Big rally falls short for Irish
PITTSBURGH - In need of a big win, Charlie Weis and Notre Dame couldn't turn around a troublesome trend. Pitt keeps winning and winning like it hasn't done in 27 years, and now the Panthers are 1 victory away from a really big bowl.
Jonathan Baldwin made a pair of exceptional catches that allowed No. 8 Pittsburgh to open up an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame rallied behind 2 touchdowns by Golden Tate, but the Panthers held on for a 27-22 victory Saturday night.
The cries for Weis' ouster among Irish supporters will surely grow louder after Notre Dame's second straight loss.
Notre Dame (6-4) trailed 27-9 with 12:44 remaining after Dion Lewis' 50-yard touchdown run, then had a chance to take the lead on its final possession before Jimmy Clausen fumbled with just over two minutes remaining.
"We got a little scare, but we always have confidence in our defense to make a big stop and they did," Lewis said.
The Irish followed up a 23-21 loss to Navy with their eighth consecutive loss to a top-10 team - the longest streak in school history. Weis is 1-10 against ranked teams since 2006, and has the same record (35-25) as former coach Bob Davie and the same winning percentage (.583) as former coach Tyrone Willingham, both of whom were fired.
Pitt relied on big plays by Baldwin and running backs Lewis and Ray Graham to improve to 9-1 for the first time since 1982, Dan Marino's senior season, and is headed for a Dec. 5 home date against No. 5 Cincinnati that will decide the Big East Conference champion and BCS bowl representative. A Nov. 27 game at rival West Virginia won't factor into the conference race.
A game the Panthers needed to win for prestige and to remain in the top 10 couldn't have gone much better for three quarters-plus.
Tate, one of college football's most dynamic talents, nearly brought the Irish back.
"But when you get down three scores, at the end of the day ..." Weis said.
Tate ended with 9 catches for 113 yards in his second 100-yard game against Pitt in as many seasons, though Pitt followed up its 36-33, four-OT win in South Bend last season by outgaining the Irish 429-349.
Called the best player Pitt has faced all season by coach Dave Wannstedt, Tate caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Clausen to cut it to 27-16 with 9:10 remaining. Tate then ran right up the middle of Pitt's punt coverage unit on an 87-yard touchdown return less than two minutes later.
That score quieted a raucous crowd of 65,374, including thousands of suddenly nervous students who only minutes before loudly sung their adopted good-luck song, Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline."
Clausen has pulled off 4 comeback wins in the fourth quarter this season and, in another frantic fourth, nearly did it again.
The Irish got the ball at their own 20 with 3:39 remaining, but a 15-yard chop block penalty prevented the drive from taking off and Clausen (27 of 42 for 283 yards, 1 interception) fumbled while under pressure on a third-and-16 play - one initially ruled an incompletion but reversed on replay.
Weis wasn't happy with the reversal, saying it seems "the replay officials are the stars" by repeatedly reversing calls.