PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi was not underselling what they are facing on Saturday at noon on 93.7 The Fan. He even called Notre Dame ‘America’s Team’ because of the talent they get. What Narduzzi said he is facing in a battle of 7-2 teams.
Notre Dame had a couple of losses to ranked teams to start the season, by a field goal at Miami in August and then two weeks later at home against Texas A&M, giving up a touchdown with 13 seconds left. Since that, the Fighting Irish have rolled through its schedule winning every game by double digits including against USC.
They are top 10 in FBS in rushing touchdowns (26), averaging 5.2 yards per rush and Jeremiyah Love is fifth in the nation with 988 rushing yards and third in rushing touchdowns (13).
“You saw him Saturday night (against Navy) probably go down, but he’s not down,” Narduzzi said Monday. “He rolls over a guy and takes it to the house. He’s never down. We got to gang tackle both of those tailbacks (also mentioning Jadarian Price averaging 6.0 yards per carry with nine touchdowns), but (Love) has elite speed. He has track speed.”
Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr has completed 67.6% of his passes for 2,275 yards with 19 touchdowns to four interceptions.
“A freshman who plays like a senior,” Narduzzi said. “He can make all the throws, manages the game well, doesn’t make mistakes. He plays disciplined.”
Overall.
“Let's start with he's got a ton of talent, but beyond the talent, probably like their head coach, they play hard, they play tough,” Narduzzi said, mentioning head coach Marcus Freeman. “I mean, they give great effort. There are talented teams out there that don't play hard. This is an elite, talented group that plays hard all the time in all three phases. Every play is the game for them.”
“They play like we want to play.”
Narduzzi said he hopes people look at his program and say they play hard all the time. It’s not as much about the effort, which Narduzzi said will be there, as the talent that Freeman has gathered in South Bend.
“They got an incredible team,” Narduzzi said. “I've said this before. We've faced some really good teams and some better than others, but this is by far the most athletic, the best team across the board in all phases, every position that we'll face.”
“It's America's team. It's the All-American team, period. They got the best players from all of America. Our guys will have their work cut out for them. It will not be easy at noon on Saturday. They got players everywhere.”
Along with everything on offense, Narduzzi praised Notre Dame’s aggressive defense. Notre Dame is third in FBS with 16 interceptions this season and are 17th in scoring defense, but giving up only 11.6 points per game since the calendar turned to October. They are also aggressive on special teams as Narduzzi pointed out the reverses they run on kickoffs. They are aggressive on punt block and will run fakes on special teams.
“They got dudes everywhere, and they play a lot of starters on special teams,” Narduzzi said.
Is Pitt ready for this challenge?
“We'll find out Saturday at noon,” Narduzzi said. “I sure hope so. They're bigger, they're stronger, they're faster. Our guys will play hard like they will. I don't have any doubts about that.”
Panthers pregame starts at 9a on Saturday with Bob Pompeani and former Pitt players Dorin Dickerson and Johnny Petrishen. Larry Richert and Pat Bostick join the All-American Dickerson at 10a and the Voice of the Panthers will call the game starting at noon on 93.7 The Fan.