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pittsburgh preview By Dan Murphy F or years, the Pittsburgh Panthers have marched their way to successful seasons in a grinding fashion that suits the Steel City, heaping responsibility on the offensive line and a workhorse running back. When head coach Paul Chryst, who coordinated a Wisconsin offense that had the same approach for seven years, took over the program two seasons ago, he tried to re-install that approach, but so Nowhere To Run The Panthers' missing rushing attack keeps bowl plans in jeopardy ✦ Game Facts Date: Nov. 9, 2013. Site: Heinz Field (65,500). Kickoff: 8:12 p.m. Television: ABC. Radio: This broadcast can be heard on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the 67th meeting between Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. The Irish hold a 45-20-1 advantage over the Panthers, and won the last meeting 29-26 in three overtimes at South Bend in 2012. Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (35-13, fourth season); Pittsburgh — Paul Chryst (10-11, second season). Noting Pittsburgh: The last five meetings between these two teams have been decided by an average of four points and have included a total of seven overtime periods, and the Irish have won the last two games by a field goal … As an offensive coordinator at Oregon State in 1997 and 1998, Chryst helped establish the Beavers offense that beat Notre Dame 41-9 in the Fiesta Bowl two years later … Only four schools have played the Irish more often than Pitt since the two teams first met in 1909. Head coach Paul Chryst is still searching for consistency with his team's ground game, which ranks 104th nationally (122.5 rushing yards per game) after producing minus-five yards versus Georgia Tech last week. photo courtesy pittsburgh Nov. 6, 2013 far all the pieces have not snapped into place. A 21-10 loss to Georgia Tech last Saturday dropped Chryst's record to 10-11 in a year-plus with his new team, one that is still searching for consistency while it tries to avoid a third consecutive losing season. Much of the turmoil on offense has been out of Chryst's control. Sophomore Rushel Shell, the next star in Pitt's running back succession, left the program this summer and eventually landed in West Virginia. That left junior Isaac Bennett and true freshman James Conner to battle for the carries that would have belonged to Shell. Conner developed into a pleasant surprise during his first half of a college football season. The 6-2, 230-pound Western Pennsylvania native averaged 5.4 yards per carry in his first six games, but an injury kept him out of the Oct. 19 meeting with Old Dominion and Bennett seized the opportunity. He ran for a career-high 240 yards and three scores to assert himself in the competition for the starting job. Bennett leads the team with 105 carries for 543 yards and five scores. Conner, meanwhile, had 79 carries for 385 yards and four touchdowns through eight contests. Neither ball carrier was effective against Georgia Tech last Saturday, with Bennett netting just 16 yards on six carries and Conner totaling just three yards on eight rushes. All told, Pitt had minus-five rushing yards against the Yellow Jackets. Sam Werner, who covers the Panthers for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, said both backs are likely to stay in the lineup for the rest of the season. "I think, ideally, they'd like to get to the Wisconsin model of just running both