Well, the line is Notre Dame -11. I’m not sure how they think Notre Dame will score that many points. I understand them being favored, but their offense hasn’t exactly blown anyone away.

The Pitt Game Day Press Release with links to lots of info is out.

Notre Dame has its game notes out. You can get the full version here (PDF).

The Full transcript of the Ty Willingham press conference is here. Here’s the stuff relating to Pitt.

Q. We’ve gone about 20 minutes and we haven’t talked about this week’s opponent. Can you give me an evaluation?

COACH WILLINGHAM: Pittsburgh presents a huge challenge. I think they’re sitting in their locker room right now really upset with themselves because they’ve been in a couple overtime games that they feel like they could win, should have won, et cetera.

They feel like they’re a much better team than their record indicates. And their record right now, if I’m correct, is 5-3. They’re in position to be a Bowl team if they can win Saturday.

So we know this is a very dangerous team. From an offensive standpoint, it’s difficult to say, but true, in many regards this offense may be a more `team’ offense than the offense they had a year ago with Larry Fitzgerald. They are doing some things a lot better and don’t rely on just one guy as they did a year ago.

Any time you have more weapons at your disposal, it makes you a greater challenge. We know defensively they are a physical group that can run around. Even though on some games they’ve given up yardage, they will play their best ballgame this weekend and that goes without saying.

Q. You talk about them sitting in their locker room thinking they could be better. Are they a mirror image of your team in a lot of respects?

COACH WILLINGHAM: You see two teams that will have a very similar approach in terms of attitude about how important this football game is.

Q. What is it about (Tyler) Palko that makes him so effective?

COACH WILLINGHAM: He’s versatile. He’s doing a great job of protecting the football, for the most part. He moves around in a timely basis to make it very difficult. And he’s putting the ball in the right places with his receivers.
…
Q. You were able to carve up a lot of yards on the ground last year against Pitt. That seems to be a recurring problem this team this year. Is that one of the things you’re going to look at this week to maybe exploit that D line?

COACH WILLINGHAM: We haven’t completed all of our studies of the Pittsburgh defense as of yet. We’ll be trying to finalize our thoughts and the picture they present to us through their games this year probably by Wednesday or Thursday.

If you were by chance to contact me later in the week, I might have some idea about that (laughter).

Q. Greg (Lee), another up-and-coming wide receiver. What problems does he present for your secondary?

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, as you know, I think Coach (Walt) Harris and the Pittsburgh staff have done a great job with all of their wide receivers. It seems each year they have one of the premiere guys if not in the BIG EAST in the whole country. Any time you have a guy that is that skilled, he poses a great deal of problems. I think if I’m correct, Greg’s last performance was almost 200 yards, 188.

Q. Correct.

COACH WILLINGHAM: He had a spectacular game. When you have a player that performs at that level, it is always a problem.

Q. Coach (Walt) Harris has come under a lot of scrutiny this year. Looking at it from afar, how do you think he’s done this year coaching-wise, his tenure as Pittsburgh?

COACH WILLINGHAM: First of all, if you tell me there’s a coach in this country that hasn’t come under scrutiny, I’d like to see it.

Second of all, I think he’s done well. He’s got his team positioned not where he would like them to be, but I think at 5-3, they feel they have a chance to do some things.

The media, at least, is looking past Pitt. Actually, what stands out to me, is how much ND’s Head Coach already has down about the team in terms of raw facts. He had the info pretty much dead on.