Nov. 15, 1999: Pitt 37, Notre Dame 27

Editor?s note: This is the fourth in a ?Greatest Games? series that will appear in The Pitt… Editor?s note: This is the fourth in a ?Greatest Games? series that will appear in The Pitt News the day before each Pitt football game this year. Each part in the series will detail Pitt?s greatest game against that week?s opponent, and will contain the original game story as it appeared in The Pitt News. This story was written by Brad Cuprik on Nov. 15, 1999.

When Pitt Stadium finally emptied Saturday, it was missing two goal posts, shards of turf, and a bench or two. But it had a victory.

The Panthers defeated Notre Dame, 37-27, in the final game at Pitt Stadium, in front of 60,190 fans. The crowd was the eighth largest in stadium history and the largest since 1983, when the Panthers played Penn State.

?We wanted to send the stadium off in a good way,? head coach Walt Harris said.

The Panthers came out charged on defense, stopping the Fighting Irish on their first two drives. Notre Dame netted just 10 yards on the two possessions, and Pitt got the ball on its 31-yard line.

Nick Goings established the ground game for Pitt by getting an 8-yard run on a second-down play for a first down.

Then, Panthers? quarterback John Turman took over.

He found wideout Latef Grim for a 25-yard completion to the Notre Dame 32. Two plays later, Turman was rushed out of the pocket and found a hole running for 23 yards to inside the Irish 10-yard line.

On the next play, Turman threw a quick-out pass to Antonio Bryant, who turned around in front of the Notre Dame defensive back to pull in the ball for a Panthers touchdown.

Nick Lotz added the extra point to give Pitt a 7-0 lead.

The Panthers? defense stepped up again and stopped an Irish drive, but the offense couldn?t capitalize on the change of possession.

Turman was intercepted on the next play by Deveron Harper. Harper fumbled the ball, but teammate Deke Cooper was there to recover it for the Irish.

Notre Dame managed only seven yards on three plays and was forced to settle for a 36-yard field goal by Jim Sanson to cut the Panthers? lead to four.

The first quarter ended with the Panthers up 7-3, and with the momentum of the crowd on their side.

?It was big for us to get up early,? said senior fullback Chris Feola.

The Irish were forced to punt again on their next drive, and Pitt took over at its 34-yard line. After a 5-yard run by Kevan Barlow, Turman lofted a pass to Grim. Notre Dame defensive back A?Jani Sanders jumped to intercept the pass, but he tipped it right to Grim, who pulled down the 40-yard reception to the Notre Dame 21-yard line. Turman then connected with Julius Dixon on a 10-yard completion to the 11-yard line. Pitt?s next three plays consisted of a 4-yard run between two incompletions.

That led to a fourth down for the Panthers, and Lotz connected on a 24-yard field goal to give Pitt a 10-3 lead.

?To move the ball downfield like we did and have to settle for a field goal, that could have ended up hurting us,? Harris said.At the end of the first half, Notre Dame fought back, putting together a 10-play, 57-yard touchdown drive that tied the score at 10.

Jarious Jackson found Irish wideout Joey Getherall for a 5-yard completion for the touchdown. Sanson added the extra point, and after a Panthers punt, he had a chance to put the Irish in the lead with a field goal.

On the last play of the first half, Sanson?s 45-yard field goal was blocked by freshman Scott McCurley, giving the Panthers added momentum heading into the locker room.

?They never went away, though,? said quarterback David Priestley, who did not play against the Irish.

Priestley had started the previous three games, but injured his throwing shoulder in last week?s loss to Miami and was unable to play.

The third quarter was all offense for both teams; 27 points were scored in the frame.

Pitt tallied first when Barlow scored the first of his two touchdowns on a three yard run. Lotz added his second extra point to put Pitt up, 17-10.

The Irish came right back to tie the game on a trick play.

David Givens received a pitch on what appeared to be a reverse play, but he stopped and found Bobby Brown open in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown pass.

Brown had a career day for the Irish, with 12 receptions for 208 yards and the touchdown.

Brown?s 12 catches put him one reception short of the school single-game record at Notre Dame.

Pitt scored on its next possession, as Lotz kicked his second field goal, a 33-yarder. It was set up by another trick play, this time by the Panthers.

Turman gave the ball to Barlow, who flipped it back to him.

Turman then launched the ball downfield and found Grim, who made a 47-yard catch even after being interfered with.

Pitt got the ball back after an Irish fumble, and the Panthers turned it into seven points.

Bryant scored his second touchdown of the day, catching a 23-yard pass from Turman on a sideline route. The Panthers had their biggest lead so far at 27-17.?I can?t say enough about Antonio and Latef,? Harris said. ?They?ve both stepped up game after game.?

Notre Dame clawed its way back into the game with another trick play. Jackson found Givens in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown on a flea-flicker play. Jackson gave the ball to Tony Fisher, and he flipped it back to Jackson. Givens got behind the Panthers? secondary and cut Pitt?s lead to three.

The teams traded field goals, a 44-yarder by Lotz and a 39-yarder by Sanson, and the Panthers were up 30-27.

Jackson made his only mistake of the day on the next drive, when he fired a pass into the middle of the field. Ramon Walker drilled the intended receiver and the ball popped into the air. McCurley came down with the ball and ran it 15 yards into Notre Dame territory.

Pitt then took time off the clock by running Barlow. He picked up two huge first downs and culminated the drive by scoring from two yards out with a little more than two minutes remaining.

It turned out to be the last touchdown scored in Pitt Stadium. The Panthers won, 37-27.

Notre Dame turned the ball over on downs after the Barlow touchdown, but the students rushed the field and tore down the goal posts.

Notre Dame head coach Bob Davie conceded the game rather than try to get the students off and finish the nine seconds.

Turman led the offense, completing 10 of 27 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns.

Pitt also got big games from Bryant and Grim, who each caught four passes. Grim had 120 receiving yards and Bryant had 95.

Barlow led the rushing attack with 71 yards on 19 carries. Goings had 65 yards on 15 carries.

Walker and McCurley led the Panthers? defense.

?Those two guys were incredible,? Harris said. ?How about that interception??

Harris asked the media members questions after the game, at a loss for words on what some say was his biggest victory as the Panthers? head coach.?We couldn?t do anything else but win,? Harris said. ?Our guys would not be denied, and our fans would not be denied.?

The Panthers are 5-5 on the season and have a slim chance of making a postseason bowl game. They will have to defeat West Virginia in the season finale on Nov. 27 and hope Notre Dame loses one of its two remaining games.

?Talk about pressure,? Harris said. ?We had to play in front of 400 former lettermen.

?It was a great college football game, and I?m glad it went our way.?