Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/208902
Notre Dame players have been declared guilty of targeting three times this season. Junior Ben Councell was ejected in a loss to Oklahoma during the final week of September and missed the first half of the team's next game. Tuitt will not miss any time in Notre Dame's game against BYU Nov. 23 because his penalty occurred before halftime. Senior Justin Utupo was flagged for the penalty Nov. 2 against Navy, but that ejection was overturned when replay showed that junior Matthias Farley made the hit in question and there was no contact made by either players' head. Tuitt's early exit was another blow to a defensive line that has been ravaged by injuries in recent weeks. It left Notre Dame without its most vaunted pass rusher against a team that had allowed 29 sacks in its first eight games. The Irish recorded only one quarterback takedown in the loss. While Kelly seemed mystified with the call on the sidelines, he made it clear that he didn't think losing Tuitt had a major effect on the outcome of the game. "That is not why we lost this game," he said. "It had nothing to do with this loss tonight. This really was about our football team going on the road and executing poorly on offense and not being good enough when they needed to be on defense." TJ Jones Moves Up In Record Books Senior wide receiver TJ Jones scored two touchdowns — one rushing and one receiving — in the 28-21 loss to Pittsburgh. His 80-yard scamper after snaring one of senior quarterback Tommy Rees' passes in the third quarter marked the seventh straight game in which he has caught a touchdown pass. Jeff Samardzija (2005) and Golden Tate (2009) each caught a score in eight straight games, meaning Jones can tie the record on senior day against Miscellaneous Notes • Pittsburgh entered the game ranked 116th nationally in sacks allowed (3.63 per game), but did a good job of protecting quarterback Tom Savage from Notre Dame's depleted defensive line. The Irish had only one sack, a hit from senior linebacker Prince Shembo that caused a fumble in the fourth quarter. • The last six contests between Notre Dame and Pitt have been decided by seven points or less. The Panthers' 28-21 win was the largest margin of victory in the series since 2005 when the Irish won 42-21 in Charlie Weis' first game as a head coach. Since then, the two teams have gone to overtime twice and been separated by an average of 4.5 points. • A Notre Dame win in Pittsburgh would have pushed the Irish past Michigan for the best winning percentage in college football history. The Wolverines (6-3 in 2013) have an all-time winning percentage of .73397. Had the Irish beaten Pitt their percentage would have increased to .73399 with an all-time record of 873-303-42. • For as many big plays as the Irish allowed to Pittsburgh, they also created some of their own. Four times in the first half, Notre Dame's offense went more than 30 yards on a single play — rushes from junior running back George Atkinson III (33) and senior wide receiver TJ Jones (35), and receptions by junior tight end Ben Koyack(38) and Jones(34).