This Saturday afternoon the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) take on the Pittsburgh Panthers (7-2) in a Top 25 showdown at 12:00 PM ET inside of Acrisure Stadium. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish are looking to maintain their win streak and take another step in the right direction towards the College Football Playoffs. The Panthers are looking to maintain their win streak as well; Pitt has won five straight matchups.
The Irish and the Panthers have squared off regularly on the gridiron but rarely meet on the recruiting trail, something evident when you look at the graphic listed below. Let's take a look at how these teams compare from a recruiting perspective using the On3 Industry Rankings.
Notre Dame Offense vs Pittsburgh Defense
Notre Dame has 10 four-star players, one three-star player and one unranked player in their projected offensive starting lineup for Saturday. Pittsburgh has all three-star players listed in their projected defensive starting lineup for this weekend.
This matchup favors Notre Dame by a wide margin. Their projected starting lineup and top reserve players contain, for the most part, former Top 300 rated recruits led by quarterback CJ Carr (No. 68), running back Jeremiyah Love (77), right guard Guerby Lambert (No. 42) and right tackle Aamil Wagner (No. 40). Between the their projected starting lineup and top reserve players, the Irish have 11 total players who were ranked as Top 300 recruits coming out of high school. Their lone unranked player, wide receiver Jordan Faison, is currently a go-to target within the offense and leads the team yards (545) and receptions (43).
The Panthers are without a former Top 300 recruit in their projected starting lineup, but that doesn't mean this unit is without talent. Their linebacking corps might be the best Notre Dame will face in the regular season featuring Kyle Louis, Rasheem Biles and Braylan Lovelace. All three backers were three-star recruits with Louis being the highest rated of the trio at No. 863 coming out of high school.
Notre Dame Defense vs Pittsburgh Offense
Notre Dame has eight former four-star players in their projected defensive starting lineup for Saturday. Pittsburgh has one four-star player, eight three-star players and two unranked players in their projected defensive starting lineup for Saturday's matchup.
Like the offensive side of the ball, this matchup strongly favors the Fighting Irish from a recruiting perspective. Notre Dame has eight former Top 300 recruits in their projected starting lineup and five former Top 300 recruits in their top reserve players. Defensive end Bryce Young (No. 56), linebacker Jaylen Sneed (No. 35), cornerback Christian Gray (No. 112), linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (No. 43) and defensive end Joshua Burnham (No. 108 headline this talented group for Chris Ash's defense.
Pitt's recruiting rankings might not blow some people away, but like former three-star cornerback Leonard Moore, the Panthers have a handful of players playing significantly above their initial ranking this season. Running back Desmond Reid was an unranked recruit coming out of high school but is now the Panthers best dual-threat back coming out of the backfield. The offense as a whole turned around when former three-star quarterback Mason Heintschel was inserted in the starting lineup. Don't let the recruiting rankings fool you, this is a talent Panthers offense.
CLASS RANKINGS
Here are the class rankings of the two programs from the last five seasons (247 Composite Rankings)
Notre Dame
2025 – 12
2024 – 9
2023 – 12
2022 – 7
2021 – 9
Pittsburgh
2025 – 53
2024 – 41
2023 – 52
2022 – 76
2021 – 28
Advantage: Notre Dame
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