If you look at Notre Dame’s most difficult regular season games in what wound up being the two most successful seasons under Brian Kelly, the Pitt Panthers have provided two of those.
In 2012 it took a stunning Notre Dame comeback just to force overtime before missed chip shot of a field by Pitt helped the Irish to their eventual victory.
In 2018 it was an upstart Pitt team that again came to South Bend and led the unbeaten Irish before a late rally kept the Notre Dame dreams of a College Football Playoff appearance alive.
Everyone in and around Notre Dame has circled November 7 against Clemson as the game of the year and understandably so, but three weeks into the season the trip to Pitt isn’t looking like it won’t come against a mediocre Panthers squad but instead a pretty good one.
The Panthers improved to 3-0 on the year Saturday as they handed Louisville their second straight loss, 23-20.
Pitt held Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham to just 9/21 passing for 107 yards and one touchdown while also forcing three interceptions.
The Pitt defense didn’t just handle the passing game though as the Cardinals gained just 116 yards on the ground and picked up only 10 first downs all afternoon.
Pat Narduzzi hasn’t put together a big season at Pitt yet and tough games at Miami, against Notre Dame and at Clemson are still ahead of them but despite having their best defensive player in lineman Jaylen Twymen opting out before the season, the Pitt defense has still been mighty impressive.
When October 24 gets here it’s not going to be the trap game some thought it’d be before the season, it’s going to instead be a road game against an incredibly capable foe.