Keys to defeating ND this Saturday...

[#99HUGHgreen]

I think we all realize that Pitt clearly needs to improve in many areas, in order to beat Notre Dame this Saturday.

Here's where I see Pitt needs to step up the most:

Defense
We need to get in their backfield every play and disrupt their QB play after play. Grigsby and Blair have been too quiet over the past couple of games. Price got in the backfield but seemed to take many poor angles, allowing North Carolina's QB to get away. Jarrett and Render have been underachieving too. These guys need to step up and show what their true potential is. I think they will rise to the challenge.

Our fastest DB need to be in the game... Amara just looked slow out there against UNC. If a DB isn't fast enough to stick with his guy, he needs to be replaced with someone who is. To that point maybe Pitts needs to give a few yards cushion to his receiver.

Offense
We need to run Ollison down their throats until they are forced to stack the box- then open it up with a big play down field involving Boyd or one of our "hands people" TEs. I honestly can't remember a pass all season that was dropped by either Holtz or Orndoff. Let's get them some more balls.

Coaching
I want to see Narduzzi and Chaney are on the same page and are calling plays that help the offense stay in rhythm, in control and on the field. I have a good feeling that Ollison (with the help of our blocking FBs and OL) will help the offense do just that and will even lead to Ollison breaking away for some big runs- not to mention score several TDs, if Chaney will just give the kid enough reps and give him the ball in the red zone.

Also, these coaches need to have plays ready to go in case we find ourselves driving with time running out again. Wasting time trying to figure out plays with time running out just can't ever happen again... Though I'm thinking it's a point that's already been made clear by PN.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Temple kept them at bay being aggressive and with speed I'm not sure Pitt has.

 

[bwh05]

Unless we can consistently rush the passer we're going to struggle to stop them and will likely lose handily. If we can find ways to get pressure we can stay in the game.

 

[JSSTartan]

Take their first punch and punch back. Kelly always has a pretty darn effective first set of scripted plays on O.

We need to win the TO battle and field position battle. Just as last week, we'll need to tackle well in space too.

We should be able to pass in the middle of the field but I suspect a lot of our running plays (the east-west ones in particular) will not be effective. We'll need to run the ball up the middle. Perhaps run some read-option with both NP and CV as well...

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Excellent Post with well thought reasonable ideas and plays, but i just don't see it. Pitt Offense is still a Question Mark? Defense not as good as Temple. Unless Coach Pat & Chaney get the Offense together or ND makes many mistakes, that i find both unlikely, I cannot see Pitt beating ND and I hope I am wrong!

I am very worried right now, I said the UNC-PITT Game could be a Mental Bruise for the Losing Team. Pitt Players will have to battle their own confidence to beat ND & Duke after this UNC loss. Pitt needs a big boost from the Offense and until I see it, just hope and wish I am wrong? Pitt can beat Duke, ULou, and Miami but they may be way down after UNC & if ND beats them close or big?

 

[Pittx9]

The QB from Notre Dame is going to be tough to defend, another dual threat type. We really do need to work on pressuring the QB though, if we can get sacks and/or pressure him into making bad throws we could surprise some people. That is absolutely crucial though. If we don't do that we're gonna have to score a lot of points to win and that is probably asking a little too much.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Temple kept them at bay being aggressive and with speed I'm not sure Pitt has.

I too am a little concerned with us not having enough speed- especially at DB against their speed WRs... That's why Pitt's defense will need to be aggressive (as you pointed out was key in Temple's effort) and find a way to not only get into NDs backfield but make plays once they get there.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Unless we can consistently rush the passer we're going to struggle to stop them and will likely lose handily. If we can find ways to get pressure we can stay in the game.[/QUOTE]

Additionally, if we can get our act together on offense, we will beat this team.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Take their first punch and punch back. Kelly always has a pretty darn effective first set of scripted plays on O.

We need to win the TO battle and field position battle. Just as last week, we'll need to tackle well in space too.

We should be able to pass in the middle of the field but I suspect a lot of our running plays (the east-west ones in particular) will not be effective. We'll need to run the ball up the middle. Perhaps run some read-option with both NP and CV as well...

All good really good points...

I hope we get to punch first and we show we can punch it in for seven.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

In addition to the good points listed here, I think that we've got to tackle better we've tackled in the past two games, and our corners have to step-up their play, too. ND has studied the film; we can expect that they're gonna challenge our D-backs a lot by going deep.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Excellent Post with well thought reasonable ideas and plays, but i just don't see it. Pitt Offense is still a Question Mark? Defense not as good as Temple. Unless Coach Pat & Chaney get the Offense together or ND makes many mistakes, that i find both unlikely, I cannot see Pitt beating ND and I hope I am wrong!

