Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH only 5.5 yards per play through the first eight games, which ranked 63rd na- tionally. The Panthers allowed only 6.6 yards per pass attempt — 40th nation- ally — but gave up 4.6 yards per rush a t t e m p t , w h i c h ranked 80th. "There's been a lot of inconsistency on the defense," Peak said. "They've played really well a majority of the time, but they've also had some terrible busts. They'll just have a few plays where they miss tackles and give up a huge gain. They play well at times, but it's also inconsistent — and that applies to all the units." T h e d e f e n s i v e line was thought to be one of the weakest points on the team entering 2015. Peak said the unit has developed n i c e l y, t h o u g h , helped in part by Ejuan Price. The fifth-year senior de- fensive end missed much of 2013 and all of 2014 with in- juries, but totaled 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in the first eight games this year. "They've been maybe the biggest sur- prise of the team," Peak said. "Price has been outstanding after missing years with injuries. Really their top seven guys in the rotation have been solid, much better than anyone expected them to be. "They've made a big impact. This is an aggressive defense that likes to blitz a lot, and they've had a lot of success, surpris- ingly so." O v e r a l l , P e a k sees a close game unfolding at Pitts- burgh, if for nothing other than history's sake. Since 2008, the Irish and the Pan- thers have played six times — each of those games ended within a one score margin, and two contests went into multiple overtimes. "It's almost one of those games it seems like for a while now where it doesn't matter who suits up on either side," Peak said. "It's always a close one. "It seems silly to say that, but there's no reason to expect this one to be differ- ent. Both teams are playing well; both teams have had injury issues. They play each other close, and I think that's how it will be [this season]." ✦ Freshman strong safety Jordan Whitehead was the Panthers' leading tackler with 62 stops (three for loss) through eight contests. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH