Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/594735
GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH leading 17-13 in the fourth quarter, Pitt rallied to a 24-17 victory. • In 2008, the River City Rivalry saw Cincinnati edge Pitt 28-21 to claim the Big East crown over the Panthers and go to the Orange Bowl. • In one of the most exciting games in 2009, 11-0 and No. 5 Cincinnati ral- lied from 31-10, 38-24 and 44-38 defi- cits at No. 14 Pitt to record a 45-44 triumph. The winning score came with 33 seconds left on a 29-yard touch- down pass. Cincinnati's Mardy Gilyard amassed 374 all-purpose yards — yet much of the attention was on whether Kelly would be interested in the recently vacated Notre Dame position. At the same time that Kelly was making his big-time coaching bones at Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Pitt were engaged in their own close encounters. • In 2008, Notre Dame played the longest football game in its history before falling 36-33 in four overtimes to the Panthers, the start of a miserable November in which the Irish would finish 1-4. • The next season, with fifth-year head coach Charlie Weis on the hot seat, Notre Dame lost 27-22 at No. 8 Pitt to fall to 6-4 — and it was at about that point that Kelly was becoming a top name to watch in the impending coaching search. • At Notre Dame, Kelly and the Irish held on for a 23-17 victory at home in 2010 when a fourth-down Pitt pass with 1:07 was broken up by corner- back Gary Gray deep in Panthers ter- ritory. • In 2011, the Irish trailed 12-7 at Pitt when sophomore quarterback Tommy Rees completed all eight of his pass attempts on an 85-yard touchdown march that ended with a six-yard toss to junior tight end Tyler Eifert, plus a two-point conversion to Eifert, to take a 15-12 lead with 6:48 left. Pitt moved to the Notre Dame 40 on the next se- ries before two Irish sacks halted the drive. • While marching toward a 2012 BCS National Championship Game berth, 8-0 Notre Dame found itself trailing by double digits (20-6) versus Pitt before a dramatic rally to knot the score at 20. The game lasted three overtimes, and the Irish survived with a 29-26 victory. In the second overtime, all Pitt needed was a 33-yard field goal to win the game, but missed. The Irish also were fortunate that on that play the of- ficiating crew missed two Notre Dame players (cornerback Bennett Jackson and wide receiver Chris Brown) wear- ing No. 2, which is illegal and would have given Pitt a first down, or maybe even another shorter field goal at- tempt. • In 2013, with their BCS bowl hopes still alive, the Irish laid an egg at Pitt in a 28-21 defeat. No matter what the records for Notre Dame or Pitt have been since the turn of the century, a hard-fought, four-quarter battle has usually been in the offing. This included Irish victories in 2002 (14-6) and 2003 (20-14), and a Panthers conquest in 2004 (41-38) that helped lead to the firing of Notre Dame head coach Tyrone Willingham after three seasons. The lone exception