The College Football Blog: 2012 Regular Season Inter-conference Game of the Year

Regular Season Inter-conference Game of the Year

Week 10: Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh (29-26, OT-III)

Highlights: For true Notre Dame haters this was the worst game of the year. The Irish came into the game 8-0 and ranked #3 in the country. They were coming off of a decisive win over Oklahoma on the road, and an undefeated season was looking more and more inevitable. Pittsburgh came into the game at 4-4. They were 16.5-point underdogs and nobody was thinking about the Panthers possibly ending ND’s run at a perfect season. This same Pitt team had opened the season with a 14-point loss to Youngstown State at home. 

Not surprisingly, Notre Dame had dominated this series historically, coming into the game with an all-time record of 46-20-1 against Pitt. They were 28-9 against Pitt since 1964 and 14-4 since 1988. However, in recent years this series had gotten competitive, with each side winning 3 of the previous 6 meetings. Notre Dame had won the last 2 meetings, but Pittsburgh won 3 of 4 prior to that, including 2 straight at South Bend. 5 of the last 6 meetings had been decided by 6 points or less. 

This game too was destined to come down to the end. Strangely, after matching the speed of Oklahoma the week before, the Irish seemed to slow down to match the speed of Pittsburgh. They played a slow, choppy, ugly game, which was exactly what Pitt needed to have a chance. 

Notre Dame had the upper hand for most of the game but they never seemed to be in complete control. They had a 34-13 edge in 1^st downs and outgained Pitt 522-308. ND had nearly an 11-minute edge in time of possession. Their defense held the Panthers to 1 for 14 on 3^rd down and 0 for 1 on 4^th down. But they were never able to put Pitt away. 

Pittsburgh was turnover free while forcing 3 ND turnovers. Eventually it was the Irish who were on the ropes. They had to make some big plays and get some help just to survive regulation. In overtime, ND again had to dodge a major bullet before they eventually got out of the game alive. 

The game started out with Notre Dame driving from their 20 to the Pittsburgh 18, converting a pair of 3^rd downs, but also committing a pair of pre-snap penalties. On 3^rd and 12 from the 20 Everett Golson fired incomplete and ND settled for a 37-yard FG try. Kyle Brindza kicked it good to give ND a 3-0 lead, capping off a 14-play drive that ate up 6-and-a-half minutes of clock. 

A personal foul penalty forced Pitt to start their first drive from their own 13, but on the first play Ray Graham went 55 yards to the Notre Dame 32. On 3^rd and 8 from the 30 the Panthers picked up a 1^st down at the 18 with a pass interference call on the Irish. The drive came to an end on 3^rd and 5 from the 13 when Tino Sunseri was sacked by Kapron Lewis-Moore back at the 22 for a loss of 9 yards. But Kevin Harper managed to hit a 39-yard FG to tie the score at 3-3 with just over 5 minutes left in the opening quarter.

A penalty on the ensuing kickoff forced the Irish to start their second possession at their own 9, but the Irish were driving inside Pitt territory when the first quarter came to a close. The Irish picked up a 1^st and goal at the 6. On 2^nd and goal from the 4 Pitt’s defense forced an incomplete pass, but the refs made a questionable pass interference call that gave ND 1^st and goal at the 2. Despite the bad break Pittsburgh’s defense made a great stand, forcing ND to settle for a FG on 4^th and goal from the 2. The chip shot FG put ND back on top, 6-3, but it was a disappointing ending for the Irish, after an 18-play, 89-yard drive that took 9-and-a-half minutes off the clock. 

With 10:34 left in the 2^nd quarter Pittsburgh began just their second possession of the game. The Panthers picked up 1 1^st down before punting. Notre Dame then went 3-and-out on their third possession and Ben Turk’s punt went just 38 yards, giving the Panthers good field possession at their own 42. The Panthers went 58 yards in 6 plays, with Graham rushing 16 yards for the game’s first TD, to put Pitt on top for the first time in the game, 10-6, with just about 4 minutes left in the half. 

On the ensuing ND possession the Irish converted a 3^rd and 1 to avoid a second straight 3-and-out. On 2^nd and 3 from the 43 Golson took a 3-yard loss back to the 40. Brian Kelly then decided to pull Golson and put backup Tommy Rees into the game. Kelly would later say he pulled Golson because the QB was missing some reads. On 3^rd and 6 Rees threw incomplete and the Irish punted, giving Pitt the ball at their own 25 with 1:50 on the clock and 2 timeouts. 

Pitt needed 3 plays to reach midfield, calling their second timeout with 1:19 left in the half. But on 3^rd and 1 Graham was stuffed for no gain. The Panthers decided to let the clock run down to 36 seconds and then call their final timeout. Rather than punting, Pittsburgh decided to go for it on 4^th and 1 from the 50 and Graham was stopped again. 

