Not the Steelers! The Panthers. Pitt has been pretty consistently a tough out for the Irish over the years. Pat Narduzzi has a good solid defense, and you can bet that after having watched the Irish film that he will load up the box and dare the Irish to beat them throwing the ball. That was what he did to the Irish in 2018 and we had to score late to win 19-14. As noted in the Louisville topic, unless the passing game can be more efficient and a threat that gets them out of crowding the LOS, this could be another nail biter of a game. If you look at Pitt v Miami last week, D'Eriq King the Miami QB was the difference. Pitt loaded up and stopped the Miami running game, but King was able to throw for 4 TD's not a big yardage game only a little over 200yds and he threw a couple of picks but that was the difference. They are going to sell out to stop our run game and if Book can't make them pay for it we'll be in trouble. The weather in Pittsburgh shows a 60% chance of rain and it'll be around 50 at game time. So just like Sat in South Bend weather is likely to be a factor, and Heinz field is a grass field so footing for the running game is going to be an issue and it'll be the Irish RB's first game on real grass, we do have grass practice fields though. I'd like to predict a big win, but I think this game is going to be a tough game and another one we'll have to be satisfied with a W. Not worry about the optics.
Jahmir Smith, RB, has left the team. He was buried deep on the depth chart and barring injuries was never likely to see the light of day as a RB. 4 guys were ahead of him. I think with the portal, as soon as you decide you are going to transfer you probably need to get into the portal. Once you are in the Portal you can contact/talk to other teams about your transfer.
Tim O'Malley's observation of the Irish Offense... The Irish Offense: Its akin to a basketball team that has to pass six times, set three screens, reverse the ball twice, and ultimately execute a back door pass and catch—every possession—just to get off a good shot. Saturday (to finish the metaphor) the offense did all of the above—but either Ian Book or his wide receivers too often didn’t finish the shot. Notre Dame’s offense is relying on 10, 12, even 15-play drives to hit pay dirt in 2020. At some point, a failure to execute one of 11 positions will bite them on those marches, especially against quality defenses…which they have yet to face.
We now know the reason why Jahmir Smith left the football team, has nothing to do with playing time or other football related issues. It's a mental health issue. Here's his statement, and I have to say I'm impressed with his maturity in dealing with this problem. I hope that he is successful in getting into a better place and reaching what ever goals he has, he said he doesn't know about football going forward. __________________ Notre Dame Fighting Irish junior running back Jahmir Smith Smith's reasons for stepping away from Notre Dame football are due to a desire to improve his mental health. (AP Photo/Tony Tribble) "Talking about mental health issues is a difficult subject matter for many," Smith's statement read. "For those struggling with mental health, asking for help can be discouraging, but it is the first step toward improving. I have decided to take that first step, and after speaking with my family and Coach Kelly, I have decided that it is best for me to take some time away from football to work on improving my mental health." Smith said in the statement he is unsure about his future in football, but he plans to stay in classes at Notre Dame. "At this time I am directing my focus towards completing my studies and working on my well being with the support and resources from university health services," Smith's statement read.
Good Good Good for him. Never want to see another case like Thomas Johnson. Ex-Texas A&M football player gets life in prison for murder
All of the game write ups have this basically a ND OL vs Pitt DL game. That's where things will be won or lost. Pitt a team that stops the run, in the top 10 in limiting the run. ND has been a running team that throws it some. It's not exactly clear how healthy Pitt QB Billy Pickett will be, he didn't play vs Miami due to ankle injury. He's an athletic kid who makes defenses pay with his legs and has a strong arm to boot. The backup, isn't as dynamic as Pickett but can throw the ball. Pitt running game has been not good so far this year. Bottom line unless we can get the passing game going, this is likely to be a low scoring game going late into the 4th qtr.
From ISD Rugged Saturday Notre Dame will hit the road for the first time in 2020 and will get to face a Pitt team looking to end a three-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers defense has stolen all the headlines this week despite teams scoring 30 or more against Pitt the last three games. Ian Book will need to be aggressive down the field on Saturday, but this game will still come down to Notre Dame being able to run the football against the nation’s top run defense. Pitt is only giving 61.5 rushing yards per game and it’s more impressive when you see teams are averaging just 1.85 yards per carry. The good news is Notre Dame is No. 7 in the country in rushing offense, so if you like physical football, this is the game for you...well at least when Notre Dame is on offense. On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame’s defense might not be getting enough credit as Pitt will likely struggle to score with redshirt freshman quarterback Joey Yellen expected to get the start for the injured Kenny Pickett. Pitt has an atrocious run game, which is odd to say, but the Panthers are averaging just 107 yards rushing per game (2.8 ypc). For perspective, 77 FBS teams have played and Pitt ranks 70th in rushing offense.
Apparently Kevin Austin has broken his foot, again! Gone for the season. Bracey also out, not sure why. Josh Lugg also out, his is an ankle injury from a couple of weeks ago.
As expected it's tough to run on Pitt. Book is going to have to throw on them and loosen them up and maybe we can run.
Northwestern transfer, Ben Skowronek, earning his scholarship today, 2 TD'S both excellent catch and runs. He was said to have great hands and today he is showing them.
Irish finish off the half with a flourish. Pick by Bauer and a short drive punctuated by a tough TD run by Kyren Williams, then Foskey blocks a punt and recovered it for a TD. 28 - 3 half time Pitt has to be a very dispirited team in the locker room
Book has made them pay with some good scrambles, and his passing stats are a little misleading. He's thrown for 180 yds in the 1st half, mostly on 2 big TD throws, other than those he still doesn't look sharp or accurate.
Well they just handed the ball off, so the backup QB's didn't get any meaningful snaps. Final is a very solid 45 - 3 win. Pitt DL was as good as advertised and we really couldn't run against them except for the QB scrambles. Book threw for more than 300 yds, but he was just about 50% completion, which in todays college game is pretty mediocre. But not to be a Debby Downer, I am very happy for this win. Braden Lenzy looked like he pulled his hamstring pretty good late in the game. He has had issues with it and I expect he's not going to be able to go for a couple of weeks at least.
Good to get a belated road win under our belt. Book is finding receivers he can play with Skowronek and Mayer had good games. McKinley had a very impressive run after a dump pass. As Terry pointed out Book doesn't seem as accurate as he was the last two years.
Book has a lot of value but not nearly as much in the passing game as he was two yrs ago unfortunately
I don't quite understand what has happened to Book. He holds the ball to long at times, he missed a number of throws that he used to make, as Kelly would say, the layups. I get it that you don't have a quick hook for your 5th year senior captain. I'm also sure that when they go over game film all of this is discussed. Not to mention that we don't have a 5 star Qb sitting on the bench chomping at the bit. A lot are lamenting the loss of Kevin Austin, but due to the injury in training camp he has not been a factor this year, same could be said about Braden Lenzy, he's missed time and really hasn't gotten that many snaps. I do wonder why he was even in the game late when he was injured. Bottom line is that Book is what he is and that he is not a Qb who can beat the elite teams. Mac Jones, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence are that Qb