I am very worried right now, I said the UNC-PITT Game could be a Mental Bruise for the Losing Team. Pitt Players will have to battle their own confidence to beat ND & Duke after this UNC loss. Pitt needs a big boost from the Offense and until I see it, just hope and wish I am wrong? Pitt can beat Duke, ULou, and Miami but they may be way down after UNC & if ND beats them close or big?

No question about Pitt's offense is a question mark. But has Narduzzi worked this out with Chaney "just keep Ollison in there and let's keep pushing them right into the end zone" and we finally turn this question mark of an offense into an exclamation... Hey, maybe we have a secret now healthy weapon come back for this game in our backfield.

To your point, This game could get ugly for sure if our players don't come out playing very aggressive and smart.

The good news is that Pitt teams have always played some of their best football against Notre Dame (accept for Wannstedts first game).

I'm expecting Pitt players to show up and be ready for a fight. Blewitt will officially make it a victory for our panthers with a beautiful kick at the end ... At least that's how I see it and what I'll post when you start this week's game "prediction" thread.

 

[NTOP]

I think we all realize that Pitt clearly needs to improve in many areas, in order to beat Notre Dame this Saturday.

Here's where I see Pitt needs to step up the most:

Defense
We need to get in their backfield every play and disrupt their QB play after play. Grigsby and Blair have been too quiet over the past couple of games. Price got in the backfield but seemed to take many poor angles, allowing North Carolina's QB to get away. Jarrett and Render have been underachieving too. These guys need to step up and show what their true potential is. I think they will rise to the challenge.

Our fastest DB need to be in the game... Amara just looked slow out there against UNC. If a DB isn't fast enough to stick with his guy, he needs to be replaced with someone who is. To that point maybe Pitts needs to give a few yards cushion to his receiver.

Offense
We need to run Ollison down their throats until they are forced to stack the box- then open it up with a big play down field involving Boyd or one of our "hands people" TEs. I honestly can't remember a pass all season that was dropped by either Holtz or Orndoff. Let's get them some more balls.

Coaching
I want to see Narduzzi and Chaney are on the same page and are calling plays that help the offense stay in rhythm, in control and on the field. I have a good feeling that Ollison (with the help of our blocking FBs and OL) will help the offense do just that and will even lead to Ollison breaking away for some big runs- not to mention score several TDs, if Chaney will just give the kid enough reps and give him the ball in the red zone.

Also, these coaches need to have plays ready to go in case we find ourselves driving with time running out again. Wasting time trying to figure out plays with time running out just can't ever happen again... Though I'm thinking it's a point that's already been made clear by PN.

Just get Kelly ejected for punching a female trainer for yelling at a ref.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

The QB from Notre Dame is going to be tough to defend, another dual threat type. We really do need to work on pressuring the QB though, if we can get sacks and/or pressure him into making bad throws we could surprise some people. That is absolutely crucial though. If we don't do that we're gonna have to score a lot of points to win and that is probably asking a little too much.

Yes... Spot on.

Got to bring the pressure... AND THIS TIME MAKE PLAYS once they get into the backfield.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

In addition to the good points listed here, I think that we've got to tackle better we've tackled in the past two games, and our corners have to step-up their play, too. ND has studied the film; we can expect that they're gonna challenge our D-backs a lot by going deep.

Might be the biggest area of concern besides maybe our offense coming out flat for the 1st half, causing them to try to play catch up in the 2nd half.

And goodness yes, tackling MUST get better.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Just get Kelly ejected for punching a female trainer for yelling at a ref.

Funny stuff...

Might not be as difficult as one might think.

 

[crharris8892]

Pitts has a huge target on his back- does he learn to look for the ball after this week's practice?

 

[jctrack]

to #99Hughgreen, we could use the 1979 version of your signature name. Since we can't, play error free, stay the course, and believe.

 

[NTOP]

Funny stuff...

Might not be as difficult as one might think.

He's the original "Despicable Me." Worst kind of punk. I hope he ends up at Kansas.

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

Unless we can consistently rush the passer we're going to struggle to stop them and will likely lose handily. If we can find ways to get pressure we can stay in the game.

This will work if that grant of immunity against holding calls the ND offense was operating under Saturday has expired. They were getting the kind of officiating that Duke basketball always seems to get.

 

[TheDecker]

This will work if that grant of immunity against holding calls the ND offense was operating under Saturday has expired. They were getting the kind of officiating that Duke basketball always seems to get.