Now the Irish had the ball at midfield with 32 seconds and 2 timeouts. Rees remained at QB, completing passes to Theo Riddick and TJ Jones to move the ball to the 32, and ND called their second timeout with 11 seconds left. Two plays later, Rees completed a pass DaVaris Daniels, who got out of bounds at the 26. But after all of that Brindza missed from 43 yards out to send the game to the half with Pitt still leading 10-6. 

Pitt had dodged a bullet late in the 1^st half, but they had also missed a chance to increase their lead, and that would have been huge, as the Panthers were due to get the ball first in the 2^nd half. Pitt didn’t end up taking advantage of their first 2^nd half possession anyway, picking up 1 1^st down and then punting. However, they got a great punt from Matt Yoklic, whose 56-yard boot pinned the Irish at their own 10. 

Surprisingly, the Irish began the 3^rd quarter with Rees still in at QB. The Irish picked up 3 1^st downs, moving to the Pitt 47, but then the drive stalled. ND punted and pinned the Panthers at their own 9. The ND defense then came up with a 3-and-out and the Irish got the ball back at their own 45. However, on the second play of the ensuing possession Rees was picked off by Eric Williams and Pitt took over at their 48 with 6:37 left in the 3^rd. 

The Panthers knew they weren’t going to pull this off by playing not to lose, and on the second play following the change of possession Sunseri hit JP Holtz for 43 yards and a 1^st down at the 9. Sunseri found Holtz for a touchdown on the next play, and suddenly Pittsburgh was ahead 17-6 on Notre Dame. There was still a long way to go, however, with 6 minutes remaining in the 3^rd quarter. 

Golson came back in at QB on ND’s next possession, but the Irish punted after picking up just 1 1^st down. Cameron Saddler came up with a nice return of 31 yards to take the ball from the 8 to the 39. On the first play of the possession Graham ran 48 yards all the way down to the ND 13. The Panthers had a 1^st and goal at the 2 and looked to be on the verge of putting the game away, but Notre Dame’s defense came up with a huge goal line stand, forcing Pitt to settle for a short FG. Kevin Harper’s 21-yard chip shot made it 20-6. 

ND’s stellar goal line defense had once again saved the Irish. Had Pitt been able to get in the end zone they would have had an 18-point lead with just over a minute remaining in the 3^rd quarter. Notre Dame would have been under significantly more pressure if they had been 3 scores down at that point. They were in trouble as it was, but at that point in the game, the difference between a 14-point deficit and an 18-point deficit was fairly large.  

Notre Dame’s offense now had that sense of urgency and they were already across midfield as the 3^rd quarter ended. It took the Irish 4 plays to move from their 29 to Pitt’s 36, and they had 2^nd and 1 at the 36 as the 4^th quarter began. Pitt’s defense then stiffened, forcing a 4^th and 1 from the 36, but Golson picked it up with a 7-yard run to the 29. Again Pitt’s defense got tough, forcing Notre Dame into a 4^th and 4 from the 23, and setting up one of the biggest plays of the game. 

On 4^th down, Golson moved around in the pocket and then lobbed the ball down the sidelines. The pass was underthrown and just tossed up for grabs, leading to K’waun Williams going up and making a play on the ball and breaking it up. The nature of the play created an opportunity for the refs to make an absolutely terrible call and they did, ruling pass interference and giving ND a 1^st down at the 11. On the next play Golson threw a touchdown to Jones. The only silver lining for Pitt was that Brindza missed the PAT, leaving the score 12-20, but there was a long way to go, with barely a minute gone in the 4^th quarter. 

The ensuing kickoff was short and Pitt returned it out to the 42. The Panthers needed 3 plays to move the ball to the ND 40, but on 2^nd and 6 Graham was stopped for no gain, and on 3^rd down Sunseri was sacked, brining up 4^th and 7 from the 41. Yoklic’s punt was downed at the 2, where the Irish took over down 8 with just under 10 minutes to play. 

On the second play of the ND possession Golson ran 27 yards for a 1^st down at the 35. On 3^rd and 5 from the ND 40 Golson ran for 15 yards and a 1^st down at the Pittsburgh 45. On 3^rd and 5 from the 40 Golson picked up just enough for another 1^st down at the 35. Then on 3^rd and 10 from the 21 Golson hit Tyler Eifert for 11 yards and a 1^st down at the 10. 

Golson’s athleticism was becoming a major factor, as the Irish appeared to be on the verge of getting into the end zone and then going for 2 to tie the game. But Golson then made a big time mistake that could have ended up costing ND the game. On 2^nd and goal from the 7 Golson flipped the ball into the end zone and Williams intercepted for a touchback to save the lead. That ended a 15-play, 91-yard drive, during which ND had converted on 3 separate 3^rd downs and taken almost 6 minutes off the clock. 

