The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are looking to even up their record at 2-2 after defeating Michigan State last weekend, 31-13. The Irish proved in their victory over Michigan State that they are a great team that is able to win every game they play in. If they play the same way against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, they should have no problem winning the game.
The Pitt Panthers are 2-1 with wins over Maine and Buffalo (oooohhhh I’m so impressed) and a loss at Iowa. The Panthers have a pretty mediocre team. They rank in the mid-50’s (out of 120 teams) in passing and rushing yards. Their defense is even worse. Their pass defense is ranked 119th and total defense is 97th. To sum things up here; Notre Dame should shut down Pitt’s offense, and Pitt’s defense won’t have a chance against Notre Dame’s offense. This doesn’t mean it’s gonna be a cakewalk though. The Irish need to come out and show that they are the best team on the field.
Keys to the game
Limit Turnovers- So I’m gonna stop asking for “no turnovers” because that appears impossible for the Irish. They had five in each of their first two games and three last week. That’s 13 in three games and the worst in America. Maybe there‘s a pattern here. 5-5-5-_.That means three this week!
Don’t give up any big plays- This means no plays that bring Pitt back into the game or win the game. This includes, but not limited to: kick returns for touchdowns, turnovers returned for touchdowns, long pass plays for touchdowns, and long runs for touchdowns. Notre Dame’s defense has given up several of these “big plays”. This was the biggest problem the Irish had in their loss to Michigan, esp. in the 4th quarter.
Manage the offense- This one is for Irish quarterback, Tommy Rees. This isn’t gonna be a game where he needs to throw the ball deep every play and attempt to score touchdown after touchdown (like he’s had to do in the past three games). Rees just needs to keep the offense in rhythm and moving forward. Let the running backs, Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray, do the hard work on the ground. Then spread the ball around to the receivers and tight ends.
Pittsburgh is nowhere near as talented as the past three opponents have been for the Irish; all of which have been fairly close games that weren’t decided until the final quarter. That being said, this should be a pretty easy game for Notre Dame fans to watch.
My predicted score: Notre Dame-35, Pittsburgh-16
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| So I decided to drop this bomb. Yeah, that's Taylor Swift, decked out in Notre Dame gear. Swift was on the sidelines for the Michigan State game last Saturday (9/17). I think this basically solidifies the fact that we were meant to get married. |
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