Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ON PAPER REVISITED NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME BY LOU SOMOGYI ception near midfield that helped Pitt to a 17-6 lead, and the game just about seemed over when Pitt cornerback K'Waun Williams picked off Golson's pass in the Panthers' end zone on second-and-goal from the 7-yard line with 3:59 left. Advantage: Pitt only one major gain off the pass, so too did Pitt. On the game-tying touchdown drive, Golson scrambled around for about 10 seconds before sophomore wide receiver DaVaris Daniels was able to break loose and haul in a 45-yard strike against a defense that went single coverage most of the way. Notre Dame's other 28 completions did not have one go for more than 17 yards and averaged only 9.0 yards per catch. Junior signal-caller Tommy Rees threw one inter- VS. PITTSBURGH PASS DEFENSE In the same way Notre Dame's defense allowed tempt after a poor snap by senior Jordan Cowart to leave the Irish behind 20-12. Cornerback Lafayette Pitts then returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards to the Panthers' 42. Pitt later punted and downed the ball at the Notre Dame 2-yard line. Pitt failed to seal the verdict when kicker Kevin the first half on a down note. A 55-yard punt by the Panthers to start the second half also set a bad tone when freshman Davonte' Neal let the ball bounce at the 28, and it rolled to the 10-yard line . Punter Ben Turk then drilled a 47-yard punt to the Pitt 8 — only to see receiver Cameron Saddler return it 31 yards to the 39. Sophomore Kyle Brindza hooked a point after at- SPECIAL TEAMS A 43-yard missed field goal by Notre Dame ended ing 1 of 14 (7.1 percent) on its third-down attempts, which is one of the reasons why it ran 42 fewer plays than Notre Dame (104-62). The Irish were 10 of 20 (50.0 percent), although many conversions ended up squandered. The most significant conversion actually came on THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS Pitt's worst performance in the contest was finish- fourth-and-four with the "bread and butter" de- fensive pass interference call on a fade to senior tight end Tyler Eifert that set up the touchdown to make it 20-12. The other was in the third overtime, when Golson on third-and-three ran six yards to the 1-yard line. Advantage: Notre Dame turnovers and still pull out the victory, but somehow Notre Dame did. The Rees interception toss set up a Pitt touchdown to increase its lead to 17-6. Golson's interception toss into the end zone was nearly the final dagger, as was Wood's fumble into the end zone during the first series of the second overtime — the first lost fumble by an Irish running back this season. Advantage: Pitt TURNOVERS It's not often you can have a 3-0 disadvantage in Harper's 33-yard field goal attempt in the second overtime went wide right, but he made his other four while Brindza was 3 of 4. Overall, the Panthers won the field position battle the majority of the game because of special teams. Advantage: Pitt and the 43-yard reception by tight end J.P. Holtz, Pitt's 59 plays accounted for only 162 yards. Notre Dame was more methodically consistent with 522 yards of total offense, but 14- and 18-play drives resulted in settling only for field goals, while three turnovers — two in the red zone — nearly resulted in an upset. The Irish also lost the field position battle for the most part via special teams. Yet Notre Dame is now 5-0 this year in games de- ANALYSIS Other than Ray Graham's two runs for 103 yards cided by seven or fewer points. Some of that can be attributed to plain luck, but much credit also goes to mental and physical toughness during fourth quarter and overtime crunch time.