The biggest challenge yet
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Notre Dame is off to its best start since the 2014 season with a 6-0 record and the Fighting Irish have risen to No. 5 in the polls and are coming off back-to-back impressive wins over Stanford at home and a tough road win against Virginia Tech this past Saturday.
So Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi understands the challenge his 3-3 teams is up for on Saturday.
"They're smart. They've got good players. They keep it simple. And they let those guys make plays,” Narduzzi said Monday.
It all starts with junior quarterback Ian Book for Brian Kelly’s offense. He passed up senior Brandon Wimbush on the depth chart and has started the past three games. Book has thrown for 887 yards and 9 touchdowns to just one interception and has engineered two wins over top 25 teams in consecutive weeks.
“He's got the whole package,” Narduzzi said during Monday’s press conference. “I think they've found their guy.”
Notre Dame is able to surround Book with a host of big receiving targets. Miles Boykin is a 6-4 and 228-pound receiver that leads the team with 28 receptions. Chase Claypool is another big receiver that also checks in at 6-4. The Irish also have a big-bodied tight end in Alize Mack.
“Their receivers are big, Narduzzi said. "I can't tell the difference between their tight ends and the receivers. I think our guys are going to get confused. They put them all in 80 numbers and you can't tell. They're all big. They're all fast, and we'll have our hands full when we get out there Saturday.”
The offense gets a lot of attention, but the Irish defense is a tough one as well. Notre Dame is surrendering under 20 points a game and are 27th overall in scoring defense. One of the anchors of that defense is 6-7 defensive end Jerry Tillery.
“The Tillery kid is 6'7", 305. He's a monster,” Narduzzi explained. "They should probably have a new cartoon after that guy. You've got Superman, you've got ‘Tilleryman.’ That guy, he's a beast.”
Narduzzi also credits Notre Dame’s ability to recruit as to why the team is off to such a good start in 2018. Over the past five years, Notre Dame’s average class ranking finish is 11th in the country according to the rivals.com rankings. Brian Kelly has been able to get a lot of quality players from anywhere, including Pittsburgh, with starting right tackle Robert Hainsey hailing from Monroeville.
“You know, they've got guys from all over the country, first of all,” Narduzzi said of Notre Dame’s recruiting prowess. “But they recruit all over the country, so they've got flavor everywhere, and they've been recruiting long enough to have what they want in their offensive and their defense, and I think they walk into high schools, they get what they want. Let's put it that way.”
South Bend has always been one of the toughest road environments in college football given the history and tradition that has come through Notre Dame. For his part, Narduzzi isn’t worried about that.
“How about the history of Pittsburgh? We've got some great history here,” Narduzzi responded to a question about the tradition of Notre Dame.
“We're not going to go to the Basilica or go see Touchdown Jesus. We're not taking any tours. We're going to play a football game."