Football: Panthers look for redemption against Kelly

In their last two meetings, Brian Kelly got the better of Pitt as the Panthers and conference… In their last two meetings, Brian Kelly got the better of Pitt as the Panthers and conference foe Cincinnati battled for Big East championships.

The Panthers hope that the outcome will be different this week when they take on Kelly during his first year as coach of the Fighting Irish.

Pitt (2-2) will hit the road to travel to South Bend, Ind., where they will face a familiar enemy in Notre Dame for the 66th time tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. at Notre Dame Stadium.

It has been an up-and-down year for the Irish, to say the least, but the team has still not lived up to the hype that surrounded it when Kelly first arrived. Upon Kelly’s hiring, he gave a speech about his and the team’s expectations to win, but that hasn’t gone quite according to plan.

The Irish (2-3) have lost three of their last five games. The team started off with a win over in-state rival Purdue. Then it suffered a loss to Michigan and quarterback Denard Robinson and lost in a shocker to Michigan State in overtime on a fake field goal that occurred just moments before Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio had a heart attack.  (Dantonio survived.)

The Irish then struggled at home against a ranked Stanford team, losing 37-14, before proceeding to dismantle Boston College at home.

The Panthers might not have had great success against teams coached by Kelly, but Pitt has had some recent success against the Irish and is looking to snag its third straight win at Notre Dame Stadium. Pitt has won three of the last four meetings with the Irish.

The Panthers hope to continue their success with the ground game against the Irish, which has mainly been through Ray Graham. Graham was the recent recipient of the Big East Offensive Player of the Week title for his efforts against FIU last weekend.

After limited appearances, Graham is now the nation’s third-leading rusher in terms of yards per game with a 164 average over three contests and is second in terms of yards per attempt with a 9.5 average.

Absent in the FIU game was backfield-mate Dion Lewis, a preseason Heisman hopeful. Lewis is expected to play this week after being held out due to an injury. Lewis is still the starter, but Wannstedt assured fans that both backs will get plenty of carries.

“They’re both very supportive of each other, but they’re also very competitive. I think that Ray showed what kind of person he is, with how he handled everything with Dion last year having all the success he had week after week,” Wannstedt said. “There’s no more humble player on our team. Their relationship is good — but at the same time they’re both going to be anxiously wanting the football come Saturday.”

Headed by first-year starting junior quarterback Dayne Crist, the Irish offense has found some success through the air at times but hopes to continue the progress it has made on the ground with senior tailback Armando Allen.

Although Allen might not have the yards that Graham has, he is a workhorse and a key player out of the backfield. In his press conference Kelly praised Allen’s play up to this point.

“Armando Allen has been probably our playmaker if you look at everything that he’s done in terms of running and catching, and if you continue to give us Armando Allen, we’re going to continue to take him,” Kelly said.

Besides Allen, the Irish have no shortage of valuable weapons on offense. They have one of the top — if not the top — tight ends in the nation in Kyle Rudolph. Rudolph and wide receiver Michael Floyd were named as preseason All-Americans and are likely first- or second-round draft picks.

The nationally televised game will be an opportunity for the Panthers to show that their season is back on track. Like it or not, playing Notre Dame is a big deal and will generate a lot of attention for a team that has looked average at best this far into the season.

Whether it is Lewis or Graham, the Panthers need a strong running attack to open up the passing game for Sunseri and take pressure off an offensive line that has struggled.

Needless to say, this game will say a lot as to where the team is headed for the rest of the season.