Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 NOV. 15, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH BY ERIC HANSEN P itt head football coach Pat Nar- duzzi planned on having only two practices during the Pan- thers' bye week, and his athlet- ics director was banned from both of them. Supposedly. "I've got to keep him out of our facil- ity, shut him down a little bit," Narduzzi said with a big grin of former Notre Dame baseball player and current Pitts- burgh second-year athletics director Allen Greene. Greene is a 2000 Notre Dame grad, with a degree in finance. The three- year starting outfielder for the Irish was drafted in the ninth round by the New York Yankees in 1998, and he spent three seasons playing in their minor league system. "I know he's got a little gold and green and blue in him," Narduzzi continued. "No way. We're looking forward to the next one. It's going to be a big one at Acrisure Stadium." A big one for both teams, actually, when Pitt (7-2) hosts Notre Dame in a noon ET start in the 74th meeting be- tween the two teams. And maybe a tad personal for Narduzzi, the Panthers' 11th-year head coach. In the four times he's faced the Irish as a head coach, he's 0-4, with the last two coming by a combined score of 103-10. He also lost four of the last five times Michigan State and the Irish faced each other, when he was serving as the Spartans' defensive coordinator for eight seasons (2007-14). Narduzzi took that job after getting nudged out of the University of Cincin- nati head coaching job by former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly following the 2006 season. Oh, and the Irish and PLAYOFF DREAMS Rested and healed, the Panthers are set to face Notre Dame in a November showdown Pitt quarterback Mason Heintschel is the first true freshman in the FBS to record at least 3 touchdown passes and 300 passing yards in three of his first six career games since Jameis Winston in 2013. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH ATHLETICS