Pittsburgh Gets The Nasty
§§§ Notre Dame 42, Pittsburgh 21 §§§
Darius Walker points as he scores the first Notre Dame touchdown. (South Bend Tribune/Santiago Flores)
Memo to college football: The Irish are for real.
Head Coach Charlie Weis' vaunted NFL offensive attack produced as advertised, and the defense was more than adequate to lead Notre Dame to a 42-21 thrashing of 23rd-ranked Pittsburgh that wasn't even that close.
In fact, the Panthers' fate was sealed by the coin toss.
Pitt won the toss and elected to receive the ball first, planning on lighting up the Irish defense like they did last year at Notre Dame Stadium. And for that first drive, they did, striking for six on a 39-yard pass play from Tyler Palko to wide receiver Greg Lee. But the Irish responded with a touchdown of their own, courtesy of a 51-yard reception and scamper by running back Darius Walker.
After the Irish defense forced a three-and-out, Brady Quinn allowed an interception near midfield by Pitt corner Darrelle Revis, which the Panthers cashed in for a field goal.
It would be the only possession ND didn't score a touchdown with for virtually the entire first half.
After one incomplete pass on the ensuing drive, Irish quarterback Brady Quinn went on a streak of 11 straight completions. By the time Notre Dame took a knee to let the first half expire, they had scored four touchdowns, interrupted only by a Pitt field goal, to lead 35-13.
With the ball to start the second half, they went on a methodical, bruising 20-play drive that took up nearly half the third quarter, capped by fullback Rashon Powers-Neal's third rushing touchdown.
That broke the back of the Pitt offensive machine which torched the Irish defense for 41 points last year. Coming into this season, nine of those defensive starters had graduated, leaving many to wonder about how good the defense would be.
The answer? Good enough.
While Tyler Palko completed 20 of his 35 passes for 220 total yards through the air, the defense stiffened when it really counted, limiting Pitt to just four of 14 third-down conversions. In addition, the ND front seven sacked Palko five times.
The special teams, which head coach Charlie Weis promised major improvements for, was also a factor. Return coverage, routinely burned last year, was up to the task this year. In fact, the kickoff squad forced a Pitt fumble deep in their own territory, leading to the the fourth Irish touchdown on a 19-yard strike to Jeff Samardzija.
Brady Quinn finished the game 18-27 with 227 yards. In addition to 52 receiving yards, Darius Walker had 20 rushes for an even 100 yards. Rashon Powers-Neal contributed eight rushes for 41 yards and three touchdowns. Tight end Anthony Fasano led the Irish receiving corps with four catches for 42 yards, while Rhema McKnight added three receptions for 51 yards.
One historical footnote: Notre Dame and Pittsburgh have opened the season against each other three previous times, in 1943, 1976 and 1977. Each time, the winner of that game went on to win the national championship.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. While the victory was sweet, next week comes a daunting task: fourth-ranked Michigan, at the Big House in Ann Arbor.
posted by Marsh @ 7:55 PM
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