Gill, Buches integral pieces to Pitt’s offense

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The tight end has been a very important part of head coach Walt Harris’… NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The tight end has been a very important part of head coach Walt Harris’ offensive scheme, mainly because the talent at wide receiver draws much attention.

In years prior, wideout Larry Fitzgerald was keyed on by defenses, allowing former Panther tight end Kris Wilson to benefit with one-on-one matchups that were mostly with linebackers — a mismatch that can be a defensive coordinator’s nightmare.

The two tight ends that Pitt has now, Steve Buches and Erik Gill, are benefiting from that same thing.

With the emergence of wideouts Greg Lee and Joe DelSardo, defenses have had to scheme against them, leaving Gill and Buches defended by linebackers.

“They give us a dimension on our football team that we can use,” Tyler Palko said of his tight ends, “because they’re getting matched up on [line]backers when the defense plays a two deep secondary [and] tries to stop our wide receivers.”

On Saturday, at Notre Dame, this was the case again.

The tight ends accounted for three of Palko’s five touchdown passes and 110 of his 334 yards passing.

“They came through big today,” Palko said. “Helped us win this football game.”

Buches caught his two touchdowns in the first half, both times giving Pitt a seven-point lead. With the game knotted at seven in the second quarter, Buches slipped into the end zone on a play action-fake, sat in an open zone and caught Palko’s one-yard touchdown pass.

With halftime nearing, Buches found himself on the other end of a longer touchdown pass — this time a 20-yarder. The play was set up after Palko found Lee down the left sideline for a 35-yard pass play. Buches’ touchdown gave Pitt a 28-21 lead.

Gill was the go-to tight end in the second half, especially late in the fourth quarter with Pitt trailing 35-31.

After a few Notre Dame penalties moved Pitt down to the Irish nine-yard line, Palko found Gill for a leaping grab in the center of the end zone.

The score gave Pitt a 38-35 lead that it would not hold for long. A little more than a minute later, Notre Dame kicked a field goal to tie the game, which the Irish thought would send the game to overtime.

But there was 1:11 left on the clock, and that was too much time for Gill.

“We were winning that game no matter what,” Gill said. “I wasn’t trying to be denied.”

And he was not. Palko threw a pass out to his right to Gill on the very first play of the drive. Gill fought hard to keep the ball out of an Irish defender’s hands, and once he controlled the ball, he started running down the sideline. He literally bowled over defenders and ran for a 36-yard gain down the right sideline. As he ran, several Notre Dame defenders laid flat on the ground, watching him run away after they had missed the tackle.

“That’s just a football player making a football play,” Palko said. “We needed a play made, and he made the play that we needed to make.”

Gill caught the next two passes on the drive, and, following a Marcus Furman run up the middle and a quarterback kneel by Palko, Pitt kicked the game-winning field goal.

The tight ends are now a force that upcoming opponent West Virginia will have to worry about, along with the rest of Pitt’s offense.

“It’s a great position.” Gill said. “Everyone is worried about our tight ends.”