Pittsburgh took over at their 20 with just under 4 minutes left. Now they just needed to pick up a couple of 1^st downs to change field position and run clock. But ND’s defense wouldn’t allow it. The Panthers ran 3 plays and lost 5 yards, with the Irish calling a timeout with 3:03 left and Pitt in a punting situation. 

This time Yoklic’s punt went out of bounds at the 50. On the first play after the change of possession Golson hit Daniels for 45 yards and a 1^st and goal at the 5. Suddenly the Irish were right back where they had been. On the next play Golson threw to Riddick for a TD. The Irish went for 2 and Golson ran it in to tie the score at 20-20. 

Pitt had lost the lead but they still had time to win the game if they could get something going offensively. They began their next possession at their own 35 with 2:11 on the clock. On 2^nd and 10 Sunseri was sacked for a loss of 7 and the Irish called time with 1:52 left. Graham picked up 7 on 3^rd down and ND called another timeout with 1:47 on the clock and Pitt again in a punting situation. The punt was muffed by Davonte’ Neal but he managed to fall on it at the ND 33, where the Irish took over with 1:39 remaining. 

Now Notre Dame had plenty of time to win it in regulation. This was the danger of Pitt being aggressive but they had to go for the win. And the defense was not ready to concede. On the first play of the possession Golson was thrown for a loss of 8 and the Panthers called timeout with 1:24 on the clock. ND ran for 11 yards on 2^nd and 18 and that was apparently enough to keep Pittsburgh from stopping the clock. Golson threw incomplete on 3^rd down and the Irish punted, giving Pitt the ball at their own 24 with 58 seconds to play. 

Pitt’s curious play calling continued, as Sunseri threw complete to Graham for no gain on 1^st down, then to Mike Shanahan for 4 yards to the 28 on 2^nd down, and at this point Pitt called their second timeout with just 18 seconds left. Pittsburgh would never end up using their third timeout. They handed the ball off to Graham on 3^rd down and he lost 3 yards and the game went to overtime. 

Pitt went on offense first in overtime and things didn’t go well. Sunseri fumbled on their first offensive play and was lucky to fall on the ball at the 26 for a loss of 1. Then the Panthers got a break, as the refs finally had enough of Brian Kelly’s incessant whining, calling a penalty to make it 2^nd and 6 instead of 2^nd and 11. Graham picked up 2 to the 19 but a false start backed Pitt up 5 yards to the 24. On 3^rd and 9 Sunseri threw incomplete and they had to bring on Harper for a 41-yard try. He made the kick, putting Pitt ahead 23-20, but now the Irish could win with a touchdown. 

Notre Dame’s first possession of OT wasn’t much better. Golson threw incomplete on 1^st down, Riddick ran for a yard on 2^nd down, and Golson ran for 4 yards on 3^rd down to bring up 4^th and 5. Brindza now needed to hit a 37-yarder just to keep ND in the game. He got it to tie the score at 23-23. 

ND went back on offense and this time they quickly moved inside the 10. On 3^rd and 3 from the 7 Cierre Wood gained 3 to the 4 for 1^st and goal. After each of his last few carries Wood had begun to do that awful eating soup pantomime that has been a plague across sports in the last couple of years. The Irish did keep giving Wood the ball and it almost ruined their season. On 2^nd and goal from the 2 Wood fumbled at the 1 and the ball went into the end zone where Pitt recovered. 

Now it was on. All Pitt had to do was hit a FG and ND was done. They gave the ball to Graham on 1^st and 2^nd down and he picked up 4 yards each time. On 3^rd and 2, Graham got it again and picked up a yard but was stopped shy of the 1^st down marker, brining up 4^th and 1 from the 16. That was it. It was time for Kevin Harper to come on and try a 33-yard FG to beat Notre Dame in South Bend. The Irish had used their timeout on offense and therefore couldn’t attempt to freeze Harper. But he missed and Notre Dame was still alive. 

Now you figured that the Irish would survive. Pittsburgh had to go right back on offense. On 2^nd and 6 from the 21 Sunseri was sacked again, this time back at the 27 for a loss of 6. On 3^rd and 12 he threw incomplete, brining up 4^th and 12 from the 27. The Panthers had no choice but to run Harper back out there, this time for a 44-yard FG that would force ND to score a TD to beat them. This time he made it and Pitt went ahead 26-23. 

Now the Irish needed a FG to extend the game and a touchdown to win. Notre Dame quickly moved inside the 10, Pitt’s defense did get one shot to keep the game going, forcing a 3^rd and 3 at the 7. But on 3^rd down Golson ran for 6 yards and a 1^st and goal at the 7. It was now just a matter of not fumbling. On the next play Golson put the ball across for the TD to end it. Somehow the Irish had survived with a 29-26 victory in triple overtime to remain undefeated.