Irish Insider for Monday, October 11, 2010

IRISH INSIDER

Monday, September 19, 2005

October 11, 2010

observer THE

Two straight

Notre Dame 23, Pittsburgh

Another fast start and late drama result in Notre Dame’s second straight win

By ALLAN JOSEPH Sports Writer

Once again a quick start and ugly finish resulted in a Notre Dame victory. After taking a 17-3 lead into halftime, the Irish held on for a 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh Saturday.

“We got off to a pretty good start offensively, but as we’ve shown, we are really good at stubbing our toe,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “That’s us, so you’re going to have to get used to it, because I’m trying to get used to it.”

Junior quarterback Dayne Crist had one of his best performances of the year, on his 21st birthday, racking up 242 passing yards on 24 completions, including a first-quarter touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Michael Floyd. Crist added a 10-yard scramble for a score midway through the second quarter and did not turn the ball over all day.

“He saw some things today that he feels better about,” Kelly said. “He’s making progress.”

The Panthers opened the scoring halfway through the first quarter with a 26-yard field goal, but the Irish responded with a methodical, fast-paced drive that culminated in the Floyd-Crist connection for the Notre Dame lead. Pittsburgh would miss a field goal before allowing a 15-play, 80-yard drive capped by the Crist run that gave the Irish a 14-3 lead.

“They had us off-balance defensively with the no-huddle offense at a faster tempo than we could have ever practiced,” Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt said. “They did a good job. They were very efficient early.”

The Irish had not shown this tempo in earlier games, but Crist said that it had always been part of the team’s offensive scheme.

“We’ve really been doing it since the summer, and you can just see the way that we operate it, it can be very effective,” he said. “It’s nice being able to switch the tempo at any point in the

Junior

23-17 victory over Pittsburgh Saturday.

game.”

“We need to win games, and it’s not a beauty contest yet for us ... We’ll micromanage this and talk about what we could have done and should have done on Monday.”

Senior kicker David Ruffer added the first of his three field goals in the second quarter to give the Irish a 17-3 lead heading into the locker room, and opened the scoring in the second half with a 50yard field goal that impressed his coach.

“Nobody would have thought 50 yards was like automatic,”

Kelly said.

“He kicked that thing into the net — I had to look twice that it was 50 yards. He’s just been outstanding.”

The Irish offense, however, began to sputter just as the Panthers found their rhythm.

Pittsburgh found the end zone on a rush from sophomore quarterback Tino Sunseri late in the third quarter and had

after a pass from

most of the momentum heading into the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame looked poised to regain control, driving from its own 16-yard line to the Panther 15, but the offense failed to punch the ball into the end zone, leading to Ruffer’s third and final field goal that gave the Irish a 2310 lead with under ten minutes remaining.

On the ensuing drive, facing third-and-two near midfield, Sunseri rolled to his right and found junior wide receiver Jon Baldwin all alone for a 56-yard score that stunned the home fans and brought Pittsburgh within one score. Though the Irish had contained Baldwin, the Panthers’ most explosive threat, for most of the game, it seemed that he had slipped free at the worst possible time.

“You can’t leave Baldwin by himself all the time,” Kelly said.

When the Irish ran seven plays on the next drive and failed to score even a field goal, sophomore punter Ben

Turk was able to pin the Panthers on their own 10yard line, setting up a threeand-out with just over three minutes remaining.

Notre Dame got the ball back in a position to run out the clock, but failed to convert more than one first down, giving the ball back to Pittsburgh on its own 7-yard line thanks to another punt from Turk.

“We flipped the field position today,” Kelly said. “Ben Turk was outstanding punting the football.”

The Panthers looked to advance down the field and set up a possible game-winning score, but strong defensive line pressure and solid tackling from the secondary set up a fourth-and-four at the Pittsburgh 13. Sunseri looked for his favorite target, Baldwin, but senior cornerback Gary Gray was all over the play and batted the pass down, allowing the Irish to escape with a tight victory.

“We were in good coverage,” Kelly said. “Gary did the right thing, reacted to the

football, and came up with a big play.”

When Crist took the final knee to run out the clock, the players celebrated the tight win with special gusto, realizing the significance of the much-needed win. Though the second half was filled with Notre Dame struggles, Kelly wanted his players to enjoy the victory — untill Monday.

“We need to win games, and it’s not a beauty contest yet for us,” he said. “I just told them, ‘Enjoy the win.’ We’ll micromanage this and talk about what we could have done and should have done on Monday. Enjoy the victory. It’s a good win.”

