Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 OCT. 31, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH DEFENSE SUFFOCATES LIMITED PANTHER OFFENSE Beyond the impressive surface numbers, Notre Dame's defense had been missing something. The ball. The Irish had three takeaways in their first four games but only one in the last three. It hadn't hurt them, but at some point, they'd like to force turn- overs instead of just relying on getting stops. The latter is hard to do in an age where offenses run college football. Pitt, though, was happy to help. A team with season-long run game is- sues starting a backup quarterback was a recipe for Notre Dame to feast. The Irish doubled their season turnover total, forcing three and allowing just three points. Each led to a possession that started in Pitt territory and ended with a touchdown. Junior linebacker Bo Bauer, fifth- year senior cornerback Nick Mc- Cloud and senior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah each had an in- terception. Bauer's came in the sec- ond quarter on a ball thrown over the middle right to him. McCloud and Owusu-Koramoah intercepted passes on consecutive drives in the third quarter, each along the sideline. "We were just happy we showed up and played loose today and played free," senior defensive tackle Kurt Hin- ish said. "We were running around the field. Our DBs, they're tired of waiting for the ball to come to the receivers and they just started to take the ball now. "That's the mindset that we have and that's the mindset they have." Notre Dame also generated plenty of stops without turnovers, allowing 3.1 yards per play and conversions on only three of Pitt's 13 downs. After a sackless game against Louisville, the Irish had three quarterback take- downs. Panthers starter Joey Yellen was under steady pressure and went just 10-of-27 passing for 101 yards. "If you're a drop-back team — this was the first drop at quarterback that we've seen other than the opener against Duke — they make life dif- ficult for you," Kelly said of his de- fense. "You are under duress with that group coming at you. "We saw the pressure that was placed on that young man today. Then, on the back end, you've got some outstanding players." THREE PLAYERS ANNOUNCED AS UNAVAILABLE PRIOR TO GAME Prior to Notre Dame's 45-3 win over Pitt, it was announced that three players listed on the depth chart would be unavailable: senior offensive lineman Josh Lugg, junior cornerback TaRiq Bracy and junior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly noted during his Thursday press conference Lugg would be out due to an ankle injury, but it was a surprise to learn that the other two players would be absent. As it turns out, Austin will miss the remainder of the season due to a foot injury, re-aggravating a broken foot he suffered during the offsea- son. Meanwhile, Bracy was out after feeling under the weather this past week, but Kelly confirmed after the game it was not due to COVID-19. ✦ PITT VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Pitt 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 4:29 6:24 4:38 3:30 10:53 8:08 19:01 Third-Down Conversions 2-4 0-3 0-3 1-3 2-7 1-6 3-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position PITT-31 PITT-28 PITT-17 PITT-21 PITT-29 PITT-18 PITT-24 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 10:31 8:36 10:22 11:30 19:07 21:52 40:59 Third-Down Conversions 3-4 3-5 3-4 2-5 6-9 5-9 11-18 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average Field Position ND-26 ND-28 ND-38 ND-32 ND-27 ND-36 ND-31 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards UP ND Nega ve 6 13 0-5 34 46 6-9 5 10 10-19 6 7 20-29 1 4 30-39 1 1 40-49 0 1 50 or more 0 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Pitt 0 0 0 0 Notre Dame 5 3 1 1 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Pitt • 2-10 PITT27 Joey Yellen pass complete to Jordan Addison for 33 yards to the ND40 Notre Dame • 2-11 PITT34 Ian Book pass complete to Ben Skowronek for 34 yards and a touchdown • 3-14 ND27 Book pass complete to Skowronek for 73 yards and a touchdown • 2-15 PITT44 Book pass complete to Javon McKinley for 41 yards to the PITT3 • 3-5 PITT30 Book pass complete to Avery Davis for 21 yards to the PITT9, PENALTY UP roughing passer (Devin Danielson) 5 yards to the PITT4 Senior defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa recorded one of Notre Dame's three sacks against the Panthers. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS INSTANT TAKEAWAYS FROM FORMER NOTRE DAME CAPTAIN LINEBACKER MIKE GOOLSBY • "Great game. It was very business-like. It was a matter-of-fact performance, which was good to see. Offensively speaking, it seemed like the training wheels were finally off. They are really starting to dig in and prepare for Clemson." • "The team had more juice and more en- ergy today. I really thought getting away from home would change things for this team and give them some more juice. That is what we saw today."