Notre Dame Football: 3 Keys to Victory against Pitt
By Dante Pryor
![The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take to the field before the game of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl of an NCAA college football game Friday, Dec. 30, 2022 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish held off the South Carolina Gamecocks 45-38. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]Jki 123022 Ncaaf Nd Usc Cp 65](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F33252279903309396b1ce258c8147f8c7898cd5f91e9920adb23cd9aa7a4319b.jpg "The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take to the field before the game of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl of an NCAA college football game Friday, Dec. 30, 2022 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish held off the South Carolina Gamecocks 45-38. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]Jki 123022 Ncaaf Nd Usc Cp 65")
Notre Dame Football has an advantage on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
One place Notre Dame football has a distinct advantage is on the lines of scrimmage. Through the years, the Panthers have always had outstanding defensive fronts. From Aaron Donald to Jared Weaver and Patrick Jones to Habakkuk Baldonado and Calijah Kancey, Pitt has consistently produced exceptional defensive linemen.
The Pitt Panthers don’t have that dominant rush end or disruptive defensive tackle on its line. Notre Dame needs to take advantage of that. The Panthers have two defensive linemen over 300 pounds, so they don’t have much beef up front. Every Irish lineman is over the 300-pound mark, and they must make the most of their size advantage.
Notre Dame is deep and talented along their defensive line. Defensive coordinator Al Golden does a wonderful job of dialing up pressures. The Irish don’t have a lot of sacks (73rd in the country with 17 sacks), but they do pressure the quarterback consistently. Pitt’s offensive line is average at best, ranking 63rd in the country in sacks allowed.
This could be the game where not only do the Irish pressure the quarterback, but they also get home more often.