Instant Analysis - Nov. 14
Pitt 27 ... Notre Dame 22
Pete
Fiutak
First of all, no, one bad call wasn’t the difference between Notre Dame winning and losing. Secondly, that was a really, really big miss. Not only did Jimmy Clausen not fumble on that key late drive, but the play was blown dead. The official was waving his arms incomplete, the Irish players stopped because it was blown dead, and yet the Panthers still ended up with the ball. But the Irish still had a shot to come up with a defensive stop, and didn’t.
Pitt has made a living in the Dave Wannstedt era of blowing it games like this. There were other talented Panther teams that had big chances to make statements, only to choke when the pressure was on, more often than not. But this team not only showed the mettle to stand firm when the Irish were on a roll late, but it showed that talent really does win out from time to time. Years of tremendous recruiting classes are paying off for Wannstedt, and while Notre Dame didn’t play poorly in the loss, the biggest indictment of the Weis era might have been this game for one simple reason: Pitt was better.
In the analysis of Weis’s job status, it’s not as simple as wins and losses (even though it is, on the surface, since Weis would be the unquestioned head coach for the future if the Irish were 8-2 right now). It’s about whether or not the program can compete for the national title in the near future, and while there are some NFL caliber pieces in place, there aren’t enough of them. Losing to Navy was a fluke. Losing to Pitt was what was supposed to happen.
Richard
Cirminiello
Pittsburgh didn’t need this game over Notre Dame to achieve the ultimate goal of winning the Big East Conference. It sure does help, however, in the areas of momentum and national notoriety.
When Dave Wannstedt arrived at his alma mater a few years back, he talked about a day when he’d have depth and talent along both lines. You see, that’s where a Wannstedt team was going to lay its foundation. It’s taken years and plenty of lumps, but the Panthers are finally there, which was on display throughout the 27-22 victory over the Irish. Only a handful of programs have had a better combination of line play than Pitt, which has a deep rotation on defense and a front wall on offense that’s helped spring Dion Lewis and protect Bill Stull all year. Tackles Lucas Nix and Jason Pinkston. Defensive ends Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard. You may not have heard of any of them before tonight, but they’ve been the cornerstones of a program that’s off to its best start in more than a quarter-century.
Yeah, Charlie Weis is the headline-maker again tonight, but Wannstedt ought not be lost in the feeding frenzy. The coach who knows a little something about the hot seat is suddenly the toast of the Steel City, winning a sixth consecutive game and keeping his Panthers on track for their upcoming showdowns with West Virginia and Cincinnati.
Matt Zemek
1) The endless speculation can now begin with respect to the fate of the 2009 Pittsburgh Panthers: Does the close-shave nature of this victory indicate a lack of a killer instinct, or does it magnify the resolve of Dave Wannstedt’s club? Is this team’s inability to finish off Notre Dame a sign of weakness and a foretaste of impending doom against West Virginia and Cincinnati, or does the late-game display of determination show that this is a new pack of Panthers? The fourth-quarter version of Pitt in this game will translate into a 9-3 record at season’s end; the first-half version will probably produce a 10-2 mark; the third-quarter incarnation of the Panthers will lead to the Big East title and a date with the ACC champion in the Orange Bowl (most likely). It’s weird to say this, but in a league that backloads its schedule and plays its biggest contests after Thanksgiving Day, we still can’t take the full measure of Pittsburgh in 2009. We’ll just have to wait a few more weeks.
2) Okay, Big East Conference, first there was the West Virginia-Cincinnati replay controversy on Friday, and now this sorry late-game episode at Heinz Field, in which Notre Dame got jobbed. Plenty of people will be writing about Big East replay errors in the coming days, but for now, let’s focus on the robbery that might have missed the attention of most viewers:
You might think that the worst injustice associated with the Jimmy Clausen incomplete pass – overturned and deemed a fumble by the replay booth in Pittsburgh – was the awarding of the ball to the Panthers. That might well be true, but let’s step back and remember that if Notre Dame had given up the ball on downs, the Irish would have had two timeouts with just over two minutes left. Under such a scenario, Notre Dame would have had enough time to get the ball back with at least 70-75 seconds remaining in regulation.
Therefore, when Clausen’s incomplete pass hit the ground on the 3rd and 16 play preceding the overturn of the call, Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis called a very significant timeout in order to set up his fourth-down play. The timeout was important because it meant that the Irish would not be able to get the ball back (not with a reasonable amount of time left, at any rate; perhaps 25-35 seconds, nothing more). Once that timeout was called, the Irish had to convert that 4th and 16 play in order to have any chance of winning.
But then the call was overturned, and Pittsburgh got the ball.
Naturally, if common-sense officiating had prevailed, the Irish would have been given back their second timeout… the timeout they used for a fourth-down snap that never actually arrived. Yet, the Big East (on-field) officials did not return to Weis the timeout he used. That failure is even worse than the replay-based overturn of the Clausen incomplete pass, for the simple reason that it’s not possible to charge a team with a timeout when the situation that necessitated the timeout was wiped away by a replay reversal. People will look at TV or video monitors and arrive at different conclusions—that’s one thing; but for the on-field refs to not restore Notre Dame’s second timeout is an act of genuine and considerable incompetence. A year of lousy officiating just got worse in the Big East Conference, for reasons that are obvious in the replay booth, but also for not-so-obvious reasons pertaining to the allotment of timeouts.
Michael Bradley
Even though Pittsburgh’s 27-22 win over Notre Dame lifted the Panthers to a 9-1 record, it was obvious that there were two just pretty good teams playing football Saturday night in the Steel City. For the Panthers, that’s good news, because in the shaky Big East and given where Pitt has been, it’s a step forward to be a solid team that can threaten for a mediocre league’s title and beat a soggy program. The Panthers will be tested in the final two weeks of the season by West Virginia and Cincinnati, and we’ll learn more about them. As for Notre Dame, being pretty good is not good enough, especially for the delusional folks who believe the Irish should be competing with the better teams in the nation. Were the expectations a little lower, the loss Saturday, which brought ND to 6-4 on the season, still would be enough to mandate Charlie Weis’ removal. Even though the Irish played some relatively solid defense for a change, they’re still not good enough on that side of the ball, and the O wasn’t crackling enough to make up for that. Even if ND somehow beats Stanford on Nov. 28, it’s time for a change. This is a team that clearly needs serious scheduling help to make the kind of run it wants to, and even though it had that this year, it wasn’t enough to make ND a BCS candidate. Weis and the Irish will likely beat Connecticut and could get past the Cardinal, but that’s not good enough when you think you should be beating Alabama, Florida and Texas. That may be a pipe dream, but if that’s the standard, it’s time for a new coach.