The Pitt and Notre Dame rivalry is built on familiarity and it will be one of the defining storylines heading into Saturday’s showdown in South Bend. Sure, the teams have not played one another in a couple of years, but from a historical perspective, a longtime rivalry will be renewed this weekend.
Notre Dame is the fourth most common opponent in Pitt football history. The Panthers are the fifth most commonly played game for Notre Dame, and the two old programs will renew that rivalry for the 73rd time in a game that dates back to 1909. Notre Dame leads the all-time battle with a 50-21-1 edge and has won three in a row and six of the last seven and will enter this weekend as decisive favorites against a struggling Pitt team.
“Obviously Marcus Freeman has done an outstanding job here in his second season,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said of his team’s opponent this weekend. “They have got a talented team. When you put the tape on and watch those shiny gold helmets, they fly around, they look good. They are probably as good looking a team as you are going to walk out on game day and see, and they play fast.”
Narduzzi’s team is struggling with a 2-5 start to the 2023 campaign and the Panthers are coming off a tough 21-17 defeat against Wake Forest last week. On the other side of the game, Notre Dame is ranked No. 14 in the country and will be well-rested after a bye week.
Prior to the open week, Notre Dame may have had its best game ever under Marcus Freeman, a 48-20 triumph over then undefeated USC. The Irish dismantled the Trojans and held reigning Heisman winner Caleb Williams in check. Narduzzi was quick to credit defensive coordinator Al Golden for those efforts all season.
“He's done a great job with their defense,” Narduzzi said of Golden. “And again, four down, they are all physical, they are all fast. I can't sit there and focus on one guy because there's 11 of them. They are as talented a football team as you're going to face out there. So we'll have our hands full.”
Notre Dame ranks 12th in the country in total defense as it surrenders only 283 yards per game. The Irish are stingy about scoring as well allowing only 16.4 points a contest. Notre Dame boasts Howard Cross, a midseason All-American candidate on the defensive line, a tough linebacker group led by JD Betrand and Jack Kiser, and a secondary highlighted by Xavier Watts, who is coming off a two-interception game against the highly-regarded Williams.
The familiarity is also something Pitt is hoping to lean on from its own side. The Panthers feature three former Notre Dame transfers on their roster. Starting tailback C’Bo Flemister, starting linebacker Shayne Simon, and former starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec all once began their college careers in South Bend before landing in Pittsburgh
Flemister is coming off of his first 100-yard game as a Pitt Panther, and his first since the 2020 season with Notre Dame. He is eager to return to a a place he once called home and face off against some old teammates.
“I’m excited to go anywhere and play anywhere, but it’s kind of special for me because, I mean I did spend four years of my life, the first four years of my adult life there,” said Pitt’s leading rusher. “I kind of grew who I am today there and I had the opportunity to come here and showcase that even more. It’s definitely exciting and it’ll be a great time to go back and I’m looking forward to it.”
It may be a homecoming for some, but for the team as a whole, it’s a chance to pull off an upset and get the season back on track in some fashion. Pitt isn’t pulling any punches this week according to assistant coach Charlie Partridge. He seemed please with the attention to detail during Tuesday’s practice, and the opponent obviously played a factor in the focus.
“Every position group that you look at they’ve just got a challenging schemes,” said the Pitt defensive line coach. “They’re a top team and it’s going to take everything we have and that’s where all of our focus is right now.”
Notre Dame’s offense can also present some challenges to Pitt. Sam Hartman, who yet again, is a familiar face to this Pitt team. The Panthers defeated Hartman back when he was with Wake Forest in the 2021 ACC Championship, and did a pretty good job of limiting him with four interceptions and five sacks in that meeting.
Hartman, however, has grown from that. He has 1,838 yards 18 TDs to just three picks in his first season in South Bend, picking off right where he left off as Wake Forest’s all-time leading passer. Hartman also has the benefit of playing with a complete Notre Dame roster filled with the talent. The line is anchored by All-American Joe Alt, tight end Mitchell Evans is a matchup nightmare, while Audric Estime is a physically imposing runner leading the ground attack.
“So you know, he throws the ball well,” Narduzzi said of Hartman. “He’s a calm guy. He can run. He can scramble. He's still a great athlete.”
The Irish feature three former WPIAL stars on its roster with Donovan Hinish (Central Catholic), Michael Carmody (Mars), and Andrew Kristofic (Pine-Richland). Notre Dame’s starting offensive linemen, Rocco Spindler, is the son of former Pitt star Marc Spindler.
Familiarity will fill the air in a late autumn game in one of college football’s most iconic stadiums pitting two old-time programs against one another. Pitt is looking to generate some South Bend magic, which has been a familiar element to this rivalry when Pitt travels to Indiana.
The Panthers were able spring memorable wins over Notre Dame in 2004 and 2008, and nearly pulled off gigantic upsets in 2012 and 2018. The odds will be similarly stacked up against Pitt like some of those more recent games in South Bend, as the Panthers sit as 20.5 point underdogs early in the week.
