Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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In The Pitts Execution issues lead to a very disappointing 28-21 loss at Pittsburgh N By Andrew Owens otre Dame survived scares from Pittsburgh in each of the first three years under head coach Brian Kelly, but turnovers proved to be too costly in a 2821 loss to the Panthers at Heinz Field this season. Senior quarterback Tommy Rees tossed a pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter that helped the Panthers (5-4) outscore the Irish 21-7 in the final 30 minutes on a night when any remaining BCS bowl dreams faded away. "The turnovers can't happen," Rees said. "I take accountability and responsibility for those. You feel like you let your team down. You just have to be better than that and close out close ones." In the first minute of the fourth quarter, with the game tied at 21 and the Irish at the Pittsburgh 4-yard line poised to take a touchdown lead, Rees rolled to his right and tried to fit in a throw to sophomore wide receiver Chris Brown in the back of the end zone despite double coverage. Michigan transfer and junior safety Ray Vinopal picked off the pass and handed the ball to the Panthers offense at its own 20-yard line. After a Pittsburgh punt, Rees tossed his 10th interception of the season, again to Vinopal, who returned it 40 yards to the Irish 5-yard line. This time, Rees overthrew junior tight end Ben Koyack near midfield in a play that set up Pittsburgh's game-winning score. "I can't turn the ball over like that," Rees said. "When you put your defense in compromised situations like that, it's hard for the defense to make stops. It starts with me and starts with our senior leaders. We've got to come back better. There's definitely the little things we didn't do that you need to do to win games." A couple of the "little things" where the Irish (7-3) didn't execute also came on the defensive end. On Devin Street's 63-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter that tied the game at 21, junior safety Matthias Farley was beaten in coverage and then missed a tackle, which allowed Street to jaunt into the end zone. On the series prior to Rees' second interception, Pittsburgh drove past midfield before senior linebacker Prince Shembo sacked Panthers quarterback Tom Savage and knocked the ball out of his hand. Both sophomore defensive end Sheldon Day and junior linebacker Joe