Notre Dame looks like a College Football Playoff pretender against Pitt

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were tested and survived, but they didn’t appear to be much of a powerhouse against the Pitt Panthers today. That could hurt their playoff chances.

For the Fighting Irish to have a realistic shot at getting into the College Football Playoffs this year, Notre Dame needs to win every single game that it plays in. And, well, Notre Dame did just that today when they escaped their game against Pittsburgh. However, more than just a simple win is expected and the Panthers were too much of a challenge for Notre Dame.

That doesn’t bode well in the long run for Brian Kelly’s team. Given that the Fighting Irish are an independent program, there is a need for the Irish to look dominant in all of their games this year because Notre Dame will have one fewer game than most conference champs.

Up to today, the Fighting Irish have done just that and have built a solid résumé. Notre Dame has wins over then No. 14 Michigan, then No. 7 Stanford, and then No. 24 Virginia Tech. Those are notable and solid victories that Kelly and his team have earned. But this game against Pitt is going to stick with many fans and analysts more than those wins will.

This season, Pitt is 3-4. The Panthers are far from a good team in 2018 and it wasn’t that long ago that they lost to a mediocre North Carolina Tar Heels team. Yet, despite how mediocre Pitt might also be, the Panthers still led Notre Dame for most of the game. It took a touchdown with under six minutes left in the game for the Fighting Irish to even take a lead over Pitt. And at the end of the day, Notre Dame only won by five points.

Quarterback Ian Book was the leading rusher for the Fighting Irish with 31 yards on 16 carries. That’s not going to impress a college football playoff committee that will look at far more explosive offenses on other teams. And though he was solid through the air, completing 26 of his 32 passes for 264 yards, a couple of touchdowns, and then also throwing a couple of picks won’t inspire much confidence.

Against the Panthers, the Fighting Irish didn’t appear explosive, dominant, or even remotely impressive. Whether its fair or unfair, Notre Dame needs to look explosive, dominant, and impressive. This team won’t get the benefit of the doubt.

The last time that Notre Dame was in the national championship discussion was a few years back in 2012. That Notre Dame team went undefeated, faced off against a one-loss SEC champ down in Miami, and then lost to the Crimson Tide in humbling fashion. Don’t be surprised if college football fans bring up that blowout that completely exposed the Fighting Irish as frauds that year.

Earlier that season, that 2012 Notre Dame team also played against Pitt. That game was closer than most Irish fans wanted and it served as something of an indicator that Notre Dame was not quite as good as it wanted to appear. That Fighting Irish team took down No. 10 Michigan State, No. 18 Michigan, No. 17 Stanford, and No. 8 Oklahoma. But it was that close game against Pitt that may have revealed the Irish’s weaknesses and imperfections.

Fans are going to compare the 2018 version of Notre Dame to the 2012 version. There’s going to be comparisons to how both teams fared against the Pitt Panthers. For Notre Dame’s sake, it is great they came out on top.

However, they needed to be dominant for their sake today.

They weren’t.

Instead, the Fighting Irish looked like a college football playoff pretender. Because of recent history, don’t be surprised if this win actually ends up hurting Notre Dame’s chances to get into the playoffs.