Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH rendered in five games. They were, however, still a top-10 unit in pass efficiency defense (97.22 rating) heading into the showdown at Oklahoma. Advantage: Notre Dame nents has been clear since the first week of the sea- son — play good defense and run straight at them. For the first time in two years, the Irish rushing attack proved successful against a tough defensive front while rushing for 270 yards against Brigham Young. That brought the team's average to 193.9 yards per game on the ground. Senior Theo Riddick is the team's leading rusher Brian Kelly's game plan against less talented oppo- NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. PITTSBURGH RUN DEFENSE with 467 yards through seven games. Fellow backs Cierre Wood and George Atkinson III have been ef- ficient with their carries, averaging 6.0 and 8.1 yards per touch, respectively. Pitt's top two tacklers, Jason Hendricks and Jared Holley, are both defensive backs, which is typically not a good sign for a defenses when it comes to stopping the run. The Panthers gave up 169 yards on the ground to Football Bowl Subdivision newcomer Buffalo on Oct. 20 and 204 yards to Football Cham- pionship Subdivision school Youngstown State in a loss to start the season. Notre Dame is 23-1 in the past decade when it runs for more than 200 yards. The offense should be able to reach that mark again against the Panthers defense. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME The Panthers allow 199.4 yards per game through the air and keep most of their top talent in the de- fensive backfield. Hendricks and Holley are joined by Michigan transfer Ray Vinopal and veteran Andrew Taglianetti to form a very deep corps of safeties. Hendricks leads the group with a team-high four interceptions, including two against NFL prospect Lo- VS. PITTSBURGH PASS DEFENSE Pittsburgh's strength as a team is in its secondary. Pitt boasts a strong secondary that is led by fifth- year senior safety Jared Holley, who amassed 42 tackles (second on the squad) and one interception during the team's first seven contests. PHOTO COURTESY OF PITT ATHLETICS