 94 Sam Carpenter 5-11 180 Fr. P 91 Caleb Junko 6-1 210 R-So. 92 Cam Guess 5-11 200 R-Jr. H 92 Cam Guess 5-11 200 R-Jr. 91 Caleb Junko 6-1 210 R-So. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 49 Byron Floyd 6-1 245 R-Jr. 93 James Fineran 6-5 235 R-So. KR 9 A.J. Woods 5-11 195 Sr.+ or 2 Kenny Johnson 6-1 195 Fr. 0 Bub Means 6-2 215 R-Sr. 21 Che Nwabuko 5-10 175 R-Fr. PR 12 M.J. Devonshire 5-11 190 R-Sr. 9 Konata Mumpfield 6-1 185 Jr.