Somehow, someway, Notre Dame survives Pitt In 3 OTs
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Correspondent
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — If you didn’t believe Notre Dame is a team of destiny before Saturday, you probably do now.
The fourth-ranked Irish’s 29-26 triple overtime win over Pitt was nothing short of miraculous.
Notre Dame snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat not once but a couple of times. Even Irish coach Brian Kelly seemed like a man couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed in the post-game press conference.
“We overcame a lot tonight, Kelly said. We overcame some uncharacteristic mistakes.
“Last year that would have been a loss. But our team kept fighting, kept playing.”
Let’s recap:
– In the second overtime, Panthers’ kicker Kevin Harper, who had hit his three previous field goals on the day, missed a 33-yard field goal about one or two feet to the right.
Don’t think for a minute that the Irish faithful don’t believe Touchdown Jesus – the direction Harper was kicking – had a thing or two in lending a hand in making sure the kick was wide.
As the kick left Harper’s foot, Pitt’s players were prepared to spill out onto the field to celebrate. Maybe they momentarily forgot where they were playing.
A stunned Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri said afterwards, “It came down to a special teams play, we didn’t make the play. We missed a field goal; that’s why we lost the game.
“Give credit to Notre Dame for being able to finish it off.”
When asked what was going through his mind when Pitt was kicking that field goal, Kelly said, “I couldn’t give you a great answer other than I hope he misses because I’d like to win this game.”
– Pitt had what seemed to be a commanding 20-6 fourth-quarter lead.
But Irish quarterback Everett Golson kept a drive alive by converting a fourth-and-one from the Pitt 36.
A few plays later, came the phantom (and I do mean phantom) pass interference call against Pitt at the 10-yard line.
On fourth-and-four from the 23, the back judge called Pitt cornerback K’Waun Williams for pass interference as he was defending tight end Tyler Eifert. Williams was stride for stride with Eifert and went up and batted the ball away. It was easily one of the worst penalty calls we’ve seen in college football this season (if you don’t believe that check out the replays).
On the ensuing play, Golson hit TJ Jones for an 11-yard touchdown, but kicker Kyle Brindza missed the PAT and Pitt’s lead was 20-12 with 13:47 remaining in regulation.
– Even though Notre Dame seemed to have seized the momentum, driving from its 2-yard line to the Pitt 7, the Panthers looked to be in great shape when Williams picked off a Golson pass in the end zone with 3:59 left.
With possession of the ball, an eight-point lead and the clock under four minutes, you would think Pitt’s coaches would call on their players to work the clock, right? Wrong.
For some strange reason, Sunseri dropped back to pass on first down and threw an incompletion stopping the clock.
On second down, he bobbled the snap and fell on it. And on third down and 14 from the Pitt 16, Sunseri threw a pass to running back Ray Graham that resulted in a one-yard loss. Notre Dame immediately called its first time-out with 3:09 still remaining.
Because of its baffling play calling, the Panthers took less than a minute off the clock, improving the Irish’s chances even more.
Pitt first-year coach Paul Chryst said he wanted to stay aggressive and not be overly conservative.
“The whole mindset the whole game was to go win this thing,” said Chryst, whose team fell to 4-5 on the year. “We were trying to first move the sticks and see if they had an opportunity to score or not.”
– A 35-yard punt by Pitt punter Matt Yoklic gave the Irish great field position at midfield.
Golson hit receiver DaVaris Daniels with a 45-yard bomb.
As we’ve seen before this season, Notre Dame took advantage of a ball underthrown by Golson. Daniels adjusted to the pass in flight, while the defensive back ran past him and Daniels was able to make the catch at the Pitt 5.
On Notre Dame’s next snap, Golson hooked up with Theo Riddick for a 5-yard scoring pass and it was 20-18 with 2:11 to go.
To draw even though, the Irish needed to successfully run a two-point conversion. They did thanks to Golson’s excellent scrambling ability. The play initially look like it was designed for a throw-back pass to Eifert, but he was covered and Golson ad-libbed. He rolled right, saw his intended receiver covered and tucked the ball and darted for the end zone.
Golson scored and Notre Dame Stadium went wild.
Somehow, someway the game was tied at 20.
– It shouldn’t go unnoticed either that Brindza delivered the most pressure-filled kick of his career in the first overtime.
After Harper hit a 41-yard field goal giving Pitt a 23-20 lead, the Panther defense responded by stopping the Irish on three plays, setting up a 37-yard field goal attempt.
