Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1039349
28 OCT. 29, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED put the Panthers in a huge hole they could not get out of and allowed the Irish to hold on for the win. Defensive coordinator Clark Lea's personality and demeanor, according to head coach Brian Kelly, is benefi- cial in keeping the team from pan- icking even after falling behind early and having to play well to keep the team in the game. "Our last couple plays, we have two true freshmen out there," Kelly noted. "Lea keeps me calm. I'm like, 'Hello? Is there somebody up there in the press box on defense?' That's Clark. He just has a steady sense about him. He's calling defenses and putting our kids in good position." "… We are making good adjust- ments on the field, and Clark has a nice presence about him where that information gets down to the kids, and we're able to make the correc- tions and move on." Kareem's sack was the only one recorded in the game by the Irish, but it came at a pivotal juncture. NOTRE DAME OVERCOMES ITS FIRST HALFTIME DEFICIT OF 2018 Heading into Saturday's game, Notre Dame had trailed for a grand total of two minutes and 13 seconds in its first six games and was never behind at halftime. Against Pittsburgh, the Irish led for only 5:43 while playing from behind for 40:43. But there is no long-term con- cern about how Saturday played out in comparison to the first half of the year. "There are ebbs and flows," head coach Brian Kelly stated. "There are ups and downs. I think you just ex- perience it. Our guys learned a lot from today's game in terms of hang- ing in there and having patience and finding ways to overcome some ad- versity. … There are a lot of good things that we can take from it. We obviously can't play like this week in and week out and feel like we're going to win every game we play." This year's Pitt contest marked the first comeback win for the Irish after trailing at halftime since a 34-27 vic- tory over Virginia on Sept. 12, 2015, when the Cavaliers led 14-12 at the break. ✦ NOTRE DAME VS. PITTSBURGH QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 5:17 9:25 5:56 6:09 14:42 12:05 26:47 Third-Down Conversions 2-3 2-6 2-2 1-4 4-9 3-6 7-15 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-1 1-1 0-1 1-2 Average Field Position ND-25 ND-36 ND-27 ND-44 ND-32 ND-38 ND-35 Pittsburgh 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 9:43 5:35 9:04 8:51 15:18 17:55 33:13 Third-Down Conversions 2-3 0-3 2-3 0-3 2-6 2-6 4-12 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-2 0-2 Average Field Position PITT-12 PITT-26 PITT-23 PITT-27 PITT-22 PITT-26 PITT-24 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND UP Nega ve 13 4 0-5 33 34 6-9 11 15 10-19 7 7 20-29 4 0 30-39 2 0 40-49 0 0 50 or more 0 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 4 1 2 1 Pittsburgh 2 1 0 1 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 2-8 ND49 Book pass to Boykin for 30 yards to PITT21 • 2-21 ND39 Book pass to Finke for 26 yards to PITT35 • 1-10 PITT35 Book pass to Boykin for 35 yards and a touchdown Pi sburgh None Notre Dame recorded only one sack against the Panthers, but junior defensive end Khalid Kareem's 14-yard takedown of Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett helped preserve the win. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA