{"id":35130,"date":"2025-11-15T16:44:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T16:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/35130\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T16:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T16:44:09","slug":"notre-dame-vs-pitt-panthers-passing-defensive-front-pose-stiff-test-for-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/35130\/","title":{"rendered":"Notre Dame vs. Pitt: Panthers\u2019 passing, defensive front pose stiff test for Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of Notre Dame vs. Pitt<\/a>\u00a0from Saturday\u2019s college football action.<\/p>\n

SOUTH BEND, Ind. \u2014 Considering Notre Dame is playing for its College Football Playoff life on Saturday, it felt strange for Marcus Freeman to answer questions about independence and his own job prospects this week. Yet, when No. 9 Notre Dame (7-2) faces No. 23 Pittsburgh (7-2) at Acrisure Stadium (Noon, ABC), there will be chatter beyond what happens after kickoff.<\/p>\n

Freeman didn\u2019t take the bait earlier this week when asked about his position on independence after Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire zinged Notre Dame last weekend. He didn\u2019t have much to say about job prospects outside of Notre Dame either, even as he continues to pop up on hot boards and speculative lists around college football and the NFL. Freeman signed a lucrative contract extension with Notre Dame less than a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure I\u2019ve said before, like just because somebody else might be saying my name\u2019s up for whatever job or being considered, that isn\u2019t the noise that I\u2019m going to put in my head or I need, that ain\u2019t my noise,\u201d Freeman said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd so, I can address it directly, indirectly. If I\u2019m going to spend time talking about something like that, I\u2019ve got to make sure it\u2019s in a way that it\u2019s beneficial for the players, right? Your time in front of the players is so limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notre Dame has enough on its plate as it plays another elimination game, the next challenge in a season-long parade of them. Here are three keys and a prediction as the Irish look to keep marching forward.<\/p>\n

Could a freshman quarterback hurt Notre Dame\u2019s secondary?<\/p>\n

When Pittsburgh made the change to Mason Heintschel during the first weekend of October, it gambled that a freshman quarterback could unlock offensive coordinator Kade Bell\u2019s call sheet. The Panthers have a dynamic running back in Desmond Reid, but Bell\u2019s system only goes as far as the quarterback can take it.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh has won five straight since, with Heintschel performing as more than a game manager. He\u2019s averaged 36 pass attempts in those wins, including a lights-out performance against NC State when he completed 28-of-48 passes for 423 yards and three touchdowns. The approach may give Notre Dame whiplash early, considering it\u2019s come off Navy\u2019s option approach.<\/p>\n

The Panthers\u2019 attack will probably reshuffle the defense under Chris Ash, too, considering Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray has missed the past two games with an injury, and Leonard Moore turned his ankle against Navy. Getting nickel DeVonta Smith healthy after a lingering calf strain could be critical, too.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all a test for a secondary on the rise during the past month, as the Irish now rank No. 24 nationally in pass efficiency defense. Like Jayden Maiava (USC), Carson Beck (Miami) and Marcel Reed (Texas A&M), however, Heintschel figures to stress Notre Dame at the back.<\/p>\n

Freeman sees enough confidence in Pittsburgh with its new quarterback to see Heintschel as more than just a freshman or first-year starter<\/p>\n

\u201c(Confidence) is built through success during the season, and it is ultra high obviously right now, and I think the same goes with their quarterback,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cIt\u2019s built over these five games that he\u2019s made the decisions and made the plays that he\u2019s made, and that\u2019s how confidence is built in others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can Notre Dame\u2019s reworked offensive line pass a major test?<\/p>\n

