No moral victories

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Pitt out-gained Notre Dame by 217 yards, had 11 more first downs and held… SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Pitt out-gained Notre Dame by 217 yards, had 11 more first downs and held onto the ball for more than 32 minutes.

But the only number that mattered was three.

Three turnovers, two on Pitt’s final three drives, along with an ineffective passing game in the second half destroyed the Panthers’ chances of winning, as the Fighting Irish prevailed, 14-6.

“We had a chance to win,” head coach Walt Harris said. “Our defense played tremendous, [but] our offense was not consistent in the third and fourth quarter.”

After passing for 233 yards on 13 of 27 attempts in the first half, Rod Rutherford was 6 of 16 for just 29 yards in the second half as Notre Dame increased the intensity of its pass rush.

“We were passing with efficiency, so you stick with it and they teed off on us,” center Chad Reed said. “We put ourselves in a tough predicament.”

The game started the way Pitt wanted it to.

Starting from their own 13-yard line, the Panthers moved the ball downfield on a 12-yard run around the right side by Lousaka Polite and a 14-yard sweep to the left by Raymond Kirkley.

Then, facing a third-and-10 from his own 39-yard line, Rutherford found tight end Kris Wilson open in the middle for a 52-yard gain to the Notre Dame 9-yard line.

But the offense stalled there, losing three yards on three plays before David Abdul’s 29-yard field goal gave Pitt a 3-0 lead with 11 minutes and six seconds left in the first quarter.

“We hurt ourselves,” Rutherford said. “We definitely want seven [points] instead of three.”

On the other side, Notre Dame couldn’t find a way to move the ball on offense in the first quarter, gaining 16 total yards to Pitt’s 162 to start the game.

But on their first drive of the second quarter, the Irish found a way to advance the ball against Pitt’s defense.

After quarterback Carlyle Holiday scrambled for 12 yards to the Notre Dame 32, he found Arnaz Battle down the right sideline for 23 yards to Pitt’s 43-yard line.

Two plays later, on third-and-two, Holiday found Battle for a short completion in front of Shawntae Spencer. But Battle was able to get away from Spencer, racing down the sideline for 22 yards to the Pitt 13.

After a 2-yard run by Ryan Grant, Holiday connected with Battle again, this time beating Torrie Cox to the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

“That catch in the end zone was just a great play,” Notre Dame head coach Tyrone Willingham said. “We had one good drive and all credit is given to Pittsburgh. They are one heck of a defense and they did not disappoint.”

Neither team had much luck moving the ball after that until Pitt regained possession on its own 26-yard line with less than two minutes remaining in the half.

Rutherford connected with Larry Fitzgerald for gains of 14 and 8 yards respectively to move Pitt to its 48-yard line. After two Pitt timeouts, Rutherford escaped Notre Dame’s pass rush and found Lamar Slade for another 24 yards.

Slade, who had seven catches for 127 yards, then came up with another big catch, hauling in Rutherford’s pass and getting one foot inbounds at the Notre Dame 10-yard line.

But again, the Panthers’ offense stalled and Abdul connected on a 24-yard field goal to pull Pitt with one point.

Both teams had trouble moving the ball again in the third quarter and early in the fourth; with 9:43 left in the fourth, Pitt’s offense took the field at its own 7-yard line.

After an incomplete pass intended for Slade on first down, Rutherford attempted to make a move around Notre Dame’s defense, but Glenn Earl was waiting for him.

Earl made the hit, causing Rutherford to lose the ball, and the Irish recovered it at Pitt’s 12-yard line.

Six plays later, Grant sprinted around the left side and fell into the end zone for Notre Dame’s final score.

“They live on turnovers and that was the difference in the game,” Harris said.

Pitt still had one more chance, getting the ball back at its 20-yard line with 2:34 left.

Rutherford quickly found Marcus Furman for 13 yards and then hit Fitzgerald for a 10-yard gain to move Pitt out to its 43-yard line.

Two plays later, facing a third-and-10, Rutherford connected with Slade over the middle for a 24-yard completion to the Irish 33-yard line.

But the drive would go no further, as Ryan Roberts and Kyle Budinscak flushed Rutherford out of the pocket, forcing him to throw the ball away.

But instead of reaching the sideline, the ball landed in the hands of Preston Jackson, sealing the win for Notre Dame.

“It was a fluke play,” Reed said about the interception. “He was trying to get rid of the ball and he made the right play.”

The loss dropped the Panthers to 5-2 on the season, but Pitt remains 2-0 in the Big East. Meanwhile, Notre Dame improved to 6-0 and moved up to the No. 7 spot in the polls.

“There are no moral victories,” Harris said. “It’s a bitter loss because we had the chance to win.”

“We get no respect as it is, [so] we can’t lose respect,” Rutherford said. “We can play four quarters with anybody in the nation.”