Senior quarterback Darrin Walls, a Pittsburgh native, agreed with his coach.

“It was a great win. It’s always good to beat your hometown team,” he said. “We practiced hard all week and definitely came out with a winning mentality today.”

Contact Allan Joseph at ajoseph2@nd.edu

Michigan State 44 , Notre Dame 41 player of the game

David

Ruffer accounted for 11 of Notre Dame’s points, including three field goals that were never in doubt.

stat of the game

28:38

Notre Dame held onto the ball for 28:38 Saturday, the most time it has done so all season. Yet the Irish rank 118th in the country in the statistic. play of the game

Crist’s 10-yard touchdown run to give the Irish a 14-3 lead in the first quarter

Crist’s run up the sideline from 10 yards out gave Notre Dame control of the game.

quote of the game

“As we’ve shown, we are really good at stubbing our toe ... But that’s us. So you’re going to have to get used to it.”

Breport card

quarterbacks: Dayne Crist completed 12 consecutive passes in one stretch, only to follow that with six consecutive incompletions. He did not throw any incompletions though.

BB+

B-

BB+

C+

BArunning backs: Aramando Allen and Cierre Wood both averaged at least four yards per carry, but they only ran the ball 20 times. The latter fact is not their fault, but it did limit their impact.

receivers: No Irish receiver made any breathtaking ball, but they caught the ball consistently, and eliminated nearly all mistakes. Theo Riddick continued his rise, and Michael Floyd made a nice TD grab.

offensive line: The Irish line let Pittsburgh defensive linemen spent quite a bit of time in the Irish backfield, sacking Crist three times and hurrying him more often than that.

defensive line: Pittsburgh was able to gain yards consistently throughout the game, but timely tackles for loss halted its serious attacks, and strong pressure in the fourth ended the game.

linebackers: The Irish linebackers helped contain the Pittsburgh rushing attack from any big plays, but Pittsburgh still averaged 3.5 yards per carry, including 5.5 from starter Ray Graham.

defensive backs: Pittsburgh managed 272 yards through the air, including 56 on a fourth quarter touchdown pass that brought the Panthers back into the ball game.

special teams: David Ruffer converted all three of his field goal attempts, including a 50-yarder that even Irish coach Brian Kelly admitted surprised him. Punter Ben Turk averaged 46.6 yards per punt.

coaching: The Irish came out ready to play Saturday, and the defense looked good from the outset. But as the game progressed, Notre Dame regressed, and that traces back to Kelly.

3.08

overall: Notre Dame won, and that is what matters, but the inability to put Pittsburgh away when the Irish had the chance was unnerving, as usual.

The Notre Dame defense recorded six tackles for losses of 18 yards in the Pittsburgh backfield, including two sacks.

18

6:23 Notre Dame’s second touchdown drive lasted 6:23, the longest scoring drive of the season, as it covered 80 yards in 15 plays.

Crist completed 12 consecutive passes Saturday, the third-longest streak in school history.

12

19 Michael Floyd’s first quarter touchdown reception was his 19th in his career. That moves him into a tie for fifth place in school history.

David Ruffer has connected on a field goal in each of the nine games he has started at kicker.

9

11 Harrison Smith led the Irish defense with 11 tackles, one interception and two pass breakups.

Armando Allen carried the ball 13 times for 56 yards, averaging 4.3 yards per carry, and Cierre Wood added 28 yards on seven carries.

4.3

83 Freshman Bennett Jackson returned four kickoffs for 83 yards, bringing his two-game total to 194 yards on returns.

Ugly win is still a positive step

Can we really be happy at all with Notre Dame’s win over Pittsburgh? Wasn’t this just another example of letting a team off the hook that the Irish were much better than? Isn’t it pretty clear that Dayne Crist doesn’t have what it takes to be a successful quarterback in this offense?

Isn’t this team just like last year’s?

Eric Prister Associate Sports Editor

The nature of Notre Dame football fans lends itself to extreme highs and extreme lows. A bad loss means that the Irish have no chance of beating any other teams for the rest of the season, so we’ll just have to wait for next year — and fire our head coach. A good loss shows that Notre Dame can play with anyone, and that the team is just on the brink of being the best Irish team anyone’s ever seen — just wait until next year.

