When Pitt takes on No. 3 Notre Dame Saturday, 3:30 p.m. at Heinz Field, both ACC teams have the potential to put on an old school defensive matchup.
That's because both teams are among the ACC's top defenses.
Notre Dame's defense ranks as first in points allowed per game, third in total yards and rushing yards allowed, and second in passing yards allowed.
Pitt's defense ranks third in points allowed per game, second in total yards, first in rushing yards and fifth in passing yards allowed.
But Notre Dame's defense has helped keep the Fighting Irish undefeated at 4-0, while Pitt's defense has given up 30 or more points in three straight losses to drop the Panthers to 3-3.
Pat Narduzzi knows that despite Pitt already facing two ranked teams this year, Notre Dame presents the toughest challenge yet.
"This season has really gone fast," Narduzzi said Thursday. "I don't know how many teams are going into week seven in the country but it can't be many. We're strolling around and ready for a strong, powerful and explosive Notre Dame football team in all phases. You see they keep it simple on defense and are comfortable doing what they do."
Part of what Narduzzi noted the most about Notre Dame's defense is how similar its philosophy to that of Pitt's defense. Both teams focus primarily on stopping the run and are willing to leave defensive backs in single coverage in hopes that the pass rush and presence up front will cause opponents enough problems to force mistakes and create turnovers.
"They'll bring more pressure and like to win their one-on-one battles," Narduzzi said of Notre Dame's defense. "They play a lot of base defense like we do. We probably have a few more change ups but they're very similar. I love playing defense because our guys play it well and they have the same philosophy because it allows their guys to know what to do and play fast."
Here's an example of how Notre Dame did that against Louisville last week. Notice how quick its linebackers come up to stuff Louisville's lead blockers and plug any holes for the running back to find in the middle of the line:
One of the key leaders for that unit is its hard hitting linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. He leads Notre Dame with 20 tackles and six tackles for loss.
"I see a physical dude," Narduzzi said of Owusu-Koramoah. "He's explosive. If you try to throw a bubble he's going to blow it up. He's 215 lbs. so he's not like this big guy but he'll knock you out. Our guys got to keep our heads on a swivel. He's a good football player that makes a lot of plays."
How Pitt has to counter Notre Dame's strength most likely through the air. The Panthers' rushing offense hasn't gotten going yet as the 13th ranked rushing game in the ACC, and Narduzzi noted further on Thursday on the big challenge in facing Notre Dame's front.
"We've got to block for them better," Narduzzi said of Pitt's offensive line. "It's a combination of everything. First, give the defenses credit when they move the right way. But we've got to block better up front and read better from our tailbacks. Sometimes they're not making the right cuts or going too early. They've got to go in conjunction with our line. If we're trying to go back one way and our tailback cuts back, Notre Dame does a good job watching plays develop and then when you don't let a play stretch enough they'll hurt you. Some running backs get the ball and go north and south, but sometimes you have to put your foot in the ground and make a guy miss."
Notre Dame's ground game has been clicking through four games. The Fighting Irish average 261 rushing yards per game, second best in the ACC. A big part of that has been Notre Dame's willingness to use tight ends to help block and the consistency of the offensive line.
"Offensively they use those three tight ends a lot and they're strong," Narduzzi said. "Probably will be the 3 best tight ends we see all year. Running backs of course are really good and the starting offensive line has a lot of starts up front. It's going to be a battle."
Here's an example of how Notre Dame's strength plays well for its offense. It's not a big play, but one of the many consistent zone blocking runs the offense pulls off. Notice how each lineman and tight end controls their gaps down the line, eventually allowing for running back Kyren Williams to pick his own hole and charge forward to gain the first down:
Part of what's helped balance Notre Dame's offense is quarterback Ian Book. He's only thrown three touchdowns, but he's also only thrown one interception. That's part of what Narduzzi notes about how he fits well into Notre Dame's game plan.
"Ian Book is a leader," Narduzzi said. "He's won a lot of football games, he's smart and he knows he's got a good defense. So he's not going to go take chances by chucking the ball downfield when he doesn't have to. He'll use his feet and manage the game the way it's supposed to be when you've got a defense that stops opponents the way they have. He's not worried about scoring 48 points or throwing for 350 yards and four touchdowns. He's worried about managing the game the way they want it done. He makes good decisions and what more can you ask? He will use his feet, scramble and he's fast."
Book also has 34 rushing attempts for 126 yards, including five rushing touchdowns. He's become a featured component of Notre Dame's offense in the red zone.
"I don't know if I've seen a Notre Dame offense get into the red zone and run a quarterback lead zone out of the gun, ever," Narduzzi said. "And that's with all the times I saw them when I was at Michigan State too. They've got a running back in Williams that can block you too, so I see why they do it. It's a numbers game with an additional blocker and a quarterback not afraid to run the ball. Those are the different designs we have to watch in the red zone."
If Narduzzi is going to pull off a major upset Saturday, it may pay off to let Joey Yellen, or whomever starts at quarterback Saturday, take shots for big plays against Notre Dame's secondary the way Pitt has been attacked by N.C. State, Boston College and Miami in the past three weeks.
Notre Dame only has one interception on the season, but its defense has also recorded 20 pass breakups through four games. That's something Narduzzi mentioned when looking at the Fighting Irish's defense on tape.
"They have a lot of breakups," Narduzzi said of Notre Dame's pass defense. "They break on the ball well and they'll play a lot of quarters to the field, half field to the boundary and sometimes all four quarters. Picks are not easy to get. Sometimes you don't get them while playing base and you can change it up and then get more, but then you open yourself to other vulnerabilities."
Here's an example of one of those breakups from safety Kyle Hamilton, whose 20 tackles ties Owusu-Koramoah for most on the team. Watch how Hamilton plays this in route against Louisville. He doesn't jump in front of it for the interception, but he also avoids contact for any pass interference. Instead he uses his long 6-foot-4 frame to reach over the receiver and knock the pass away himself:
Pitt has to put Notre Dame's secondary to the test with passes that force its defensive backs to make plays like this all game. Hoping for Pitt's ground game to wake up against one of the best rushing defenses in the ACC would be putting the Panthers in an even more difficult situation to pull off what would be one of the biggest upsets in Narduzzi's tenure.
After playing six games to Notre Dame's four, Narduzzi mentioned how this week's practices were shortened so that his players could feel more rested going into the game.
"We tried to keep them a little fresher this week and took today's practice a little bit shorter. We've played six, they've played four. They played two games and took two off. Obviously that's an advantage for them being fresher. But our guys are strong. We've gotten banged up at times but any time you play you might. That's just part of the game and we'll have a chance after this weekend to take a little bit of a break and get refreshed. We'll be OK."
Let's see if that rest pays off.