Irish rally success after missed FG
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Down 20-6 in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame was going to need some big plays and a little luck to stay undefeated and keep its national title hopes alive. It got just enough of both. Everett Golson scored on a quarterback sneak in the third overtime and the third-ranked Fighting Irish came back from a 14-point deficit Saturday to beat Pittsburgh 29-26.
“We overcame a lot tonight. We overcame some uncharacteristic mistakes,” Irish Coach Brian Kelly said. “Last year that would have been a loss. But our team kept fighting, kept playing.”
Notre Dame (9-0) is off to its best start since 1993, when it finished the season ranked No. 2. Pitt (4-5) missed a potential game-winning field goal in overtime.
Kelly pulled Golson late in the second quarter because he was missing reads and progressions. But the coach put Golson back in after backup Tommy Rees threw an interception and the Irish fell behind by two touchdowns.
“Our quarterback needed to be out there mobile, make some plays outside the pocket — asked him if he was ready to go, he said he was and we put him back in,” Kelly said.
Golson threw an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter as Notre Dame cut Pitt’s lead to 20-12. Notre Dame’s chances for a comeback appeared to end when Pitt cornerback K’Waun Williams intercepted a pass by Golson in the end zone.
But the Irish defense held, and Golson completed a 45yard pass to DaVaris Daniels at the Pitt 5. Golson then threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick and ran in for the two-point conversion to tie the game.
Golson was 23 of 42 passing for 227 yards and rushed for 74 yards as well.
“I think I did a great job of leading the team coming down the stretch. Coming out today we came out a little flat. As far as me personally, I missed a couple reads I should have had. Instead of putting three points on the board you put six,” Golson said. “But I feel like in the stretch we really
NO. 3 NOTRE DAME 29, PITTSBURGH 26, 3OT
came together.”
In other Big East games, Teddy Bridgewater threw a career-high five touchdown passes and No. 10 Louisville (9-0, 4-0) rallied for a 45-17 victory over visiting Temple (3-5, 2-3). Bridgewater completed 19 of 28 passes for 324 yards, a week after he threw for a career-best 416 yards against Cincinnati. ... George Winn ran for a career-high three touchdowns and passed for another off a trick play, leading host Cincinnati (6-2, 2-1) to a 35-24 victory over Syracuse (4-5, 3-2). ... B.J. Daniels ran for a first-quarter touchdown before leaving in the fourth with an injury as host South Florida (3-6, 1-4) stopped a school-record six-game losing streak with a 13-6 victory over Connecticut (3-6, 0-4).
ATLANTIC COAST
Virginia snaps streak
RALEIGH, N.C. — Phillip Sims ran for one touchdown and threw for another, and Virginia routed North Carolina State 33-6 on Saturday to snap a six-game losing streak.
Kevin Parks rushed for 115 yards and a late 31-yard touchdown for the Cavaliers (3-6, 1-4 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Their defense more than doubled its season total for takeaways with five while holding N.C. State to 19 yards rushing, and their offense rolled up 446 total yards to lead Virginia.
Sims was 8 of 10 for 115 yards with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Tim Smith and a 1-yard touchdown run. Backup Michael Rocco added an 18-yard touchdown pass to Darius Jennings.
Mike Glennon finished 23 of 46 for a season-low 197 yards with 4 turnovers. The Wolfpack (5-4, 2-3) have 19 turnovers in their four losses.
In other ACC games, Orwin Smith ran for 89 yards and a touchdown, and visiting Georgia Tech (4-5, 3-3) stymied a Maryland offense led by line-backer-turned-quarterback Shawn Petty in a 3313 rout of the terrapins (4-5, 2-3). The 6-1, 230-pound left-hander ran for 24 yards on 17 carries and completed 9 of 18 passes for 115 yards. He also fumbled twice and threw an interception. ... Michael Campanaro caught three first-half touchdown passes from Tanner Price and host Wake Forest (5-4, 3-4) took a step closer to becoming bowl eligible with a 28-14 victory over Boston College (2-7, 1-5). Campanaro tied an ACC record with 16 receptions for 123 yards. ... Tajh Boyd threw for 344 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes for the second consecutive week to help No. 13 Clemson (8-1, 5-1) win 56-20 over host Duke (6-4, 3-3).