PITTSBURGH — As difficult as Pitt's three-game losing streak must have been for fans to stomach, nothing this season was quite as ugly as Saturday.
The Panthers were run off the field on national television by No. 3 Notre Dame in an embarrassing 45-3 loss. The Fighting Irish threw haymaker after haymaker, and Pitt refused to get up off the mat.
Pat Narduzzi's Panthers — one month after being ranked in the AP top 25 — enter their off week at 3-4 overall with a litany of questions and concerns.
Can quarterback Kenny Pickett return to the field from an ankle injury and save this offense? Can Pitt correct its mental mistakes? And can Narduzzi and his staff look at themselves in the mirror and assess how to better prepare these Panthers?
Pitt, a 10-point underdog, wasn't expected to win on Saturday. But the few thousand supporters socially distanced in the yellow seats thought they'd see more of a game.
Instead, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book engineered a blowout, accounting for 352 total yards (312 passing, 40 rushing). Pickett's temporary replacement, Joey Yellen, never found his footing, completing only 10 of 27 passes for 101 yards and three interceptions. And the Panthers' defense surrendered touchdowns of 73 and 34 yards, the ninth and 10th scores of 35 yards or more allowed during ACC play this year.
It was a miserable day on the North Shore for Pitt. And the first quarter alone was a sign of things to come.
On Notre Dame's opening drive, Pitt's vaunted front-four didn't get home as the Irish's NFL-talented line did its job and Book maneuvered the pocket. Book escaped pressure, found freshman tight end Michael Mayer, who emerged as a bruising target, and found wideout Ben Skowronek for a 34-yard touchdown.
The throw by Book was placed where only his 6-foot-3, 220-pound receiver could get it. Skowronek shrugged off a late breakup attempt by Paris Ford and glided into the end zone to give the Irish an early 7-0 lead.
Pitt responded, but only in the way the Panthers know how this season.
Yellen moved the sticks on third down twice — an 11-yard dart to Tre Tipton and a 22-yard back shoulder throw to Shocky Jacques-Louis — and Pitt reached the Irish's 27-yard line. But the Panthers settled for a field goal, as Alex Kessman sank his 45-yard attempt.
Touchdowns, not field goals, are needed as double-digit 'dogs against a top-5 team. But Pitt's offense, one that settled for 13 field goals in 28 trips to the opponents' 35-yard line in its previous three games, reverted to form.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, continued to take advantage of its one-on-one matchups.
As expected in Narduzzi's press quarters scheme, Pitt sold out to stop the run and left its defensive backs on an island all day. Which in a vacuum isn't a bad plan. It's the scheme that got Narduzzi the job at Pitt in the first place. And the Irish's bread and butter is the running game. To Pitt's credit, Kyren Williams, Notre Dame's star running back, managed only 38 yards on 17 carries.
But Notre Dame's previously stagnant passing game took its shots and hit.
Despite hanging around through the first quarter, Pitt took a gut punch with 10 minutes to go in the second. On third-and-14, Book liked Skowronek against 5-foot-9 cornerback Marquis Williams and went deep. There was nothing Williams could do as size won out. The Northwestern grad transfer ripped the ball out of the air and scored on a 73-yard touchdown.
It only got worse from there.
Yellen's first interception led to a short-field, 46-yard touchdown drive for the Irish. Pitt cornerback AJ Woods committed a pass interference penalty on third-and-9 at the Panthers' 14-yard line, gifting Notre Dame an easy 1-yard touchdown run on the following play to make it 21-3.
Then, Narduzzi waved the white flag on the first half. There's no other way to explain it.
With 1:22 to go in the second quarter, Pitt had possession at its own 36-yard line with three timeouts. The Panthers could have taken a shot deep or operated their offense with a sense of urgency. Instead, Pitt sat on the ball and bled the clock, content with an 18-point halftime deficit.
Well, that turned into a 25-point deficit. Brian Kelly called timeout with 20 seconds left, Pitt's punt was blocked, and Notre Dame's Isaiah Foskey recovered in the end zone for a sobering score.
Notre Dame couldn't help but pile on after halftime as Pitt failed to do much of anything. The Panthers had a goal-line stop, forcing a third-quarter field goal. But as far as second-half wins, that was about it.
Book exited before the third quarter concluded. His services weren't needed any longer after leading a pair of second-half touchdown drives. On the other side, Pitt messed around and got Davis Beville and Nick Patti involved after Yellen's two third-quarter picks. Neither Beville nor Patti did much of note, combining to go 2 of 6 for 17 yards.
Where Pitt's quarterback situation goes from here, who knows?
But one thing's for certain: Pitt was outclassed in every facet by Notre Dame. And the Panthers will be forced to live with that for the next 14 days until their trip to Florida State on Nov. 7.