A good win (like the one against Purdue) shows just how talented the Irish roster is, and how amazing a coach we’ve hired and that we should be 8-3 going into USC — Utah should be a breeze. A bad win (like the win over Pittsburgh, for many) is basically a loss, because can we really expect this team to beat any talented teams, especially if they show no pride in the school and tradition which they repre-

sent?

Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh. Sure the victory was sloppy. Yes, the Irish let the Panthers back into the game and showed very little killer instinct by not scoring a touchdown in the second half. But they did beat Pittsburgh, a team that they should have beaten. And winning those games, those you should win, is a sign of a team that’s on the rise.

Brian Kelly summed up it nicely in his post-game press conference.

“This is not a transition year,” he said. “This is a winning year. We don’t allow [the Irish players] to grow. But they’re growing. And that’s really what we’re going through, some growing pains as we move forward. But I’m a big believer that you can have those and still win football games.”

This is an Irish squad with an offense still trying to find its identity. They have a quarterback who has now made six career starts, an offensive line with only two players who had ever started a game at the collegiate level before this season, and a receiver playing the position for the first time in his life. This is a transition year, whether Kelly wants to admit it or not.

The difference is that it’s a team transitioning while still beating the teams that it should. Does anyone remember 2007, the last Irish team to play an entire season with a new quarterback? Even last year’s team (a veteran one, for all intents and purposes), if the offense had played as poorly as the offense did Saturday, would not have beaten Pittsburgh.

Dayne Crist is not an elite college quarterback. He is a very talented player who isn’t fully comfortable running a college offense or making all the reads and throws that he needs to make over the course of a game. But when asked if Crist’s zero-interception performance against Pitt was a step in the right direction, Kelly beamed. He had a look on his face that said, “Just wait. This kid’s going to be something special, and you’re just seeing the beginning.” Crist is not an elite college quarterback, but he’s going to be.

It may not bring many changes on the field yet, but the attitude around the Notre Dame football program is changing. Kelly said so himself.

“There’s something they’re starting to develop a little bit and that is they believe they’re going to win,” he said. “We’re not there yet, but we’re taking the right steps towards where we want to go as a football team.”

This team is not ready to be a national powerhouse. They aren’t ready to play in a BCS bowl, and they probably aren’t even ready to beat USC. But this is the beginning of something special. They are starting to make strides in the right direction, and beating Pittsburgh, a team that the Irish should have beaten, is just one of those strides.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Eric Prister at eprister@nd.edu

Irish join others by playing in pink

The Irish sideline signals in plays to the Notre Dame offense. In honor of October as National Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Irish incorporated pink into their attire for Saturday’s 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh.

By MEAGHAN VESELIK Sports Writer

Saturday was a win for both of Irish coach Brian Kelly’s families as the Irish won on the field while supporting breast cancer research and awareness, a cause close to his heart. From the pink armbands and towels to Paqui Kelly’s pink Notre Dame jersey and the hug she gave her husband at the end, Saturday’s “Pink” Game was a special one.

“Anytime you get a chance to see your family [it’s special], you know, because [the coaches and team] spend about 80 hours a week,” Kelly said. “We’ve got two families: football family and our own family. So when you get a chance to share it with your family, that’s a great day. Again, doing it at Notre Dame, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Kelly was able to bring both his families together at the end of the game when he stood behind his players as they held on to one another and sang the Alma Mater while he could hold close his wife and son.

Saturday’s game was a win for Kelly’s football family, but also for his own family who has had to face the challenges of breast cancer twice before. Paqui, a twotime survivor of the disease, now champions raising awareness and early detection of the disease, as well as for raising funds to support its research. Saturday she was showing her support for the Irish and breast cancer in head-to-toe pink, including the aforementioned pink jersey and the

new adidas Breast Cancer Collection’s pink, navy and white Notre Dame visor.

The team and coaches also sported the new adidas pink-accented line, wearing white polos with pink and navy accents for the program’s first “Pink” game and to commemorate October as National Breast Cancer Awareness month, a month Kelly was proud his team could support.

“Well I think college football and the NFL have embraced breast cancer and heightened its awareness nationally,” he said.

“When you can do it on the college level, you know for obviously the publicity we get on TV and in the NFL, I think it’s such a great cause and it’s awesome that we’re able to do that.”

Kelly and his wife have also supported breast cancer research through their Kelly Cares Foundation. The foundation focuses on supporting various organizations and causes that share similar values as the Kelly’s in three central areas: education, community and health with a focus on women’s health and breast cancer.

