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| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Pittsburgh Panthers |
Notre Dame won't play in the national championship game this season, but the Irish have moved to 7-2 with four wins in a row.
The Irish will try to make it five straight victories when they visit Pittsburgh to play the 4-4 Panthers at Heinz Field Saturday night.
The Golden Domers would not have played in that BCS championship game last season if they hadn't gotten very lucky in beating Pitt 29-26 in overtime in South Bend last November.
Notre Dame trailed by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, rallied to tie the game at 20, then dodged a bullet when Panthers kicker Kevin Harper missed a short field goal that would have won the game in the second OT.
Pitt covered that day as 16-point favorites; for Saturday's game the Panthers were early five-point home dogs.
The Panthers sport a record of 4-4 and 2-5-1 ATS heading into this matchup, while the Fighting Irish sit at 7-2 and 3-5-1 ATS on the season. The over under records are 3-5 for the Panthers and 5-4 for the Fighting Irish.
View Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Pittsburgh Panthers Odds and Stats.
The Fighting Irish were listed as -3.5-point favorites on the Sportsbook NCAA football line at Sportsbook and most sportsbooks tracked by OddsShark. The total was available early in the week at Sportsbook.
This game matches up the No. 56 (Panthers) and the No. 47 (Fighting Irish) teams in the league, according to our current NCAAF Power Rankings at OddsShark. A 30-24 result in favor of the Fighting Irish is predicted by handicapping models.
In their last action, Notre Dame was a 38-34 Sportsbook at home against Navy. They failed to cover the 16.5-point spread as favorites, while the combined score (72) was profitable news for OVER bettors. Last time out, Pittsburgh could not slow down $WinningWR, who managed 118 receiving yards in the Yellow Jackets 21-10 victory over the Panthers Saturday.
How They Match Up:
The game also pits Pittsburgh's No. 80-ranked offense, averaging 26.12 PPG, against a Fighting Irish defense that ranks No. 40 this week at 23 PPG. The Panthers aerial game is averaging 223.38 yards per game, more than the Fighting Irish secondary allows through the air, 205.67 YPG per game.
In comparing defenses, the Fighting Irish own the league's No. 55-rated front 7 in terms of stopping the run, allowing 164.67 yards per game when on the road. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, rates No. 80 this week in generating rushing yards at home.
A few Fighting Irish at Panthers trends to consider:
Notre Dame is 3-6-1 ATS in its last 10 games
Notre Dame is 19-3 SU in its last 22 games
The total has gone UNDER in 17 of Notre Dame's last 25 games
Notre Dame is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
Pittsburgh is 2-6-1 ATS in its last 9 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Pittsburgh is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games when playing Notre Dame
Next up:
Notre Dame at BYU, Saturday, November 23rd
Pittsburgh at North Carolina, Saturday, November 16th