Brindza made it and it was 23-23 heading into the second extra session.
– The Irish looked like they would find the end zone when Cierre Wood went airborne only to lose the ball in mid-flight just prior to getting to the goal line.
Pitt recovered in the end zone and all it would need was a field goal to pull off the biggest upset of the college football season.
When Harper missed that 33-yard field goal, Panther fans had to know they were in trouble and they were.
As a result of yet another head-scratching victory, Notre Dame is now 9-0 for the first time since 1993 and kept its national championship hopes alive.
This was a game filled with a ton of storylines.
For instance, Golson was pulled late in the second quarter for Tommy Rees. After the game, Kelly explained that his rookie quarterback wasn’t picking up reads and progressions like he should have been.
But Golson was re-inserted after Rees threw an interception in the third quarter.
It was a good thing Kelly decided to go back to Golson, too.
He finished with 227 yards passing, completing 23-of-42 attempts, threw a pair of TD passes, and he ran for 74 yards on 15 carries, including the game’s final score.
“Our quarterback needed to be out there mobile, make some plays outside the pocket — asked him if he was ready to go, he said he was and we put him back in,” Kelly said.
Kelly ended up giving Golson the game ball.
“I think I did a great job of leading the team coming down the stretch. Coming out today, we came out a little flat. As far as me personally, I missed a couple reads I should have had, Golson admitted.
“But I feel like in the stretch we really came together.”
It finally came together just in the nick of time as far as the Irish were concerned.
In the third overtime, Pitt took a 26-23 lead thanks to Harper’s 44-yard field goal.
Notre Dame though won it when Golson plunged in from a yard out on a sneak and another wild celebration in Notre Dame Stadium this season ensued.
The game-winning touchdown drive was keyed by Riddick’s 11-yard pass reception, which gave the Irish a first down at the Pitt 14. Two running plays later by Riddick and Notre Dame had a manageable third-and-three from the Pitt 7. Golson delivered again with a 6-yard scramble, setting up the game-winning touchdown.
When you look at the game’s statistics, it’s somewhat surprising that it was this close.
Notre Dame ran a staggering 104 plays compared to Pitt’s 62. The Irish had 21 more first downs (34-13) and outgained the visitors 522-308.
The Irish defense wasn’t good. It allowed the most points it had given up all season and talked Pitt running back Ray Graham ran all over Notre Dame’s D, gaining 172 yards, which included a couple of long runs.
With that said, the Irish did sack Sunseri five times as he completed 19-of-29 passes for 164 yards.
“It was ugly at times, beautiful at times,” linebacker Manti Te’o said. “It’s college football. I’m just glad the outcome was the way it was.”
It didn’t look good for Te’o’s Irish for most of regulation.
After the Irish led 6-3, Graham scored on a 16-yard run and Pitt led 10-6 at halftime.
The Panthers dominated the third quarter, scoring on a 9-yard pass from Sunseri to freshman tight end J.P. Holtz and when Harper hit a 21-yard field goal with just under a minute left, the visitors were shocking the Irish 20-6.
But Golson resurrected Notre Dame from the dead. Not to make excuses because Pitt was the better team on this Saturday, but the Irish made some uncharacteristic turnovers and penalties. The Irish lost a fumble and threw two interceptions. They were penalized six times, five of which came in the opening quarter.
It was that kind of play that had Notre Dame Stadium eerily quiet.
That was until Golson came to the rescue and the Irish delivered yet another unforgettable victory to add to their magical run this season.
Now, Notre Dame will have to re-focus and prepare for a road trip to Boston College. The Irish will again be heavy favorites, just as they were against Pitt as the Eagles are just 2-7 this season.
“I told them that they have to understand that everybody they play against will play their absolute best,” said Kelly, whose team will face Boston College Saturday. “BC will play out of their minds against us.
“They (his players) just can’t highlight certain teams on their schedule, because they will play their very best. I think that’s a lesson learned for our football team.”
Notre Dame Nuggets
– Each of Notre Dame’s five home games this season has been decided by a touchdown or less, including two that have needed overtime.
– Te’o didn’t have his usual Te’o-type performance. He made just one tackle in the first half and finished with seven on the day.
– The Irish are now 5-8 in overtime games with all five wins coming at home.
– Notre Dame’s defense has not allowed a touchdown in the first quarter this season. In fact, only Oklahoma and Miami (Fla.) have scored on the Irish in the opening 15 minutes. Both the Sooners and Hurricanes had three points at the end of the opening frame.
