The Anti-Preview: #3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish VS Pittsburgh Panthers

The Anti-Preview is hitting the road for the first time this season, and I’m pretty excited about it. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a lot of questions that need answered against the Pittsburgh Panthers, and sometimes a road trip gives a team the chance to clear their heads and come together to improve on what their weaknesses may be.

Maybe. A road trip — as any parent can attest to — can make some of the little things explode.

With Brian Kelly coached Notre Dame teams, we’ve seen a lot of both. To be honest, this all feels a little like 2018 after Vanderbilt and Ball State — but we absolutely know there’s not a quarterback change that’s coming any time soon.

Pitt

Quite frankly, the hand-wringing over a team that is 3-3 is a little weird on the surface. Without question Pitt has an excellent defensive front and is tough against the run. The real thing here is the mystical Super Weapon that is Pitt Football. That’s it!

Pitt has a well earned reputation of being able to rise above itself to take down some of the best teams in the country for no real reason at all. It makes people nervous, and for Irish fans, it gets even more concerning when you just look at the recent history of this series.

The fact of the matter is that Pitt is on a 3 game losing streak and will probably have to play their backup quarterback for the second game in a row. The game will be more about what Notre Dame can or can’t do than what Pitt can or can’t do, because quite simply — Notre Dame is just a better team.

And again... that can be a problem against Pitt.

What should I be drinking?

It’s time to change the vibe, and no vibe has hit harder than the Fleetwood Mac / Cranberry Juice vibe. So why not try to inject that vibe into something inherently Irish... Guinness. It is, after all, the official beer of Notre Dame football.

It’s fucking delightful.

What should I be eating?

Time for a fully-full on northern treat.

World’s Greatest Cheap Chili

• 1-1.5 pounds of ground round
• 1 medium sweet onion,chopped
• 1 can dark red kidney beans
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 2 celerey stalks chopped
• 1/2 green pepper chopped
• 1 package McCormick’s Chili seasoning

Start to brown the ground round. Once about half the pink is gone, stir in onions, celery, and geen peppers. Saute for 10 minutes.

Mix in beans, tomatoes, and seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes covered.

Serve with some big ass pieces of cornbread with a big ass slab of butter. OR... wrap it up in a tortilla with some shredded cheese for a delicious chilito.

What should you be wearing?

Although this isn’t a normal road trip (because we won’t have an army of Irish fans on their way to Heinz Field) allow me to take this opportunity to remind everyone to please WEAR A MASK when you’re out and about, at work, or whenever else appropriate.

3 Pack Face Covering

• $25

• $25 at Fanatics

3 reasons to hate Pitt

• Tyler Fucking Palko
• Squirrel sprinkler disaster of 2008
• 2013 game ( Stephon Tuit ejection)
• And really quite a bit more

At the end of the day...

The focus all week has really been on the Notre Dame offense and the anemic passing game. That’s understandable — but what about this Irish defense? A defense that is only allowing 11.5 points per game, and it’s going up against Pitt’s backup QB (probably). I like that matchup a lot, and while at times this could get as ugly as the Louisville game, I have complete faith in the defense to shutdown Pitt almost completely.

20-6 IRISH