Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 NOV. 15, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH The Panthers are almost as imbalanced toward the pass as Navy was toward the run. The Mids entered their game with the Irish No. 1 in rush offense and No. 128 in passing offense among the 134 FBS teams that the NCAA charts each week. Pitt was No. 8 on passing offense and No. 107 in rushing offense. The Panthers can be their own worst enemy at times on that side of the ball, ranking 120th in turnovers lost, 72nd in red-zone ef- ficiency, 98th in third-down conversion rate and 121st in sacks allowed. The Panthers' strong suit is their de- fense. And Pitt especially leans into its run defense, ranking sixth nationally in the category after holding Stanford to a Narduzzi-era-best minus-10 yards rushing. They also picked off three passes and amassed 5 sacks. Still, there are holes in the Pitt pass defense when they can't get to the op- posing quarterback. The Panthers rank 70th in pass efficiency defense. Overall in total defense, Narduzzi's team is No. 28 nationally, second among Notre Dame opponents to Miami's No. 12 standing. In terms of special teams, Pitt may be the best all-around squad in that phase of the game on the Irish schedule. The Panthers rank in the top 30 nationally in kickoff returns, punt returns, punt coverage and net punting. And kicker Trey Butkowski has converted 19 of 21 field goal attempts. The bye week, per Narduzzi, couldn't have come at a better time, as Pitt might be as healthy for the Notre Dame game as the Panthers have been all season. "Perfect timing for that break," he said. And perfect timing for Notre Dame to come into Acrisure Stadium as far as Narduzzi is concerned, with his Pitt team showing little semblance to the one that dropped back-to-back games in Sep- tember to West Virginia and Louisville. "I guarantee you we're ready," he said. "We've got a really good football team, but we're going to have to play smart and do things right. Our guys will be ready. This is what you play for. "This is why you play these games. Got Notre Dame coming in, and we're going into the fourth quarter of the season. Three quarters are over. We're ready." ✦ Three Things To Know About Pitt 1. Pitt Struggles To Protect The Quarterback The FBS is expanding to a point in which it's almost impossible to remember how many teams it's comprised of. The number is 136, and only a dozen of them had given up more sacks than Pitt through Week 10. The Panthers allowed their quarterbacks to get sacked 26 times in their first nine games. Starter Mason Heintschel has been sacked 16 times this season. The dumbfounding part is, he's actu- ally a good runner. Adjusting for sacks, he's run 33 times for 242 yards and a touchdown, with a long rushing attempt of 36 yards. That's an average of 7.3 yards per carry. Heintschel can scoot, and he's still been sacked 16 times. This is a pin your ears back and get after the QB game for the Notre Dame defensive front. 2. It Took A While For The Pitt QB Situation To Become Clear Eli Holstein started Pitt's first four games of the season, and he was putting up some gaudy statistics. He passed for 300-plus yards in two of those matchups, against Central Michigan and West Virginia, and he accounted for 12 touchdowns. But he also threw at least one interception in all four games, including 2 in Pitt's second loss in a row at home versus Louisville. Mason Heintschel replaced him the next week against Boston College and hasn't looked back. A true freshman from Ohio, Heinstchel has completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 1,547 yards with 12 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in five starts. Most importantly, he's posted a record of 5-0, with wins over BC, then-No. 25 Florida State, Syracuse, North Carolina State and Stanford. The Panthers' average margin of victory with him as their starter is 19 points. 3. Don't Get Into A Kicking Competition With The Panthers If the game comes down to a kick from either team, Notre Dame won't want any part of that. The Fighting Irish's kicking woes are well documented, with four missed extra points and three missed field goals from three different placekickers through eight games, and the Panthers' placekicking has lived on the other end of the spectrum this season. Pitt's kicking game is in great shape with walk-on freshman Trey Butkowski. He's made 40 of 41 extra points and 19 of 21 field goals. His long is only 47 yards, and his two misses are from 40-plus, but he's yet to attempt a kick from 50-plus and he's 6 of 8 from 40 to 49 yards. He's been nearly automatic from 50 and in, and that's way more than Notre Dame has been able to say. No team ever goes into any game thinking it's going to need a late kick to win, but it's always a pos- sibility. And the kicking edge in this matchup most certainly favors the home side. — Tyler Horka Pitt freshman kicker Trey Butkowski is 40 of 41 on extra points and 19 of 21 on field goals in his first season with the program. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH ATHLETICS