Pitt isn't a bad team. They have a DL and RB among the best in the country. As I said all week, you people on here grossly underestimated them. Definitely a team that fist into the "above average" category if they can find their identity. Probably capped at seven wins.
Also please take into account that every team has a game like this, even the good ones. I stress that very much. Lou Holtz, or at least I think it was him, says "you never have the same team twice" or something along those lines. Each week the team has a different identity.
As for the Purdue game....Purdue will have to get crafty to even score a point. If I'm Purdue, I roll the pocket (as they did last year) and floor one side of the field and simply throw at Shembo. The Boilermakers will likely only muster ~250 yards of offense. Defensively, clearly you have to copy what Pittsburgh did, but with their all-world DE onto the NFL, I don't see how they can get a lot of pressure. I think they'll have a hard time stopping Wood/Gray from getting 200, and that will in turn make Rees' job so much easier. They will double Floyd as they all do, so bet on Eifert and the rest of have better games. I am particularly interested in what Riddick can do here.
Simply saying, Notre Dame will be able to line it up and rush all over these guys. We say it every week, but if Notre Dame doesn't turn the ball over they will win by four touchdowns. This is the week I think they'll actually do it.
I specifically want to see: the running game open up a deep pass every now and then. Rees hasn't stretched the field vertically enough. Purdue will need to bring additional guys into the box and I want to see the Irish actually use that. I also want to see, when the Lynch/Tuitt/Shembo third down package is in, better defense against the back sneaking out for a screen. It all has to deal with the maturity and experience of Lynch and Co. and when to realize that is happening. I'd love to see some improvement there. Also, ten sacks.