Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541365
26 NOV. 22, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED sophomore wide receiver Cataurus Hicks catch a pass over the middle on third-and-9 and decided he couldn't allow it. Shuler leveled Hicks, dislodg- ing ball from man and forcing a fourth- down attempt that the Irish would stop. "There's a standard the way we play," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man said. "I'm not saying we always do it, but you're not OK if you don't play with that type of physicality." On Pitt's ensuing possession, Tae Johnson broke it wide open. The redshirt freshman safety, playing underneath coverage in Cover 3, read freshman Panthers quarterback Mason Heintschel's eyes perfectly. He undercut the throw, which he has done several times this season. But at Acrisure Sta- dium, he finally finished the play. Johnson intercepted Heintschel and took it 49 yards to the house, putting the Irish up 14-0 less than halfway through the first quarter. "It feels good to finally have my first one, and I want more," Johnson said. "I'm not really gonna be too big on that one, but I thank God for that." Finally, Luke Talich slammed the door. On third-and-goal from the Notre Dame 4-yard line, Heintschel rolled right and tried to hit his tight end, se- nior Justin Holmes, on a rub route. Ta- lich, playing man-to-man on Holmes, fought under the natural pick and cut off any window Heintschel had. The true freshman had to throw it away, set- ting up fourth down. Heintschel found redshirt senior wide receiver Raphael "Poppi" Williams on the left side, and Williams lunged for the end zone. But Talich, right on his heels, wrapped Williams up and brought him down just short of the goal line. Talich would start on most teams in college football. He's a situational player at Notre Dame, but when he gets his shot, he always seems to make a play. Johnson, another first-time contributor in 2025, runs the alley and undercuts routes as well as any safety in the coun- try. The scary thing is, he's just scratch- ing the surface of his potential. "He's an extremely talented football player that is just getting better, right?" Freeman said. "The talent is one thing, but the work he's putting in and the improve- ments that he makes is very pleasing." Johnson was, of course, not the only safety to score points for Notre Dame against the Panthers. Pitt scored on a pick six, and the Pan- thers opted to go for two. On the two- point try, Shuler intercepted Heintschel BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 ND46 Love rush for 54 yards and a touchdown • 3-15 ND15 Carr pass to Fields for 35 yards to 50 • 2-15 ND20 Carr pass to Raridon for 28 yards to ND48 • 2-6 Pitt25 Carr pass to Fields for 25 yards and a touchdown Pi • 4-6 ND37 Heintschel pass to Reid for 27 yards to ND10 Junior safety Luke Talich denied Pitt a touchdown in the third quarter, wrapping up wide receiver Raphael "Poppi" Williams just short of the goal line on a fourth-and-goal play. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Notre Dame improved its all-time record against Pittsburgh to 52-21-1. The Fighting Irish are now 30-11-1 on the road against the Panthers, including 5-2 at Acrisure Stadium. • Notre Dame is now 8-3 in current NFL stadiums under Freeman and 29-15 in current NFL stadiums since 1992. • Junior running back Jeremiyah Love started his 27th consecutive game, which is the second-longest streak by a running back in program history. Allen Pinkett (1982-85) holds the school record in that category with 35 straight starts. • With his 56-yard scoring run in the first quarter, Love now has 32 career rushing touch- downs, moving him into a tie for fourth in pro- gram history with Vagas Ferguson (1976-79) and Anthony Johnson (1986-89). That was also his 38th career touchdown, which is also tied for fourth-most in school history with wide receiver Michael Floyd (2008-11). • Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr threw 2 touchdown passes and also found the end zone on the ground. It's the third time this season that Carr has thrown and ran for a touchdown in the same game. 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 9:05 3:23 6:27 5:48 12:28 12:15 24:43 Third-Down Conversions 0-4 0-3 0-3 0-3 0-7 0-6 0-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-1 0-0 1-2 1-2 0-1 2-4 2-5 Average Field Position PITT-24 PITT-38 PITT-25 PITT-23 PITT-30 PITT-24 PITT-28 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 5:55 11:37 8:33 9:12 17:32 17:45 35:17 Third-Down Conversions 1-3 1-2 2-5 0-2 2-5 2-7 4-12 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-1 2-2 1-2 0-1 3-4 3-5 Average Field Position ND-43 ND-36 ND-27 PITT-44 ND-40 ND-35 ND-38 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards PITT ND Nega ve 7 7 0-5 40 37 6-9 7 13 10-19 8 6 20-29 2 3 30-39 0 1 40-49 0 0 50 or more 0 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Pitt 2 0 1 1 Notre Dame 3 2 0 1