The Pittsburgh Panthers fail all expectations as they are dismantled by the Irish 42-7 on the grass of Notre Dame Stadium
By Jim Kuser
1991 Scholastic Football Review
1991 NDFB Pittsburgh Final Stats
The Pittsburgh Panthers came roaring out of the tunnel of Notre Dame Stadium, but the Notre Dame Fighting Irish proved them toothless. Final score: Notre Dame 42 and Pitt 7.
Why were the twelfth-ranked Panthers wiped out so easily by the Irish? Linebacker Demetrius DuBose answered.
“Tackling is an attitude. Today we had serious attitude.”
Pitt, boasting a bountiful running attack, recorded a meager 59 yards on 24 rushes. DuBose, linebacker Pete Bercich, and linemen Eric Jones, Germaine Holden, and Junior Bryant all recorded tackles for losses in the game. A shutout performance by the Irish defense was spoiled when Pitt quarterback Alex Van Pelt hit his tight end Eric Seaman for a 51-yard touchdown.
The Irish special teams blocked a punt and forced a fumbled punt in this game. Both became Notre Dame touchdowns, but the better one of the two was the blocked punt junior special teams star Reggie Brooks blocked a punt and recovered it 26 yards down the field in the Pitt end zone for a touchdown.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Brooks. “The ball went right through my hands and then hit me right in the face.”
Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz revealed that this block was a planned play.
“We work on it day after day,” he said. “On the first kick we disguised our blocking scheme, and on the next one we went for it. Reggie came clean and did a great job of getting the ball.”
Despite the 42 points put on the board by the Irish, the Notre Dame offense had to take a bow to the Notre Dame defense and special teams as the stars of this game. Quarterback Rick Mirer gave the worst passing game of his career as he completed only four of 15 passes for 40 yards and two interceptions.
“It was good to win the game,” said Holtz. “The score was very deceptive. We had trouble on offense. We had no rhythm and could not get the passing game going.”
But they could get the running game going, as seen by the 340 yards that the Irish gained on the ground, including 125 yards cashed in on carries by sophomore fullback Jerome Bettis. Do not tell Pitt Coach Paul Hackett that the Notre Dame offense had an off day.
“Notre Dame is one hell of an offensive football team,” said a coach in awe of the opponent who had so thoroughly whipped his squad. “You stop their zone blocking and they go to the tackle trap. Then they destroy you with the option when you least expect it.”
“Last year, we disguised our defense and tried to play games with Mirer because he was inexperienced. But he is so good this year. When we least expected it, he ran that option on third down and even on fourth down!” marveled Hackett.
To see the statistics is to see the story of this game. Notre Dame had 23 first downs to Pitt’s 14. Notre Dame had 340 rushing yards on 60 rushes to Pitt’s 59 rushing yards on 24 rushes. These statistics soared quarter by quarter as the Irish scored two touchdowns in the second quarter, two in the third, and two in the fourth after a 0-0 deadlock in the first.
Bettis’ one yard run at 12:55 of the second quarter started the scoring for the Irish. It capped an efficient and effective seven-play drive that took 2:08 off of the clock. A recovery by Irv Smith of a Pitt fumbled punt on their own 31-yard line set the stage for this drive.
Exactly one minute later, after a stingy defensive stance, Brooks scored his touchdown off of the blocked punt. The score stood at 14-0 in favor of the Irish at the end of the second quarter. The third quarter started with a Reggie Brooks 42-yard kickoff return to midfield. Another efficient and effective scoring drive ensued. This time the Irish took 9:39 off ofthe clock as they traveled 50 yards for the score on 11 plays from scrimmage. Smith caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Mirer to hit pay dirt. Between Reggie Brooks and Irv Smith, there was one touchdown apiece and one fumble recovery apiece.
“Those two played exceptionally smart football today,” praised Holtz.
The Irish posted another touchdown as a result of a pounding, play-by-play rushing plan. Mirer hit pay dirt on an 8-yard push behind the brilliant blocking of the boys down deep in the trenches that blew Pitt players off of the ball time and time again.
Perhaps the best offensive series of this game was Bettis’ 66 yards on six rushes highlighted by his 40-yard touchdown run. The final Irish touchdown was formulated by the Notre Dame second stringers. Notre Dame scored on quarterback Kevin McDougal’s five-yard touchdown scamper.
“They moved the ball well against the Pitt starters,” said Holtz. “It was encouraging to see their poise out there on the field.”
So, once again, the Irish had defeated Pitt in Notre Dame Stadium. In 1989, Pitt had come into South Bend with a 5-0-1 record and were looking to make a statement, but the Irish had delivered a 45-7 thrashing that sent the Panthers into a tailspin. That year, they only won two more games. This year, the same thing happened. The Panthers were undefeated and ready to finally beat the Irish, but were instead beaten up. From this loss, Pitt went on to lose four more games in a row in a 1991 season that rapidly became a lost cause. Quite a disappointing season for a team entering their first year of Big East conference football.
As for the Irish, they were headed to Colorado Springs to play the Cadets of Air Force riding high – 5-1 and ranked fifth in the country. The season seemed to be shaping up.