The beginning of a very exciting three-game stretch for No. 22 Pitt football kicks off Saturday at noon, when the Panthers host No. 9 Notre Dame at Acrisure Stadium.
The Fighting Irish represent the toughest opponent Pitt has played yet this year. After they dropped their opening two games of the year, the Irish stormed back and are now on a seven-game winning streak heading into this one. They will look to rattle true first-year quarterback Mason Heintschel and his Panthers as best they can.
And even though this is not a conference game — as head coach Pat Narduzzi infamously alluded to earlier this week — this game still means a heck of a lot for these Panthers. It’s an amazing opportunity for Pitt to stun the college football world and take down a top-10 club.
So, how do the Panthers pull off the upset on Saturday?
Get the crowd involved early
This is the biggest game Pitt has played in years.
Even though Pitt has won five straight and is now officially ranked No. 22, Notre Dame is a level of competition they have not yet faced. The Panthers are going to need all hands on deck in this one — and yes, that includes the sold-out stadium as well.
ESPN’s College GameDay airing from the City and dual ceremonies — one honoring Tony Dorsett’s 303-yard rushing game and the other for the retiring of Aaron Donald’s No. 97 jersey — will already have a buzz around the building heading into kickoff. That’s an energy that the Panthers can feed off, and it’s so important that they don’t let the Irish take the fans out of the game early on.
Whether that means a big downfield throw from Heintschel to a receiver, a sack by the Sharks on Notre Dame’s opening drive, a huge return by Pitt’s special teams or something else entirely, Pitt needs big plays early to keep the stadium’s energy going.
The longer the crowd believes, the better chance the Panthers have at winning.
Get the ground game going
Notre Dame has struggled at times when it allows a heavy amount of rushing yards. The Irish lost their opening two games to Miami and Texas A&M, games that saw them surrender 134 and 128 yards on the ground, respectively. Those totals sit as the third and fourth highest figures allowed by the Irish this season.
More importantly, however, Pitt is a perfect 7-0 in games where they pick up 100+ rushing yards in a game. When Pitt gets the run game going, they win. It’s as simple as that.
Getting senior running back Desmond Reid back on the field will go a long way towards that goal. Reid, whose season has been hindered by injuries, did not take a carry two weeks ago at Stanford, but is ready to go for Saturday. He is still arguably the team’s most explosive playmaker, based on what he can do both as a rusher and a pass-catcher. Against a team like Notre Dame, Pitt absolutely needs Reid.
But he’ll have help in the backfield. True first-year running back Ja’Kyrian Turner has blossomed into an excellent rusher with more opportunities. He’s averaging 4.5 yards a carry through eight games and leads the team with six rushing touchdowns. Turner is coming off a 22-carry, 127-yard performance, setting new career highs in both categories on the road at Stanford. He also achieved a new career high with 36 receiving yards.
On the 50th anniversary of Dorsett’s legendary performance, Pitt needs to secure a solid rushing attack.
Don’t give the Irish extra fight
Even though the Panthers won two weeks ago at Stanford, they were not as crisp on offense as they would have liked.
Heintschel was picked off twice in the endzone and accounted for two fumbles in the game as well. The second came on a botched play late, where Heintschel was forced to eat the ball and got crunched in the process, letting the ball slip from his hands. They were some of the very, very few “rookie mistakes” we’ve seen from the undefeated quarterback since taking over the starting job.
Although one of those scores came in garbage time, Stanford was able to put 14 points on the board from those gifts. Pitt’s defense, to their credit, managed to cut down the turnover margin by picking off Stanford’s redshirt senior quarterback Ben Gulbranson three times.
The coaching staff and fans still have full faith in Heintschel, but he cannot afford to let those mistakes turn into a pattern, especially against a team like Notre Dame. The last thing the Panthers want to do is give the Irish extra chances to make plays in this game. Pitt needs to protect the ball.