A win’s a win, even if it isn’t pretty. The 15-12 victory over Pitt means a couple things for ND football:
- We’re back to .500. A 2-2 record sounds so much better than 1-2, or even worse, 0-2. How many more weeks do you think it’ll be until we get a couple votes in the AP rankings??
- We redeemed ourselves at Heinz Field after the tough road loss there two years ago.
- Lou Holtz retains his bragging rights over Mark May for another year.
- Coach Graham won’t always get lucky in the fourth quarter against the Irish. For those of you who need a reminder, he coached Tulsa last year when they stunned us at home with a 28-27 win in the last 3 minutes of the game.
I didn’t have a chance to make the 6-hour trip out to Pittsburgh, so this was my first ND game to watch on TV this season. Even though we won this one, not even the HD view I had could make our performance look anywhere near perfect.
Per usual, we turned the ball over twice. At one point during the broadcast, ESPN announcers said we ranked dead last for fewest turnovers in the league. We also had eight penalties…ouch.
As for only scoring 15 points, Tommy Rees never hit his stride. Part of that is due to the fact that the Panthers successfully contained Floyd to the point where Rees had to completely turn to others receivers. Award for breakout receiver of the day goes to Tyler Eifert. He caught four passes, including a TD, on the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Where has he been the rest of the season? He holds onto the ball and scores. Let’s keep throwing it to him!
Our rushing game led the charge. Cierre Wood had 23 carries for 94 yards and Jonas Grey had an explosive 79-yard TD run in the second quarter.
So, we had glimpses of good offensive production, but overall we should tip our hats off to our defense for holding the Panthers back and giving us a chance to win.
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