Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/594735
GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH was a 42-21 win at Pitt in 2005 to begin the Weis era. This year's 6-2 start by Pitt was fu- eled by a 5-2 record in games decided by single digits (it was 1-5 last year in games decided by nine or less points), with kicker Chris Blewitt at the fore- front in the end. On Oct. 17, Blewitt's school-record 56-yard field goal with 1:11 left in the contest resulted in Pitt's 31-28 victory versus Georgia Tech. Then on Oct. 24, his 25-yard field goal as time expired capped a 19-play, 89-yard drive that took 9:20 to defeat Syracuse 23-20 in the Carrier Dome. Meanwhile, Pitt's lone loss until fall- ing to North Carolina occurred when unbeaten Iowa saw its kicker, Marshall Koehn, drill a 57-yard field goal as time expired in a 27-24 win Sept. 19. PRESSING THE ISSUE First-year Pitt head coach Pat Nar- duzzi was renowned for the dominant defenses he oversaw at Michigan State under head coach Mark Dantonio from 2007-14. Under his direction, the Spartans were the only team to rank in the na- tion's top 10 in total defense from 2011-14 (No. 6 in 2011, No. 4 in 2012, No. 2 in 2013 and No. 8 in 2014). Ad- ditionally, MSU was the only team to rank in the top 10 in both total defense and rushing defense the past four sea- sons. What he was especially known for was his emphasis on aggressive press coverage on opposing wide receivers. It helped the Spartans to a 13-1 record in 2013 — with the lone defeat a 17-13 result at Notre Dame. In that game, the Spartans were miffed about four pass-interference calls, plus a defensive holding infrac- tion, that went against them. But Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly noted that is the price that can come with such an aggressive scheme. "When you know the quarterback is going to throw it back shoulder, and the defensive back doesn't know where it is, you have an advantage in that situation," Kelly said. "You're going to get some pass interference calls when you put the ball in a good position." In that game, Kelly used two fresh- Redshirt freshman tailback Qadree Ollison has filled in admirably for injured star James Connor, compiling a team‑best 716 yards and eight touch‑ downs on the ground in Pitt's first eight contests. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH