Fighting the Irish
November 1st, 2008 | by The Prowler |Wooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
The Pitt team that played the second half of this game today was one of the best Pitt teams we have seen all season. They did very well on offense. They held Notre Dame down on defense. If we hadn’t spotted them 14 points to end the first half, Pitt wins this game by two TDs.
Much credit to the coaches for making adjustments, especially in sticking with Pat Bostick of the entire second half. Great job by the defense in just shutting Jimmy Claussen down, especially in overtime. And, of course, much love to LeSean McCoy for being the best, second best, and third best player on the field for either team.
That overtime had me on the edge of my seat. Pitt’s defense was phenomenal in keeping ND from even having a shot at a TD. There was one blown coverage on D that luckily ended in an incompletion. For the last two overtimes, Pitt had ND moving backwards. It was beautiful.
Shady kept Pitt alive time and time again in overtime with big plays. He showed why he single-handedly keeps us in games.
More than anything, the heart of this team to come out and show that they are a better team than how they played last week; that is the reason Pitt won. And they won in spite of some horrible officiating.
This was a win that Pitt needed badly. Pat Bostick did all that could have been asked of him as a back-up. From a play-calling perspective, it would be nice if Jonathan Baldwin wasn’t used in extremes. They either forget he is on the team, or they lock on him play after play. Pitt has a solid receiving corps but they seemed to want to force the ball to Baldwin for better or worse, reminiscent of how they would focus on Larry Fitzgerald under Walt Harris.
All in all, it was a good game by Pitt. Pitt’s defense played extremely well beginning to end. And the team showed guts and heart by hanging in there for four overtimes and ultimately beating Notre Dame in front of their own crowd.
If I were handing out a game ball, I would be hard pressed to decide between LeSean McCoy (32 rushes, 169 yds., 1 TD) or Connor Lee (5/5 fg and 18 total points). Heck, they can both have one.
Go Pitt!!
4 Responses to “Fighting the Irish”
By Dugdog on Nov 2, 2008 | Reply
Hail to Pitt! Great win, Bostick was night and day between the 1st and 2nd halves, the reshuffled O line played great, D was awesome, Shay for President!
By Captain Lou Albano on Nov 2, 2008 | Reply
Give Pitt some love in this poll:
http://www.sportsfanlive.com/web/poll?pollId=6773787
By jay-ray on Nov 3, 2008 | Reply
I have to say after the Rutgers game I thought all hope was lost, this is a great win.
I went to the game and the ND fans thought the game was over at halftime.
Wow!
By The Prowler on Nov 3, 2008 | Reply
I knew Pitt could come back because ND hadn’t played well in the first half either. The question for me wasn’t whether or not Pitt could keep ND off the board in the second half, but whether Pitt would get on the board. When they marched down on that first possession and scored and then held ND to -5 yards and a 3 and out, I knew the complexion of the game had shifted.
It really is important for people to step back and look at this Pitt team and see that they are exactly where we thought they would/should be in the preseason. I think so many people bought into the hype so much that they forgot that we were hoping for 8 wins. It is as if many fans really thought we were going to win a BCS title.
This Pitt team has really matured and come together. I still don’t think they have hit their full potential. I do hope that they avoid any more mental lapses because they could just as easily finish 0-4 as 4-0 in these last games. But I honestly think going 2-2 is a pretty solid possibility and even 3-1.