Kelly Cares has already worked to turn its support for breast cancer awareness and research into action in the Notre Dame community by donating to the Mike and Josie Harper Cancer Research Institute in Harper Hall. The donation brings scientists from Notre Dame and Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend together in cancer research to help prevent, diagnose and treat the disease.

Kelly was not the only one who was happy to support the cause on Saturday. His players proudly sported pink wrist or arm-

bands on the field and used pink Gatorade towels instead of white ones on the sidelines. They, too, were happy to help promote breast cancer awareness for their own families, their coach and for each other, Irish junior quarterback Dayne Crist said.

Crist said that supporting the cause added an extra element to the game.

“Just being able to represent such a great cause, you know, that kind of adds to the whole aura of the game and the pageantry of the game,” Crist said. “Obviously, with how Coach Kelly was affected with breast cancer, that’s our leader and that’s who were supportive of. And there’s tons of guys in the locker room who, unfortunately, were affected by that in one way or another.”

Senior cornerback Darrin Walls, wearing a pink, navy, and gold Irish football shirt after the game, felt that having a “Pink” game brought the team and coaches closer together, and that the game held a lot of significance for his team, as well as for Notre Dame.

“It’s big,” he said. “My grandma had breast cancer and she overcame that. I think it’s big to show the support we have as a team, just the concern we have, and I think that builds trust in coaches and things like that, so it’s a good deal. A lot of us have known someone who’s been dealing with breast cancer, so it means a lot and our support shows that Notre Dame cares a lot about things other than football.”

By DOUGLAS FARMER Sports Editor

Irish junior quarterback Dayne Crist celebrated his 21st birthday in style Saturday, with 242 passing yards and two total touchdowns.

“No better present than getting a win on your birthday,” Crist said. “The guys wished me a happy birthday. We were really celebrating the win, and there’s not a better feeling.”

Time of possession

The Irish had the ball for more time than they did in any other game this season — 28:38. Nonetheless, Notre Dame’s average time of possession remains among the lowest in the country, at 26:07. Only

two of the 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision hold onto the ball for less time: Houston at 24:03 and Middle Tennessee State at 23:57.

“At the end of the day I’m not a big time of possession guy,” Kelly said. “I’d rather have more points on the board than time of possession and sitting here going we won time of possession but we lost.”

Notre Dame ranks 82nd in the country in points per game at 24.33.

Touchdown marches

Notre Dame had its longest touchdown drive of the season last week against Boston College, lasting 4:44, until the Irish scored their first touchdown Saturday, covering 77 yards in 13 plays and 4:50.

Their next touchdown drive lasted 6:23, as Notre Dame used 15 plays to cover 80 yards. The Irish had mounted only one touchdown drive longer than 6:23 in the last two seasons — a drive that lasted 6:40 against Pittsburgh in 2009.

Kicking, kicking, kicking Senior kicker David Ruffer continued his streak of perfection, as he sent three kicks through the field goal uprights Saturday. Those three field goals brought his season total to 16, on 16 attempts. The streak of 16 consecutive successful field goals is the longest in Notre Dame history, yet alone the longest to open a career.

The previous record was held by sophomore Nick Tausch, set last year at 14 field goals.

Ruffer’s field goals were 32-, 50- and 31-yards. The 50yarder is the sixth-longest field goal in history, and the first of more than 50 yards since 2003.

“Ruffer is obviously doing things that obviously not many people, including myself, thought he could do,” Kelly said. “He’s just been outstanding. The kicking game and the kickers, in particular, were very strong.”

Sophomore punter Ben Turk also performed above expectations Saturday. Turk entered the game with a net punting average of 36.52, but two 51yard punts helped his average on the afternoon reach 47 yards.

Irish reach .500 with victory

Two weeks removed from a three-game losing streak, Notre Dame created another streak Saturday — a two-game winning streak — by defeating Pittsburgh 23-17.

Junior quarterback Dayne Crist led Irish by recording two touchdowns in the first half, one a one-yard pass to junior receiver Michael Floyd and the other a 10-yard run down the sideline. Senior kicker David Ruffer converted all three of his field goal attempts, including a 50-yarder in the second quarter and a 31-yarder in the fourth quarter that gave the Irish a 13-point lead.

Senior safety Harrison Smith led the Irish defense with 11 tackles and an interception. Sophomore linebacker Carlo Calabrese added nine tackles.