When Notre Dame had to turn to Sullivan Absher at left guard and Joe Otting at center, it was a concession that a potentially great offensive line would probably have to settle for just being good. The combination struggled at Boston College, when the Eagles loaded the box and took away Jeremiyah Love until that 94-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. However, the Absher-Otting combo took a step forward against Navy as Love and Jadarian Price combined for 24 touches for 168 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would honestly say our whole O-line played more aggressive,\u201d said left tackle Anthonie Knapp. \u201cTo be completely honest, I think our pass pro was fine against Boston College. But we did not establish a run as good as we wanted at all. And I don\u2019t know what the story was, but we were kind of mad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeping that anger going will be paramount on Saturday. Pittsburgh leads the nation in yards per carry allowed at 2.39 yards per rush. The only defense close on Notre Dame\u2019s schedule is Miami (2.83 yards per carry allowed). The Hurricanes held Love and Price to a combined 19 carries for 78 yards, and that was with starting center Ashton Craig and starting left guard Billy Schrauth healthy.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh has a reputation under Narduzzi for selling out to stop the run, basically crowding the box and making the quarterback throw over the top. Note Dame is comfortable playing that way, but letting any defense take away Love and Price feels like a foolish approach considering both could be playing in the NFL next season.<\/p>\n

Whether or not Notre Dame can be smartly stubborn on the ground this weekend may come down to Otting and Absher as much as it does Love or Price. Per Pro Football Focus, Otting has actually graded out better than Craig, while Absher\u2019s PFF grade is better than Aamil Wagner and virtually identical to Knapp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of those guys, you know what I mean?\u201d Knapp said. \u201cObviously, they\u2019ve been a year older than me. I\u2019ve seen them almost two years now, but those guys work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did Erik Schmidt\u2019s new routine create a new kicker?<\/p>\n

Freeman racked his coaching brain last week trying to figure out how to unlock some of freshman kicker Erik Schmidt\u2019s potential after the kicking game devolved into a punch line at Boston College. Notre Dame changed up its Tuesday practice routine, dropping field goal and extra point reps in between regular periods opposed to devoting an entire period to Schmidt. Freeman wanted to create more of a one-and-done vibe.<\/p>\n

Did the change in approach fix Schmidt? He made all seven of his extra points against Navy, with only the first one in jeopardy of missing thanks to a rough snap and hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were intentional about spreading some kicks throughout practice to simulate like a game,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cYou go out there with the field goal unit. You kick one kick and make it or miss it, you got to move on. And we let him have some input in terms of the script where he would be kicking the ball from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmidt is 19-of-20 on extra points and 0-of-2 on field goals. He missed badly from 31 yards against Purdue and missed from 35 yards just before halftime at Boston College. Notre Dame has not needed a pressure field goal since Noah Burnette hit from 39 yards at Miami and connected from 22 and 39 yards against Texas A&M. Burnette is again out this week with the right hip injury that\u2019s dogged him most of the season.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear how confident Freeman will be should a pressure field goal kick be needed on Saturday at Pittsburgh, the Acrisure Stadium field typically chewed up by mid-November, considering it\u2019s also the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying to get (Schmidt\u2019s) mind focused on the right things to reinforce habits that we want him to be able to have when it matters in a game,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cAnd so we got to continue to do those things and continue to enhance and ultimately just have confidence producing a better result.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/p>\n

Every decade, Notre Dame heads to Pittsburgh and notches a win that has some gravity to it. Twenty years ago, it was the debut game of Charlie Weis as Notre Dame\u2019s head coach, which doubled as the reintroduction of Brady Quinn. Ten years ago, Will Fuller went off as the most potent Irish offense of modern times entertained. Now it\u2019s Marcus Freeman\u2019s turn. And CJ Carr\u2019s. And the rest of the Irish offense that\u2019s primed to turn heads in the College Football Playoff chase. The Panthers present their own problems with quarterback Mason Heintschel. Carr and Co. simply present more.<\/p>\n

Notre Dame 38, Pittsburgh 17<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of Notre Dame vs. Pitt\u00a0from Saturday\u2019s college football action. SOUTH BEND, Ind. \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6743,19231,73,75,74],"class_list":["post-35130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-college-football","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}