No. 22 Pitt Gets Bell Rung by No. 9 Notre Dame in National Spotlight
PITTSBURGH — It was not a “must-win” in the eyes of head coach Pat Narduzzi, but the 22nd-ranked Pitt Panthers still had something to prove in the national spotlight against nonconference foe No. 9 Notre Dame with ESPN’s GameDay on hand and a retirement ceremony for legend Aaron Donald.
Notre Dame didn’t quite hang the allotted point total that Narduzzi was content with from his comments earlier in the week, but the Fighting Irish handled the Panthers with ease, 37-15, Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.
Narduzzi is now 0-5 against Notre Dame and has been outscored 140-25 in the last three meetings with the Fighting Irish.
In Mason Heintschel’s most difficult test yet of his young career, the Pitt quarterback floundered as the Fighting Irish wreaked havoc throughout their eighth win in a row. Heintschel went 16-of-33 for 126 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception returned for a touchdown. It comes as his first start in which he did not find the end zone. He was sacked four times.
The Pitt offense (7-3, 5-1 ACC) totaled 219 yards with 70 yards on the ground. The Panthers were 0-for-13 on third down.
Notre Dame (8-2) compiled 387 yards of offense. Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr completed 21-of-32 passes for 212 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Running back Jeremiyah Love registered 147 yards on 23 carries with a 56-yard touchdown. Virginia transfer wide receiver Malachi Fields caught seven passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
Under the freshman revelation in Heintschel, the Pitt offense has operated at a different level, especially early in the first half. However, Heintschel and the Panthers were overwhelmed by a fast and physical Notre Dame offense.
Pitt’s opening-drive success and fourth-down perfection under Heintschel came to an end against Notre Dame. The Panthers marched into Notre Dame territory thanks to sizable completions of 19 yards to Desmond Reid and 12 to tight end Justin Holmes.
On fourth down, Heintschel was dropped for a significant loss of 16 yards on a Joshua Burnham sack. That ended five consecutive games with a touchdown on the opening drive for Pitt and ended a 10-for-10 mark of fourth-down conversions.
The Pitt defense was then introduced to the Heisman hopeful Notre Dame running back Love and his unique skillset. On the first play of Notre Dame’s second drive, Love took the handoff where he found a hole and hit a spin move on Kavir Bains-Marquez. Love sped off for a 56-yard touchdown.
Notre Dame double up its lead in mere seconds with Heintschel throwing an interception on the first play of the following drive. The young signal caller eyed Cataurus Hicks on a dig route. Safety Tae Johnson read it all the way and took it 49 yards to make it 14-0 Fighting Irish.
Pitt’s offensive woes continued despite a Bains-Marquez interception and a lengthy 49-yard return down to the Notre Dame 12. A pair of incomplete passes ended any momentum. The Panthers’ Sam Carpenter connected on a 24-yard field goal.
While Pitt forced a turnover on downs at the Pitt 1-yard line that ended a 8 minute, 26 second Notre Dame drive, the Fighting Irish found the end zone once more before the end of the first half.
For the second time in the half, Carr utilized a free play to go up top to the 6-foot-4 Fields. He pulled in the 25-yard touchdown reception over the 5-10 cornerback Shawn Lee Jr.
Driving down the field to open the second half, Pitt appeared to stop the Fighting Irish on third down with an incomplete pass, but a holding call on Tamon Lynum prolonged the drive. Notre Dame capped off the drive with a 6-yard passing play to Fields.
Pitt threatened to score on the following drive after picking up a key fourth-down conversion of 27 yards to Reid. Still, Pitt could not punch it in with a drop by Holmes and then a Kenny Johnson sweep at the 1-yard line moving backwards for a loss. The final nail in the coffin came fourth down and what was originally called a touchdown to Raphael Williams, but after review, his knee was down before he got the ball across the goal line.
With the Pitt offense’s ineptitude, it was the defense that had to step in and find the end zone. Rasheem Biles stepped in front of a Carr pass and returned it for an easy walk-in 10-yard score.
The sign of life was quickly wiped away when Adon Shuler returned the two-point conversion over 100 yards to other way. Notre Dame led 30-9.
Carr added a 5-yard touchdown on a quarterback draw with 9:59 of the fourth quarter. Pitt tight end Malachi Thomas found the end zone for Pitt as the clock expired.
Pitt will hit the road next week at Georgia Tech with its ACC champion aspirations still alive. The game time is still too be announced.
Offer Alert
The 2025 Pitt football season is here, so take advantage of this limited time offer to sign up and receive all the news and intel surrounding the Panthers. Sign up today — $1 for the first week, plus a complimentary year of access to The Athletic. Click the image below to join!
