Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 OCT. 31, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Through the first 20 minutes, Pitt was hanging in against Notre Dame, trailing only 7-3 and then pressing the Fighting Irish into a third-and-14 situation from their 27-yard line. Forcing a punt there likely would also have provided decent field position for the Panthers. Fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book, who had been forced out of the pocket several times al- ready from a fierce pass rush, this time unleashed a deep pass to fifth-year senior wide receiver Ben Skowronek, who used his 6-3, 220-pound frame to ward off and then out-jump 5-9, 175-pound cornerback Marquis Williams. It resulted in a 73- yard score to make it 14-3 with 10:37 left. That was a significant turn of events because with a two-score advantage against a Pitt offense that was one-dimensional and playing a sopho- more quarterback making only his second career start, Notre Dame took control while also seem- ingly demoralizing the Panthers in one fell swoop. STATS OF THE GAME There are two primary ones: The vertical pass- ing game and third downs on both offense and defense. In the first four games, Notre Dame had only eight pass plays that gained at least 20 yards, with only four to wideouts. Versus the Panthers the Irish had six as a team, highlighted by the 34- and 73-yard strikes to fifth-year senior Ben Skowronek on the first two touchdowns. Meanwhile, a main reason the Irish dominated the time of possession (40:59 to 19:01) was be- cause in the first three quarters they converted nine of their 13 third-down situations to keep the chains moving (11 of 18 overall). Also, ranked No. 2 nationally in third-down con- version defense, Notre Dame saw Pitt convert its first two chances on its opening drive — and then go 1 of 11 thereafter. For the year, the opposition has converted only 20.8 percent of its third-down opportunities against Notre Dame. THE EYE ON THE TIGERS In the Coaching 101 Handbook, the "one game at a time" cliché is a mandate publicly. However, in his post-game conference with the media following the 45-3 romp at Pitt, Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly acknowledged the preparation these days has an eye toward the Nov. 7 showdown with No. 1 Clemson. Kelly la- mented the lack of urgency in the 12-7 win over Louisville on Oct. 17. Coaches know they are kid- ding themselves when they talk about "preparing the same for everyone." "A lot of times you kind of get caught up in the grind of just trying to win football games," Kelly said. "We kind of said, 'Look, we're past this. We're not interested in just winning football games; we're interested in being a championship football team.' "Just playing to win games is not good enough anymore. … We are looking ahead a little bit. We needed to get this football team to understand that they are really good." THREE OBSERVATIONS BY LOU SOMOGYI OFFENSE: QB IAN BOOK The fifth-year senior quarterback came into the matchup with Pittsburgh averaging 178.3 passing yards per game, and many questioned Notre Dame's ability to win games via the passing attack. Against a strong Panthers defense, Book answered the bell by completing 16 of 30 passes for 312 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. In the first three quarters of the game (before the Notre Dame backups were inserted), the Pitt defense produced two sacks and nine quarterback hits, but if not for Book's keen pocket presence and ability to escape a collapsing pocket the Panthers likely would have had three or four more sacks (closer to their season average). Instead, Book ran for 40 yards on eight carries and, on multiple occasions, turned what should have been a negative play into a positive gain. DEFENSE: S SHAUN CRAWFORD Once again, the sixth-year defensive back proved that he is more than capable of thriving at the safety position. Crawford led the team in tackles with six solos (including one for loss) and also showed that he can be an effective blitzer by getting at least one hit on Pittsburgh redshirt freshman quarterback Joey Yellen. SPECIAL TEAMS: DE ISAIAH FOSKEY Late in the second quarter, with Notre Dame up 21-3, the sophomore defensive end lined up near the line of scrimmage as part of the team's punt return unit. When the ball was snapped, Foskey sprinted to- ward the Panthers' punter and easily blocked the ball, which rolled into the Pittsburgh end zone. Foskey stayed on his feet and beat everyone else to the end zone, where he picked up the ball for a touch- down and gave Notre Dame a 28-3 lead at the half. TOP PLAYERS OF THE GAME BY ANDREW MENTOCK Fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns to pace the Irish offense in the 45-3 win over Pittsburgh. PHOTO BY CHARLES LECLAIRE, USA TODAY SPORTS/COURTESY ACC