The last time Pitt beat Notre Dame in consecutive years? The Mike Gottfried era. Pitt did it in ’86 and ’87. Obviously it has been a while.
There is always drama surrounding Notre Dame. It is the nature of the program. The attention, money and simply it is what the Domers love. It plays into the mindset that everyone pays attention — love or hate.
The drama this year remains the job status of Charlie Weis.
But, regardless, the gnawing question mucking up the background will be: If you have the nation’s third-most efficient passer, two receivers who will likely finish 1-2 in every career receiving category, a future NFL tight end, competent running backs and offensive linemen and you might get a bid for to the Gator Bowl, how are you going to climb higher when the stars aren’t as perfectly aligned?
When Swarbrick broke his short silence early last December, announcing Weis would return for a fifth season, his decision took heavily into account who he thought Weis could become.
Now it’s more about who Weis is. And what Weis has to show immediately is the ability to reverse the trend of eight losses in his last 11 November games. He has to show he’s capable of beating a team that will bring the goal posts down – even if it’s at someone else’s stadium.
He has to show that all this strong, consistent recruiting and evolution from NFL CEO into college coach is going to lead to something special, starting with moving back into the same sentences with, yes, new national bullies TCU, Boise State and Cincinnati.
Part of the issue is that the Irish were outschemed. The Navy coach said as much and a player even agreed causing the coach to smack his own player for the comment.
Navy second-year head coach Ken Niumatalolo probably was quoted in more papers Saturday than he has been in his entire career with the suggestion that, essentially, that the Mids had a decided schematic advantage offensively over ND’s defense.
More specifically, he suggested that the Mids expected Notre Dame would use the same strategy that hamstrung Navy’s offense in 2008, so the Mids’ coaches simply tweaked their offense. And Irish nose tackle Ian Williams, point blank, said ND got outschemed.
“I think that question was presented to Ian and it was also presented to (safety, defensive captain) Kyle McCarthy,” Weis responded Sunday. “And from what I understand, Kyle McCarthy’s answer was quite different. He said it had nothing to do with the scheme.
“So there’s a reason one guy’s a captain and one guy’s not.”
Apparently that reason is that one guy says things that do not make the coach happy.
So, at this point, Weis is demanding “accountability and dependability.” But he’s not pointing fingers or anything.
“There’s going to be plenty of evidence today of guys understanding who was at fault for what situations,” Weis said. “As you know, after a loss, I’m not big on giving up players, ever. That’s not my way. But I think when they watch the tape, there’s going to be plenty of evidence. Don’t sit there and point the finger at anyone other than yourself because here’s what happened on the play.”
Notre Dame indeed must get its mind and its execution right, given a date Saturday at No. 8 Pittsburgh.
“It’s always easy because I always start with me,” Weis said. “But there’s plenty of evidence in this game where these guys are going to feel sick to their stomachs. For the guys that really care, which I think will be most of them, they’re not going to feel very good about what they’re going to see.”
Good to see he’s handling the pressure well. Apparently he sees the role now as spoiler.
Before the possible program-shattering consequences of the loss had time to sink in, Weis was already talking about going to Pittsburgh next Saturday night and “spoiling (the Panthers’ party).”
“It’s like the sacrificial lambs are rolling into town,” Weis said of the trip to Pitt. “We don’t intend to be that.”
From the bravado just a few days ago of controlling BCS destiny, to “spoiling”a party and being considered “sacrificial lambs,” the tune has certainly changed.
It’s still up to Pitt, not to be spoiled.
The BE should be evan better next year. Rutgers and Yukon impressed me this year. Pitt and Cinci with Kelly are the cream of the BE. USF has a lot of talent but plays dumb FB. WV reminds me of Jekyll and Hyde. They must miss Rich Freaking Rod.
That being said I think we will be alright and come out ready to play! It will be a high scoring game though, I just hope our defense makes a few more stops than nd’s does.
Hail To Pitt!!!
You may recall that not more than two months ago, there was a discussion of getting a guy like Kelly who is likely two or three and out, versus Wanny who is no threat to leave. I have been in belief for a while that Pitt needs stability … Majors and Sherill excelled but left, Gottfried and Harris both had success but didn’t necessarily build a program. If Wanny can continue to build the program so that they can compete every year for the BE title and upon retirement, and Cignetti take oevr (maybe a bit idealistic, but not out of the question), then he would have done very well.
Either way it is nice to see Pitt not letting up and putting games away. It has been a pleasant surprise.
I think as Pitt fans we have learned not to take any teams lightly – least of all Notre Dame. They may not be playing great but there is a lot of talent on that team. This Pitt team looks as focused as I’ve seen in a long time – their maturity is showing. D Lew plays and acts like a senior and Bill Stull has made an incredible turnaround. Not to mention the other leaders out there that just go out and take care of business. Looking forward to this final stretch.
All of that being said, Pitt seemed much more aggressive in the second half, which was good to see. If they play like they are capable, they can put up points on all three of the remaining foes.
Let’s be very clear here… a win versus Pitt this Saturday would be Chubbie Charlie’s biggest win in five years at Notre Dame. He wins, and he has his Top 10/Road win, parlayed into a 9-3 record, and a Gator Bowl destiny versus Miami. I would argue that his biggest wins (to date) have been (2) near wins vs. USC and his first ever win against Pitt at Heinz Field.
If you recall, that first Pitt/ND Chubbie game was pushed up from a mid Oct/Nov timeframe to make it more marketable (Pitt was ranked, ESPN Gameday, two debuts for NFL coaches in College at alma mat) for TV. As much as this was a marketing tactic, the plan from ND (as I remember from living in that area at the time), was pushing it up before the Michigan game because they wanted to stack Chubbie’s deck with an early season win before the Michigan game; meaning, they have always considered Pitt an easy win (to their defense, they still hold a 3 to 1 win advantages in the lifetime series)…and they were in fact looking ahead to play a regional rival.
Wanny was embarrassed that night at Heinz Field. He looked like a hack that was outwitted by the offensive genius. His “BCS” holdovers looked slow, undersized and poorly prepared for the big lights. It was as deflating loss as I remember in Pitt home games in 10 years (topped only by the BGSU loss at home years later).
Oh how the times have changed. We are bigger, faster, and better coached. We are on a roll, ranked high, and teed up for a conference championship.
This game is huge for Pitt, Wanny and obviously for the tenure of Chubbie Charlie. I hate to make absolute statements, but it is not hard to see that if Pitt wins…the coaching dominos start to roll in South Bend in Cincy in Gainesville, Wanny starts to get more accolades for his program moving to the proverbial “next level”….but if ND wins, Chubbie Charlie lives to fight another day…
Make no mistake, this is a huge game for Wanny and Pitt!
just a note for the ND game
