Walker runs over Panthers

Pitt fans had no idea what was beating their defense on Saturday night.

They saw a white… Pitt fans had no idea what was beating their defense on Saturday night.

They saw a white blur cutting back and forth across the field, dodging tackle after tackle, but it moved so quickly they couldn’t be sure what it was.

Twenty carries and 100 yards later, the blur finally slowed down, and those in attendance at Heinz Field saw Darius Walker for the first time.

The speedy Notre Dame sophomore made the Panthers, the defending Big East conference champions, look like they had never seen a running back before. But Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades pointed out that it wasn’t because Walker broke off run after run of 20 or 30 yards.

“There’s nothing Notre Dame did that was spectacular,” he said. Walker’s longest run only went for 11 yards.

But every time Walker touched the ball, he created a play. Each run of five or eight yards created all kinds of problems in the Pitt defense. Each dodged tackle frustrated the young Pitt defensive front.

“Walker made a few cutbacks that a couple guys thought he couldn’t make, but he did,” Blades said. One of those unimaginable moves came at the start of the decisive second quarter.

On first-and-goal from the Pitt two-yard line, Walker ran a sweep to the left. As Pitt cornerback Josh Lay approached, Walker came to a dead stop to freeze Lay – a preseason All-Big East pick and one of the best players in Pitt’s defensive corps – then started up again instantaneously to sprint into the end zone.

Of Walker’s 100 yards, 61 came in the first half on 12 carries. He was used less in the second half, as the Irish had the game in hand by halftime. Head coach Charlie Weis took the opportunity to rest his starters and get a look at other players.

When he wasn’t dazzling the crowd with his rushing ability, Walker beat the Pitt defense with receptions. He had three catches for 52 yards in the game. None of these was more devastating to the Pitt game plan than his 51-yard touchdown grab on Notre Dame’s first drive of the game, a touchdown that quickly answered Pitt’s opening-drive score.

Quarterback Brady Quinn’s screen pass fell well behind Walker, but the running back turned and reached down to make the grab. Then he beat Butkus Award candidate Blades around the corner on the right side and outran the Pitt defense on his way to six points.

A great deal of Walker’s success came as the result of Notre Dame’s superb blocking. The offensive line pushed around the inexperienced Pitt defensive line the entire game, and fullback Rashon Powers-Neal – who rushed for two touchdowns of his own – cleared the way for Walker the entire game. The Panthers rarely touched Walker in the backfield, and could only reach Quinn on a few occasions, allowing the quarterback ample time to eye his targets nearly every time he dropped back.

Thomas Smith, Pitt’s injured veteran lineman, was slated to play in third down situations, but Wannstedt explained that Pitt hardly got into that scenario in the first half. Smith was negated as a weapon until the second half, and by that time the game was out of reach. Blades saw this as a major factor in the loss.

“When Thomas Smith came in in the second half, it all stopped,” he said of Notre Dame’s offensive onslaught. “You can’t coach experience.”

But despite Blades’ outlook, Wannstedt laid the blame for Pitt’s failure to stop Walker and the Irish offense squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. He admitted that the defensive front could have played better, but that it might have been the result of poor preparation.

“From a fundamental standpoint, particularly on defense, I must have not prepared the team well enough,” he said. “We just need to get out there and keep coaching them hard.”