The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-1) travel to meet the Pittsburgh Panthers (6-2) this week in a matchup between two good teams. A player to watch in this matchup is the IndFBS’s top passer, DeShone Kizer (1,669 yards, 11 TDs). Players will take the field Saturday, Nov 7 at 12:00 p.m. ET and it will air on ABC.
Pittsburgh was defeated by North Carolina 26-19 last week. Tyler Boyd had a solid outing in the loss, registering 10 receptions for 89 yards. Nate Peterman had a big game as well, totaling 262 yards and a TD through the air. Notre Dame is hoping for another victory like last week’s performance, when it beat Temple 24-20. DeShone Kizer had a good game throwing the ball for the Fighting Irish, completing 23 of 36 passes for 299 yards, one TD and two interceptions. He added 143 yards and two TDs on 17 rush attempts. Chris Brown finished with 72 receiving yards on six receptions.
The Panthers, a seven-point underdog, will be looking to defend their home field when Notre Dame comes to town.
The Panthers enter the game with records of 6-2 Straight Up (SU) and 4-4 Against The Spread (ATS) this season. In the past five games, Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU and 2-3 ATS. The Fighting Irish will be matching up against a stout Pittsburgh pass defense, which only allowed 178.6 passing yards over their last five matchups. A pivotal part of the game will be whether the Fighting Irish can protect their quarterback from Pittsburgh’s hungry defense. It averages the 19th-most sacks in the nation with 2.9 per game. Don’t anticipate many blunders or oversights from Pittsburgh. The Panthers are one of the least penalized teams in Division I (21st), averaging only 41 penalty yards per game.
On the other side, the Fighting Irish have 7-1 SU and 6-2 ATS records this season. The Fighting Irish went 4-1 for both SU and ATS over the last five games. The Panthers may be catching the Fighting Irish at the wrong time. They have found their groove on offense in the past five games, averaging 504 total yards during that span. Lately, the Fighting Irish have had a better pass defense. They’re allowing only 209.8 passing YPG over their last five matchups.
Predictions: SU Winner – Notre Dame, ATS Winner – Notre Dame
Notes
Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games.
Pittsburgh is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
Pittsburgh is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Notre Dame.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh’s last 5 games when playing Notre Dame.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh’s last 5 games when playing at home against Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is 5-0 SU when leading at the half this season. Pittsburgh is 4-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Notre Dame is 2-1 SU this season in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet undefeated (3-0 SU) in games where it loses the turnover battle.
The Notre Dame offensive running attack is ranked 14th in the nation this year, compared to the 37th-ranked rush defense of Pittsburgh.