It seems that every of both teams walks away with this feeling, not matter (perhaps excepting Miami)

ND fans are all of the opinion that it was borderline cheating to have AAC refs for a Temple home game (in Philly) and that your DBs mugged our WRs on literally every single play, and we're the benefciiaries of an extremely questionable ejection if our best safety

Personally, I would say that people are inclined to see what they want to see...and no fan base is inclined to think the refs are giving them a fair shake

My take in the ND/Temple game specifically was that it wasn't particularly good reffing, however I think overall it ended up fairly even (though as an ND fan I'm also inclined to believe we got the worst of it...lol)

On holding calls specifically, it seems like we've gotten more than our fair share this season...as well OL penalties in general
(That's been really frustrating)

 

[vietvet1]

We have Chaney. nuff said.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

It seems that every of both teams walks away with this feeling, not matter (perhaps excepting Miami)

ND fans are all of the opinion that it was borderline cheating to have AAC refs for a Temple home game (in Philly) and that your DBs mugged our WRs on literally every single play, and we're the benefciiaries of an extremely questionable ejection if our best safety

Personally, I would say that people are inclined to see what they want to see...and no fan base is inclined to think the refs are giving them a fair shake

My take in the ND/Temple game specifically was that it wasn't particularly good reffing, however I think overall it ended up fairly even (though as an ND fan I'm also inclined to believe we got the worst of it...lol)

On holding calls specifically, it seems like we've gotten more than our fair share this season...as well OL penalties in general
(That's been really frustrating)

Hmm... The Decker... you sound an awful lot like my good friend who I spoke with today... also a ND fan.

 

[TheDecker]

Hmm... The Decker... you sound an awful lot like my good friend who I spoke with today... also a ND fan.

Notre Dame is good enough that there isn't a "sure fire" way to beat our team without elite level talent. That being said, I think there is a fairly clear formula to getting a very realistic shot at it, as long as you're a decent team (which Pitt is)

As an ND fan, I would say the keys are:

1. Pickup "chunk plays" on offense
2. Achieve "chunk" plays by attacking the MLB in space and/or the safeties in coverage
3. Execute at least 2-3 trick plays
4. Don't run to the edges often, attack the middle of the field if you're gong to "power run"
5. Don't allow the ND offense establish itself running on the interior consistently
6. Do the above by run blitzing your ILB and Safeties frequently (but don't pass blitz too much off the edges)
7. Play a lot of physical press coverage at the LOS against the WRs
8. Try to make the ND QB (Kizer) go to someone other than Will Fuller (imo one safety rolled towards his side and one more close to the box, slanting against the run)
9. Accept that ND will score some points and make some explosive plays. Your goal is to kill the effectively, not keep them below 20 points
10. Create turnovers...while there isn't a best "method" to do this, it's the final key in most upsets...and ND has always been susceptible to this (especially against Pitt)

If you hit on most of those, I think Pitt would upset ND. It's the formula that Clemson used to to beat us, and that Temple came very, very close with

It's definitely a doable thing for Pitt, but not easy
(Ultimately there is a reason ND is favored)

 

[IrishBlooded]

Best way to defeat ND is to get chunk plays in the first half while they are missing their best safety due to that craptastic targeting call last weekend. And sell out on stopping CJ from running. Keep the box crowded and play as much cover 2 as possible. If PITT can weather the first half and keep the ball in their hands as much as possible, go into the 1/2 with the lead. It could be very problematic for ND to come back.

ND is elite, and has weapons everywhere. Temple sold out on stopping CJ all night. A trick that worked well for Clemson also. Kelly hasn't seemed to found an answer to what to do with his offense when he can't get the running and play action to work.

All in all, would just like to see a great game, with no injuries (and an ND win of course).

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

"IrishBlooded, post: 477401, member: 3212"]
Best way to defeat ND is to get chunk plays in the first half while they are missing their best safety due to that craptastic targeting call last weekend. And sell out on stopping CJ from running. Keep the box crowded and play as much cover 2 as possible. If PITT can weather the first half and keep the ball in their hands as much as possible, go into the 1/2 with the lead. It could be very problematic for ND to come back.
UVA played that way from what I can recall!

ND is elite, and has weapons everywhere. Temple sold out on stopping CJ all night. A trick that worked well for Clemson also. Kelly hasn't seemed to found an answer to what to do with his offense when he can't get the running and play action to work.
Great Observation & Analysis!

All in all, would just like to see a great game, with no injuries (and an ND win of course).
Quite Frankly, I am not sold on Pitt giving ND a Great game right now, we shall see?

Great Post, come back ALL WEEK and join in many Topics and Discussions and share your superb Football Knowledge with us on the Lair! I respect Notre Dame very much and it is an Honor & Privilege to Play The Fighting Irish! I wish we played every year!

 

[Scruffy the Panther]

Don't run to the edges often, attack the middle of the field if you're gong to "power run"

We're doomed.

 

[TheDecker]

We're doomed.

There is no reason to try and race the best LB in CFB (Jaylon Smith) to the eve and try to challenge him when you can attack the middle and go against one of the worst LBs in CFB (Joe Schmidt)

Every team has tried to attack Schmidt with the run game and find a way to get him matched up on a RB/TE or ideally a slot WR in space...and when they've been able to get those matchup a they've killed us

 

[FreeportPanther]

SOMEONE better figure out how to block #91, Sheldon Day! He is a beast and could single handedly defeat out running game, and cause general chaos for Peterman.
Don't see Rowell even touching him without double team help.
Better game plan around him a bit or it will be a long afternoon!

