A new tradition in South Bend

‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt had lost six consecutive games at Notre Dame before 2004. Suffice it to say that… ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt had lost six consecutive games at Notre Dame before 2004. Suffice it to say that Pitt’s last two trips to South Bend, Ind., which have both resulted in significant and historic Pitt victories, have overshadowed those considerably. ‘ ‘ ‘ The last time Pitt played at Notre Dame, the Panthers earned a dramatic 41-38 victory, sealed by a 32-yard Josh Cummings field goal with one second left. Former Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko became the first ever to throw five touchdown passes against the Fighting Irish in that game, and he topped it off with an infamous postgame cuss on live TV. ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt became bowl eligible in that game and did the same with Saturday’s 36-33 win in four overtimes. ‘ ‘ ‘ But that pales in comparison to what else happened. ‘ ‘ ‘ Conor Lee set a Pitt record with five field goals in a single game when he kicked the game-winner from 22 yards out in the fourth overtime. Lee was on the team in 2004 but was redshirting that season and wasn’t at the game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘When they came up here and kicked that game-winner [in 2004], I wasn’t even here,’ said Lee. ‘Seeing Josh Cummings do that, I just always wanted to do that, and it came true.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ LeSean McCoy also became just the third Pitt running back in history to have back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Now with 1,004 yards on the year, McCoy joins Curvin Richards (1988-89) and Tony Dorestt (1973-76) in that category. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I just had to relax and not let this whole Notre Dame thing get to me,’ said McCoy after gaining 169 yards on 32 carries, his fifth straight 140-plus yard game. ‘I kind of had a slow start in the beginning. I was trying to find things instead of just hitting it. That’s kind of the problem I had at the beginning of the year.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The four overtimes also made the game the longest in both Pitt and Notre Dame history, which is a considerable accomplishment. Notre Dame started playing football in 1887, and Pitt followed two years later, which gives the programs a combined 240 years of college football. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I told the guys all the legends are made in games like this ‘- big games, national TV games against great traditional teams. The great thing about this win … the entire team will be recognized for this for the next 25 years.’ Tale of two kickers ‘ ‘ ‘ Lee kicked four consecutive field goals in Saturday’s overtime periods and was named the Big East’s special teams player of the week for his performance ‘- his second of the season. Notre Dame kicker Brandon Walker made only three, missing a 37-yarder that enabled Lee’s game-winning chip shot. ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt recruited Walker, a highly rated high school kicker from Finday, Ohio. He made a 48-yarder from the right hash to push the game to the fourth overtime. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I knew that he was a good kicker, and I knew that I had to continue making kicks and stay focused,’ said Lee. ‘I knew he was going to go kick-for-kick with me, and unfortunately he missed and I took advantage.’ Needless to say, Wannstedt is more than content with having Lee and said he never even considered Lee missing a kick in overtime. ‘Conor Lee ‘mdash; what can you say about that kid?’ said Wannstedt. ‘He’s as fine a young man and as fine a football player as I’ve been around.’ Quarterback carousel ‘ ‘ ‘ How many players does it take to replace quarterback Bill Stull? ‘ ‘ ‘ Wannstedt said after the game that Stull would be back as the starter against Louisville this week after not playing at all against the Irish. Wannstedt made a game-time decision on whom he would start, Stull or Pat Bostick. Stull started every game this season before leaving in the third quarter against Rutgers last week with a concussion, and he dressed and participated in pregame drills on Saturday. ‘He was cleared to play, but we felt like he wasn’t ready to play with no practice,’ said Wannstedt. So he chose Bostick to make his first start of the season. He also used redshirt sophomore Kevan Smith for two series in the first quarter and even employed McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling in Pitt’s Wildcat formation. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We used Kevan and Pat … The plan was to use them all and get something out of them,’ said Wannstedt. ‘We went back to our Wildcat package with Shady at quarterback and got a few plays out of that, but it was really a situation where we were just trying to maximize everyone that we had to get us the win.’