If there’s one thing that starts making me nervous, it’s when the punditry is almost overwhelmingly picking Pitt in what is essentially a toss-up of a game.
Dave Wannstedt and Charlie Weis know each other well from their meetings in the AFC East over recent years. Weis is off to a fast start in recruiting and generating fresh enthusiasm around the program. Opponents better get the Irish early before the team gets comfortable with his schemes. Pittsburgh 24, Notre Dame 20.
Pittsburgh 31, Notre Dame 28: Expect a million sideline shots of Charlie Weis and Dave Wannstedt in this intriguing primetime showdown. Keep your eyes trained instead on Pitt’s duo of Tyler Palko and Greg Lee, who’ll be too much for Irish.
Notre Dame (+3) at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Saturday: Longtime pro fixtures Charlie Weis (Notre Dame) and Dave Wannstedt (Pittsburgh) make their college head coaching debuts. Weis has received more attention; Wannstedt has more talent on hand. Pittsburgh beat Notre Dame, 41-38, last season behind Tyler Palko’s five touchdown passes. Palko returns, as does his favorite target, Greg Lee. Notre Dame has a solid quarterback in Brady Quinn but needs more consistency from a running game led by sophomore Darius Walker. Pick: Pittsburgh 31, Notre Dame 17
Conclusion — Put Justin Tuck on the edge for the Irish, and I’d have a hard time thinking that the Pitt defensive line could keep him off of Palko throughout the game. But, with Tuck having left the South Bend campus early, the Irish defensive line has little game experience, although it might be the most talented group of DL they’ve seen in a while. Regardless, playing at home in Wannstedt’s return, with Palko leading the way, the Panthers will be a bit too much for the Irish to withstand Saturday night. Pitt – 24 vs. Notre Dame – 20.
At least the NY Post feels differently:
Notre Dame (+3) over PITTSBURGH: Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt returns home to guide the Panthers’ fortunes but finds himself leading off against the guy who offensively coordinated the New England Patriots to consecutive Lombardi trophies.
Charlie Weis is light years ahead of Ty Willingham as an offensive mind, and expect a much more sprightly attack from the Irish than you’ve come to expect. Oh, Pitt will score; Tyler Palko tossed 5 TD passes against ND last year (first time anybody did that!), but expect Dame to keep pace — and more! Weis has Michigan on deck; don’t look for the Irish to open 0-2. Our Lady (+3) reigns, for one unit.
Craig James at ESPN, though favors Pitt.
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh (Saturday, ABC, 8 p.m. ET): I could go off on matchups of this and that, but for me, I can’t wait to see how different these two teams look. Charlie Weis for ND and Dave Wannstedt for Pitt again will square off like they did in the NFL. I think Wannstedt has the edge at QB with Tyler Palko. I like Palko a lot — matter of fact, the two of us shot the breeze at a dinner this summer at the former home of President Eisenhower in posh Newport, R.I. Runnin’ with the big dogs that night. Back on track, how long will it take Weis to get QB Brady Quinn to master his offense? I expect to see progress, but it might not be consistent enough. Especially since the Irish defense is not up to the challenge of the ND schedule.
Pick: Patriots, err, I mean Pitt. This is on Saturday, not Sunday.
Yeep.
So does ESPN.com’s CFB game picker, Rich Podolsky:
Pittsburgh -3 over Notre Dame: There’ll be no looking ahead of this one for Pitt. What a way to open your season, with the Irish coming to town with a brand new coach to christen. For that matter, the Panthers have a new coach of their own, Dave Wannstedt, a defensive specialist, who can give the Panthers help where they badly need it. The offense, thank you, is doing just fine. Tyler Palko is back at QB and might be the best pure passer in the country. The ground game is also bound to improve with the addition of potential star RB Rashad Jennings.
Charlie Weis may wish he’s back with the Patriots after looking at the first five games this year. After Pitt, the Irish are at Michigan, host Michigan State, and at Washington, where Tyrone Willingham will be waiting. That is followed up by a home game against the nation’s best team, USC. Unfortunately, Weis has his hands full, talent-wise. The defense again will be dreadful and the offense needs a shot of imagination, which Weis is sure to add.
The pick: Pitt. The Panthers won a 41-38 shootout in South Bend last year. Expect another track meet this time. In the battle of the ex-NFL coaches, superior talent and home field win out.
I guess, what bothers me, is that most of the people picking are expecting offensive fireworks again, and I have some doubts about that.
Additions: Stewart Mandel at SI.com also picks Pitt.
And Matt Hayes at the Sporting News.
Pitt 31, Notre Dame 30. In three years, this will be a BCS game; now, QB Tyler Palko will engineer another late victory against a weak Irish secondary.
Additions II: John Walters at SI.com picks the games for the weekend.
Wake up the echoes? After an 11-13 record the past two seasons, it’s more like “Power up the defibrillator!” in South Bend. The last time Charlie Weis stood on a Pittsburgh sideline, the Pats beat the Steelers in the AFC title game. This time the opposition has the better QB in Tyler Palko. “Paddles! Clear!”Pittsburgh 38, Notre Dame 35
