Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 15, 2025 37 GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH need to be prepared for Pitt's aggressive front. Redshirt junior defensive end Jimmy Scott is the most consistent threat with team highs in sacks (4) and quarterback hurries (9). But Pittsburgh brings pressure from a number of places with eight play- ers owning at least 2 sacks this season. Unless Pittsburgh can stop Notre Dame's rushing attack with a light box, Carr should have ample op- portunities to connect with his receiving threats in one-on-one situations. Carr has shown a willing- ness to throw deep this season, so he should let it rip to redshirt senior wide receivers Malachi Fields and Will Pauling and junior wide receiver Jordan Faison. The Irish hit on passing plays of 30- plus yards on 19 occasions through the first eight games of the season. Only eight FBS teams had more entering Week 11. Though Notre Dame hasn't used a lot of play- action passes this season, this matchup should offer good opportunities to utilize it successfully. Maybe that creates more chances for senior tight end Eli Raridon down the seam. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Pitt doesn't have to worry about any kicking con- cerns. Freshman Trey Butkowski nailed 19 of his 21 field goal attempts in the first nine games of his college career. Only one player in the FBS averaged more field goals made per game entering Week OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. QB 6 Mason Heintschel 6-2 215 Fr. 10 Eli Holstein 6-4 225 R-So. RB 0 Desmond Reid 5-8 175 Sr. or 8 Juelz Goff 5-9 195 R-Fr. or 25 Ja'Kyrian Turner 5-9 180 Fr. WR 2 Kenny Johnson 6-1 205 Jr. 23 Zion Fowler-El 6-0 190 R-So. or 17 Tony Kinsler 5-11 170 Fr. WR 5 Raphael Williams Jr. 5-10 165 R-Sr. 80 Bryce Yates 6-0 180 Fr. or 16 Jesse Anderson 6-0 180 R-So. WR 3 Cataurus Hicks 5-10 175 R-So. or 7 Deuce Spann 6-4 210 Sr.+ TE 87 Jake Overman 6-4 240 Sr.+ or 82 Malachi Thomas 6-4 240 So. or 88 Justin Holmes 6-3 245 Sr. LT 78 Jeff Persi 6-8 315 Sr.+ 53 Kendall Stanley 6-5 295 R-Jr. LG 71 Ryan Carretta 6-5 305 R-So. 77 Jackson Brown 6-6 310 R-Jr. C 56 Lyndon Cooper 6-2 315 R-Sr. 72 Isaiah Montgomery 6-4 305 R-Jr. RG 55 BJ Williams 6-4 320 Jr. 67 Tai Ray 6-6 325 R-So. or 68 Torian Chester 6-4 325 Fr. RT 70 Ryan Baer 6-7 325 R-Jr. 51 Jiavani Cooley 6-4 295 R-Fr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 10 Blaine Spires 6-3 250 Sr.+ or 56 Jaeden Moore 6-4 240 R-So. DT 95 Francis Brewu 6-1 280 So. or 2 Isaiah Neal 6-2 265 R-So. DT 55 Sean FitzSimmons 6-3 295 R-Jr. or 11 Nick James 6-2 280 R-Jr. DE 44 Jimmy Scott 6-3 260 R-Jr. 39 Maverick Gracio 6-4 245 R-So. Star 9 Kyle Louis 6-1 220 R-Jr. 24 Cameron Lindsey 6-0 210 R-Fr. Mike 0 Braylan Lovelace 6-2 220 Jr. 31 Nick Lapi 6-2 215 R-Sr. Money 3 Rasheem Biles 6-1 220 Jr. 31 Nick Lapi 6-2 215 R-Sr. or 24 Cameron Lindsey 6-0 210 R-Fr. SS 12 Cruce Brookins 6-2 195 R-So. 14 Josh Guerrier 5-10 175 Fr. FS 7 Javon McIntyre 6-1 195 R-Sr. 23 Kavir Bains-Marquez 5-10 175 Sr.+ CB 8 Tamon Lynum 6-2 190 Sr.+ or 28 Shawn Lee Jr. 5-10 180 Fr. CB 15 Rashad Battle 6-3 195 Sr.+ 21 Shadarian Harrison 6-1 190 R-So. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 93 Trey Butkowski 6-0 170 Fr. 94 Sam Carpenter 5-11 195 R-So. KO 94 Sam Carpenter 5-11 195 R-So. 93 Trey Butkowski 6-0 170 Fr. P 91 Caleb Junko 6-1 205 R-Sr. 92 Kaemon Tijerina 6-0 220 Fr. H 91 Caleb Junko 6-1 205 R-Sr. 92 Kaemon Tijerina 6-0 220 Fr. LS 47 Nilay Upadhyayula 5-11 225 R-Sr. 48 Nico Crawford 6-2 225 R-Jr. KR 2 Kenny Johnson 6-1 205 Jr. 7 Deuce Spann 6-4 210 Sr.+ or 3 Cataurus Hicks 5-10 175 R-So. PR 0 Desmond Reid 5-8 175 Sr. or 2 Kenny Johnson 6-1 205 Jr. + Super senior PITTSBURGH PANTHERS TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART The linebacker trio of Braylan Lovelace (No. 0), Rasheem Biles (not pictured) and Kyle Louis (No. 9) are Pitt's top three tacklers with 55, 53 and 53, respectively. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH ATHLETICS