Big Notre Dame plays inflict pain on Pitt in 37-15 victory

PITTSBURGH — Even the good moments for No. 22 Pitt in Saturday’s 37-15 loss to No. 9 Notre Dame led to bad moments for the Panthers.

What appeared to be Pitt’s first touchdown of the game didn’t stand upon replay when officials ruled wide receiver Raphael Williams Jr.’s diving touchdown came after his knee forced him down inside the 1-yard line. The yellow seats in Pitt’s student section started to empty following the replay ruling.

Those who left Acrisure Stadium, the shared home of the Panthers and the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, missed Pitt’s actual first touchdown five plays later. Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles picked off Notre Dame redshirt quarterback CJ Carr and returned it for a 10-yard touchdown.

But even then, disaster followed for Pitt. Notre Dame redshirt sophomore safety Adon Shuler intercepted a two-point conversion attempt and returned it 100 yards to give the Irish (8-2) a 30-9 lead. More student section seats in the north end zone of Acrisure Stadium emptied.

Repeatedly, Notre Dame’s superior athletes came up with big plays to prevent Pitt (7-3) from making the game competitive. Junior running back Jeremiyah Love ripped off a magnificent 56-yard touchdown run to open the scoring for Notre Dame. A brilliant spin move allowed Love to avoid safety Kavir Bains-Marquez and run away from the rest of the Pitt defenders.

Love finished with 23 carries for 147 yards and 1 touchdown on a day the Irish collectively totaled 198 yards and 2 touchdowns on 36 carries. ND rushed for 4.9 yards per carry against a Pitt team that led the nation in fewest yards per carry allowed entering the game at 2.39.

“It was like we had to fight and grit for every yard,” said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. “Then all of a sudden, Jeremiyah’s gonna break one. That’s what he does. He’s gonna break a tackle. He’s gonna make a play.”

Redshirt freshman safety Tae Johnson doubled Notre Dame’s lead on the first play of Pitt’s ensuing drive. He anticipated a throw by quarterback Mason Heintschel, intercepted it and returned it 49 yards to give the Irish a 14-0 lead with 8:07 left in the first quarter.

“It’s always big for the defense if we can help the offense out by putting points on the board,” Johnson said. “That’s our main thing is just to help the offense by stopping the other offense. If we get opportunities to get points ourselves to do that.”

Notre Dame caused problems for Heintschel repeatedly throughout the day. The Irish sacked him three times in the first half — twice by redshirt junior defensive end Joshua Burnham and once by Shuler — and forced him to leave him to leave the pocket throughout the game. Notre Dame received 11 quarterback hurries by game’s end and added 2 sacks in second half.

Redshirt senior wide receiver Malachi Fields provided multiple big moments for Notre Dame’s passing game. He helped the Irish convert a third-and-15 on the last play of the first quarter with a leaping catch that required nearly every inch of his extended left arm.

“I don’t even think Malachi thought he was going to catch that ball,” Love said. “It was a crazy catch. I love to see stuff like that. I love to see guys make spectacular plays on offense and defense.

“Malachi made a great play. Just crazy play. It was the best play of the game in my opinion.”

Fields made another leaping catch on a 25-yard touchdown late in the second quarter when Carr took advantage of Pitt’s defense jumping offside prior to the snap. Fields added a second touchdown on ND’s first drive of the second half with a six-yard reception on third-and-goal. He finished with a game-high 7 catches for 99 yards. Senior tight end Eli Raridon added 6 catches for 67 yards to balance the Irish passing attack.

Pitt tried to mount a rally with a 14-play, 74-yard drive that ended with Williams’ near touchdown on fourth-and-goal, but the Panthers failed to score on offense until the final play of the game. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi used a timeout with six seconds remaining to set up a 21-yard touchdown pass from backup quarter Eli Holstein as time expired.

Carr buried Pitt with a 5-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-3 with 9:55 remaining in regulation to end a 12-play, 65-yard drive that gave the Irish a 37-9 victory. Carr, who finished 21-of-32 passing for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns, threw two interceptions in a game for the first time this season, but it didn’t matter because of all the plays his teammates made.

“At the end of the day, we are less concerned with who made that big play,” Freeman said, “and more concerned with, ‘Hey, did you get your job done for the team?’

“And that’s the most satisfying thing. We did that enough today. Enough guys got their job done to win this game.”