Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 31, 2020 21 what's important now is also about what's important next," Kelly said. "There's this understanding with this group that everything they do now has bearings on who we are as a football team later in the season. We needed to elevate our compete level, and they certainly did that today. "We needed to play fearless, we need to play with great energy and we needed playmakers. And we saw all those three things today. This is a very good glimpse of what this football team is capable of." When it came to pass, Notre Dame demonstrated it could do all that and more during the 42-point rout at upset-minded Pitt, which dropped its fourth straight contest in the ACC. Romping to a 28-3 halftime lead, Notre Dame followed with 17 more points in the third quarter in the blowout. Fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book completed 34- and 73-yard touchdown passes to wideout class- mate Ben Skowronek for the first two scores. Meanwhile, after recording only one interception the first four games, the Fighting Irish defense picked off three — by linebackers Bo Bauer and Jeremiah Owusu- Koramoah, and cornerback Nick McCloud — that resulted in 21 points after starting in Pitt territory. Special teams also got into the act when sophomore defensive end Isaiah Foskey blocked a Pitt punt and recovered it in the end zone with 11 seconds left until halftime to expand the lead to 28-3. FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME, 7-3 Top Moment: On the game's opening series, Notre Dame drove 75 yards on 11 plays, capped by a 34-yard touchdown pass from Book to Skowronek. Feature Performer: During the Irish scoring drive, Book scrambled three times for 19 yards and com- pleted 3 of 5 pass attempts for 60 yards. He scrambled for six yards on third-and-six for one first down and found freshman tight end Mi- chael Mayer on a crossing route for 12 yards on third-and-four to get into Pitt territory. Stats: Pitt's 12 plays accounted for 31 yards — 3-of-8 passing for 37 and four rushes for minus-six. Notre Dame's 22 plays totaled 126 yards, with 38 rushing and Book completing 6 of 9 throws for 88 yards, featuring the score. I t e m s : P i t t a n s w e re d N o t re Dame's opening touchdown by marching to Notre Dame's 27-yard line, resulting in a 45-yard field goal by Alex Kessman to pull within 7-3 … Notre Dame's second series ended with a fourth-and-31 situa- tion after a personal foul on fifth- year senior tackle Liam Eichenberg and two tackles for loss by the Pan- thers … Pitt's second series was a three-and-out, concluded with a sack by senior defensive tackle My- ron Tagovailoa-Amosa. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME, 28-3 Top Moment: With Notre Dame facing third-and-14 at its 27 and leading 7-3, Book unleashed a deep pass to Skowronek, whose 6-3, 220-pound frame shielded 5-9, 175-pound Marquis Williams for the jump ball and resulted in a 73- yard score to make it 14-3 at the 10:37 mark. Feature Performer: Notre Dame's defense was dominant while Pitt did not even attempt to establish the run. Consequently, with the score 14-3, Fighting Irish junior linebacker Bo Bauer intercepted a Joey Yellin pass across the middle that he returned 16 yards to the Pitt 45-yard line with 5:11 left. A 19- yard pass to Williams and a pass-in- terference call in the end zone while Pitt was trying to cover fifth-year senior wideout Javon McKinley led to Williams' two-yard run for the touchdown with 1:29 remaining. Stats: Notre Dame outgained Pitt 255-97 in the first half (129-66 in the second quarter). Book was 9-of-18 passing for 182 yards and also had seven carries for 41 yards. Pitt was 9-of-21 passing for only 95 yards through the air, and netted just two yards on nine rushing attempts. Items: On Pitt's first series of the quarter, a 33-yard completion on a back-shoulder fade to star freshman wide receiver Jordan Addison went for naught when the drive stalled at Notre Dame's 37-yard line … With 11 seconds left, the Irish called their last timeout of the half — leading to Foskey's blocked punt he recovered in the end zone for what would be an insurmountable 28-3 cushion. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME, 45-3 Top Moment: With the score 31-3, a leaping senior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah recorded Notre Dame's second interception, this one at the Pitt 49. Five plays later, Book found freshman tight end Mi- chael Mayer in the end zone for a 14-yard score to push the lead to 38-3 at the 4:22 mark. In addition to his score, Mayer had a 23-yard reception two plays earlier. Fifth-year senior wide receiver Ben Skowronek torched the Panthers for 34- and 73-yard scoring receptions in the first half. PHOTO BY CHARLES LECLAIRE, USA TODAY SPORTS/COURTESY ACC