The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released their first rankings of the season this past Tuesday, which were accompanied by no shortage of inevitable criticism from fans all around the country. It is impossible to please everyone, but the committee certainly satisfied Notre Dame fans – almost as much as they surprised them. 7-1 Notre Dame debuted at number five in the rankings, much higher than their number eight ranking in the AP poll, and a higher position than most fans and experts feel the Irish deserve through eight games.
High Notre Dame CFP Ranking To Be Tested Saturday at Pittsburgh
The ranking surprised most people considering that Notre Dame debuted at number ten in the first rankings last season. Notre Dame was 6-1 at the time, with their sole loss coming to the defending national champion Florida State Seminoles. The Irish were just a pass interference call (if you want to call it that) away from defeating the Seminoles, and most felt that the number ten ranking was quite low. The Irish, of course, went on to lose their final four regular season games, making the debates useless. Once again, ND has a loss against a top five team. In this case, it’s the Clemson Tigers. But unlike last year, the close loss seems to have boosted Notre Dame’s resume in the eyes of the committee.
Though they have a similar loss, this season’s Notre Dame team is quite different from last season’s, which, thankfully for Irish fans, makes a collapse like last year’s seem out of the question. Head coach Brian Kelly touched on this in his Tuesday Press Conference, mentioning the tough schedule the Irish played down the stretch last season, and the differences between this year’s squad and last year’s – “This team is a different group, different personalities, a little bit different offensively in terms of what we’re doing, as well. Last year is probably more of a learning experience that we have going into this November than it probably is more than anything else.”
If Notre Dame hopes to prove that this season’s team has its own differing identity from last year’s and justify their high ranking, they’ll need to be well prepared for their trip to Pittsburgh this weekend. Notre Dame will face off against a talented Pitt Panthers team that was ranked 23rd in the AP poll just a week ago before a loss to 7-1 North Carolina. The Panthers’ only other loss was by just three points and came at the hands of the undefeated Iowa Hawkeyes. Although the 6-2 record has not impressed the committee enough for them to rank the Panthers, it is still notable considering that the team lost their All-American candidate running back James Conner in the first week of the season. Conner was a force last season and was expected to continue his dominance this season, but his injury forced first-year head coach Pat Narduzzi to reevaluate his offensive outlook. Fortunately for Narduzzi, his predecessor had brought some elite talent to Pitt other than Conner.
Wide receiver Tyler Boyd has made Narduzzi’s revision of his offense fairly easy. After coming off of two straight 1,100-yard seasons, Boyd has been Pitt’s best weapon on offense this season, racking up 578 yards through the seven games he has played in (Boyd was suspended for Pitt’s first game after being cited for a DUI). Boyd was named second team All-ACC last season as a return specialist, returning kicks for an average of 27.6 yards. Boyd is continuing to make big plays on special teams this season, averaging 23.4 yards a return. Kelly talked about Boyd’s versatility on Thursday, saying, “Obviously guys like Boyd… are the guys on offense that we have to concern ourselves with, Boyd can do so many different things.” Boyd is already the program leader in career receptions with 226, and needs just forty-nine more yards to become Pitt’s all-time leading receiver. There is no guarantee that Boyd will get these yards with Notre Dame’s KeiVarae Russell covering him, but one thing is certain – Notre Dame’s defense will need to keep a set of eyes on Boyd every play – maybe even two.
Pittsburgh may have some explosive players on their side of the ball, but Notre Dame certainly has more. Irish running back C.J. Prosise has run for more than a hundred yards five times this season, but was held to just twenty-five in last Saturday’s nail biter against Temple. Prosise will no doubt be essential to a Notre Dame victory on Saturday, and an inability to get him into a rhythm could spell disaster for the Irish. Kelly attributed Prosise’s struggles last week to a hesitancy to lower his head and initiate contact. That may be true, but it is not the only reason Prosise had trouble gaining yardage. Notre Dame’s offensive line has been great in pass blocking this season, but mediocre at times in run blocking, as the six tackles for loss they surrendered last Saturday shows. If the Irish hope to get Prosise into a rhythm Saturday, the O-line will need to work on its blocking schemes.
Last Saturday was just the third time this season that C.J. Prosise did not reach the endzone. This is due in part to Notre Dame’s red-zone struggles, which have continued all season long. The Irish currently rank 85th in the country in red-zone efficiency, scoring on just 57.6 percent of trips. There are a number of things to attribute this to, from Notre Dame’s lack of a big tight end target to offensive line woes, but two things stand out in particular – turnovers and play calling.
Quarterback DeShone Kizer has thrown three red-zone interceptions in Notre Dame’s last two games. Obviously, it is up to Kizer to take care of the ball at all times, but it is not his fault that he is being forced to throw it. Kelly consistently chooses to throw the ball on first and second down when near the goal line, forcing his quarterback to have to make throws in high-pressure third and goal situations. Yes, Prosise has struggled at times, but not in the red zone. In fact, Irish fans really don’t even know how he might perform near the goal line. In Notre Dame’s past four games, Kizer has run the ball more times in the red zone (15) than Prosise (11). If Kelly hopes to help Prosise gain confidence and get into a rhythm, maybe he should try giving the ball to his running back when the offense gets close to the goal line. Only time will tell if Kelly realizes he can take the pressure off of his freshman quarterback by putting the ball in the hands of his star running back, and Saturday is fast approaching.
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