Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 22, 2025 23 0 Third-down conversions for the Pitt offense. The Panthers went into the game with the No. 100-ranked third-down conversion percent- age (36.6) in the FBS, and Notre Dame exposed it in forcing Pitt to go 0 of 13 on the money down. 1 Catch for Fighting Irish junior wide receiver Jordan Faison. It was the first time this season Notre Dame's leading receiver has not had mul- tiple catches in a game. He had at least 2 in every appearance up until the Pitt game. 2 Interceptions for redshirt freshman quarter- back CJ Carr, the first multi-interception game of his young Irish career. He had a pass efficiency rating of 129.4, which is the second-worst mark among his 10 starts this season. 5.7 Yards per play for the Notre Dame of- fense, which is the second-worst figure in that statistical category for the Irish this season. The only time they were worse was in the season opener at Miami Aug. 31. They averaged 5.4 yards per play in that 27-24 loss. 6 Notre Dame running backs have rushed for 1,000 yards in multiple seasons, with ju- nior Jeremiyah Love the latest to join that exclu- sive club. His 147-yard day against the Panthers bumped his season total to 1,135 through 10 games. Last year, he ran for 1,125 in 16 games. The other Irish backs with multiple 1,000-yard seasons are: Allen Pinkett (1,394 yards in 1983, 1,105 in 1984 and 1,100 in 1985), Vagas Ferguson (1,192 in 1978 and 1,437 in 1979), Autry Denson (1,179 in 1996, 1,268 in 1997 and 1,176 in 1998), Darius Walker (1,196 in 2005 and 1,267 in 2006) and Kyren Williams (1,125 in 2020 and 1,002 in 2021). 8 Passes broken up by the Notre Dame defense, which was a season high for a unit that ranks in the top 10 nationally in the important metric. Sophomore defensive end Bryce Young and junior safety Luke Talich led the Irish with 2 apiece. 9 Rushing first downs and 9 passing first downs for the Fighting Irish offense, a perfectly even split embodying the balance coordinator Mike Denbrock's side of the ball has prided itself on all season. 11 Quarterback hurries for the Notre Dame defense, the most the Fighting Irish have had in one game since recording 10 in a 42-13 vic- tory over Florida State on Nov. 10, 2018. 22 Percent of the Irish ground game's run- ning plays were "stuffed," or stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage. If Pitt did anything well in the matchup, it was live up to its stingy run defense outside of the 22- and 56-yard runs for Love. There were plenty of short gains for Love strewn in with the lengthy ones. 35:17 Time of possession for Notre Dame. Going into Week 12, Army was the only team in the nation averaging at least 35 minutes of possession per game. 45 Contested catches by Malachi Fields since 2021 — tied for the fourth most in the FBS — per ESPN, after he hauled in a 25-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. 48.7 Completion percentage for Pitt. This was the third time this season Notre Dame has held an opponent below 50 percent, with Texas A&M (45.9) and Navy (30.0) being the others. 84 Penalty yards for Notre Dame on eight flagged infractions. It's the third-most yards the Irish have given away with penalties this season, and it came after not being called for a single penalty in the win over Navy. 1991 Was the last season in which Notre Dame and Pitt were both ranked when they met. That year, the No. 7 Fighting Irish defeated the No. 12 Panthers 42-7 on Oct. 12. This year's 37-15 victory improved the Irish to 7-3 against the Panthers when both teams are ranked. The Irish are 11-7 all time against ranked Pitt teams. BY THE NUMBERS BY TYLER HORKA 5 First-half receptions for senior tight end ELI RARIDON. He's the first Fighting Irish pass catcher to hit that number in a first half multiple times in the same sea- son since Chase Claypool in 2019. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT