Fighting Irish run over Panthers, beat Pitt 20-14

The fifth-largest crowd in Pitt football history got to see a performance worthy of the… The fifth-largest crowd in Pitt football history got to see a performance worthy of the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, but it was not Larry Fitzgerald or Rod Rutherford who put on the show.

It was Julius Jones.

The crowd of 66,421 watched the Notre Dame running back rush for a school-record 262 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, as the Fighting Irish (2-3) upset then-No. 15 Pitt (3-2), 20-14.

Jones averaged 10.9 yards per carry – including runs of 25, 39, 49 and 61 yards – and became the first Notre Dame running back to rush for over 200 yards in a game since Reggie Brooks did it twice in 1992.

“It was hard to get your arms around him, he’s an incredible athlete,” defensive tackle Vince Crochunis said of Jones. “We expected them to pass the ball more, but when something is working as well as it was, why change? That was smart play calling.”

As a team, the Irish ran for 352 yards, including 49 yards on the final drive of the game.

With 9:41 left in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame took over on its own 12 yard line. The combination of Jones and running back Ryan Grant – who had 84 yards on 27 carries – was too much for the Panthers, as the Irish were able to put together a 16-play drive and Pitt never saw the ball again.

Pitt’s defense had a chance to get off the field as the Irish faced third-and-11 with less than three minutes to play. But freshman quarterback Brady Quinn, making just his second start, found wide receiver Omar Jenkins along the sidelines for a 19 yard gain. The completion was the only one of the fourth quarter for Quinn, who was just five-of-17 passing for 33 yards.

“We just had to get the first down,” Quinn said. “I wasn’t really sure if we were going to be able to fit it in because of the way the [corner]back got around in the flat and sat underneath it. [Jenkins] had to come up with a great catch and stay in bounds and it really helped us as far as getting that drive to solidify the win.”

The Panthers were unable to stop the clock after that, having used all their timeouts in the third quarter.

“A couple of times the play got in late and I’ll take credit for that,” Pitt head coach Walt Harris said. “It’s difficult to call plays when you’re not sure which ones are going to work.”

While Notre Dame was trampling over the Panthers’ defense, Pitt had a hard time moving the ball on offense, gaining just 175 total yards, including just eight yards rushing. In their first four games, the Panthers had averaged 38.2 points and 465.5 yards on offense per game.

Pitt also could not keep the Irish pass rush off of Rutherford all day. Notre Dame’s defense recorded eight sacks, including 3 1?2 by defensive end Justin Tuck.

Rutherford finished the game 12-of-30 for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Fitzgerald extending his scoring streak to 11 games, catching five passes for 79 yards and two scores, all of which came in the first half.

Like its previous two games against the Irish, turnovers hurt Pitt, as Notre Dame was able to score 10 points off of the Panthers’ mistakes.

After the defense stopped the Irish on their opening drive, William Ferguson fumbled the punt and Bobby Renkes fell on the loose ball at the Pitt 34-yard line.

On third-and-one, Jones ran around the right side of the line and, after breaking one tackle, ran 25 yards untouched to the corner of the end zone. Nicholas Setta added the extra point to give the Irish a 7-0 lead with 12:08 to play in the first quarter.

The Panthers were unable to do anything on their first three possessions. Pitt lost a total of 23 yards as Rutherford was sacked once on each drive and the Panthers were forced to punt each time.

After two incompletions on the next possession, Rutherford scrambled out of the pocket and found Fitzgerald in the middle of the field for 15 yards and a first down at the Notre Dame 37. Three plays later, Rutherford connected with Fitzgerald again in the left corner of the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown. David Abdul kicked the extra point to tie the score at seven.

Notre Dame was forced to punt on its next possession. Ferguson received the kick at Pitt’s 25 and, after getting key blocks from Shawntae Spencer, H.B. Blades and Josh Lay, returned it 71 yards to the Notre Dame 2-yard line.

Two plays later, Rutherford found Fitzgerald, who made the catch over cornerback Vontez Duff, for the touchdown. Abdul kicked the extra point and Pitt lead 14-7.

But Pitt was unable to hold onto the lead as its running game stalled. Making his second start in place of injured running back Brandon Miree, Jawan Walker led Pitt with 37 yards on 10 carries.

“You cannot run the football like we couldn’t,” Harris said. “This is a game that we had trouble physically getting it done.”

With 10:17 to go in the second quarter, Notre Dame started from its own 30. After Grant ran three times for 21 yards, the Irish faced third-and-one from the Pitt 49.

The Pitt defense lined up close to the ball in order to stop the run, but Jones was able to find a hole, running 49 yards for the touchdown.

“When you get big plays like that in a ball game and it does two things,” Notre Dame offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick said. “I think emotionally, it helps you tremendously, and definitely it keeps you on the field moving the ball. I think it has a lot of positive benefits and most of them are emotional, too.”

Pitt had opportunities to stay in the game, but the Panthers were unable to capitalize on them.

Abdul missed two field goals, one from 38 yards in the second quarter that would have given Pitt a 17-14 lead and the other coming after a Spencer interception in the third quarter that would have tied the game at 17.

“The difference between winning and losing is very, very slight,” Harris said. “Sometimes we should have [run the ball] when we threw, and we dropped passes. For some reason we weren’t as sharp as we’ve been.”