 

[TheDecker]

SOMEONE better figure out how to block #91, Sheldon Day! He is a beast and could single handedly defeat out running game, and cause general chaos for Peterman.
Don't see Rowell even touching him without double team help.
Better game plan around him a bit or it will be a long afternoon!

He can create a lot of issues, especially if you're guards aren't able to get up to him quickly in the run game or if they're on their heels too often in the pass game.

He's undersized, but a great "gap penetrating DT"

What type of game has your OL and run game been playing so far this season?

 

[FreeportPanther]

He can create a lot of issues, especially if you're guards aren't able to get up to him quickly in the run game or if they're on their heels too often in the pass game.

He's undersized, but a great "gap penetrating DT"

What type of game has your OL and run game been playing so far this season?

Our center has had problems, our left side is solid, the right side, not so much....

 

[cruzer]

Lots of important keys to potentially beating ND. My list

Defense:

#1 & #1A - Pressure from the front four. Our front four have got to find a way to keep constant pressure on Kizer. We need to sack him at least 3-4 times. This will be easier said then done, because Kizer is elusive and the ND offensive line is pretty darned good.

#2 - Shed blocks and stop the run. Our LB's have to play much better then they did against UNC. We can't let ND have 2nd and 2 or 3 situations all night. If our safeties are making all the stops 8-10 yards down field, we're in trouble.

#3 - DB's really need to step it up. Maddox has to come up and close better on those 10-12 yard outs. Pitts has to find a way to stay in the same zip code as the receiver he's covering. And for gods sake, look for the ball at least once or twice.

Offense:

#1 Oline has to play really, really well. ND Dline is very tough. We have to run block better then any game so far. We really need to get someone out on their MLBer. That guy is absolutely terrific. If we let him run and make plays our running game won't be effective.

#2 RB's need to run hard and get north to south in a hurry. ND pursues well, so tippy toeing around won't fly. Ollison should get 75% of the carries. Hall should get the rest. Chris James should carry the kool aid out from the locker room.

#3 QB needs to go through his progressions and get the ball to the open receiver. We can't simply force the ball to Boyd on every play. Needless to say, we can't afford any INTs.

#4 WR's ...someone besides Boyd needs to make some plays.

Coaching:

#1 Throw caution to the wind. Get the ball downfield. We have nothing to lose this game so stop calling plays with your sphincter tightened.

#2 Chaney is only allowed to call 2 jet sweeps per half.

If I look at this game objectively, this is going to be a very, very difficult game for Pitt to win.

Cruzer

 

[Pittx9]

[QUOTE "Got to bring the pressure... AND THIS TIME MAKE PLAYS once they get into the backfield.[/QUOTE]

Yes that is the key. But as many saw in the Temple game, they got to the QB a lot but did not sack him on numerous occasions that led to him throwing up bad passes in the red zone that were intercepted. Point is, this kid (who is a very promising looking young QB) will probably throw up bad passes under pressure. If we're not going to get sacks, pressure leading to INTS and turnovers could still go a long way to helping us.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Notre Dame is good enough that there isn't a "sure fire" way to beat our team without elite level talent. That being said, I think there is a fairly clear formula to getting a very realistic shot at it, as long as you're a decent team (which Pitt is)

As an ND fan, I would say the keys are:

1. Pickup "chunk plays" on offense
2. Achieve "chunk" plays by attacking the MLB in space and/or the safeties in coverage
3. Execute at least 2-3 trick plays
4. Don't run to the edges often, attack the middle of the field if you're gong to "power run"
5. Don't allow the ND offense establish itself running on the interior consistently
6. Do the above by run blitzing your ILB and Safeties frequently (but don't pass blitz too much off the edges)
7. Play a lot of physical press coverage at the LOS against the WRs
8. Try to make the ND QB (Kizer) go to someone other than Will Fuller (imo one safety rolled towards his side and one more close to the box, slanting against the run)
9. Accept that ND will score some points and make some explosive plays. Your goal is to kill the effectively, not keep them below 20 points
10. Create turnovers...while there isn't a best "method" to do this, it's the final key in most upsets...and ND has always been susceptible to this (especially against Pitt)

If you hit on most of those, I think Pitt would upset ND. It's the formula that Clemson used to to beat us, and that Temple came very, very close with

It's definitely a doable thing for Pitt, but not easy
(Ultimately there is a reason ND is favored)

Hey coach Narduzzi... Are you getting all of this?

Coach Chaney... I know it's tempting to get fixated on # 3... but let's make sure we're also paying close attention to # 4 ... and let's think about actually using our power runner (Ollison) this time, huh?