Quick Recap: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Survive Pitt, 19-14

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had just enough in the tank Saturday afternoon to defeat the Pittsburgh Panthers, 19-14, and stay undefeated.

Or, if you’re SBNation, Pitt won. Mark it down as another upset.

Where it matters, though, this one goes in favor of the Irish. Notre Dame gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown and played poorly overall, committing two turnovers and trailing into the fourth quarter. But Book-to-Boykin prevailed in the fourth quarter, and the Irish ended up winning the close game.

Book was 26-32 for 264 yards, and admitted in a post-game interview that he was “late on some reads” and could have played better. He threw for two touchdowns, but his two interceptions were both of Notre Dame’s turnovers.

More telling of the effort on Notre Dame’s part Saturday afternoon were the rushing stats. Notre Dame ran for 79 yards total against a statistically bad Pitt defense. Book and Dexter Williams registered 31 yards a piece on 16 and 13 carries respectively (what?), with Tony Jones and Chris Finke picking up the difference.

Notre Dame is going to have to do a lot better than that in the very near future to remain undefeated. But, for today, the Irish have achieved a win that I promise you will be used to discredit Notre Dame as a football team now and probably years in the future. We’re back in 2012, and get ready to hear about it.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are 7-0 and frankly, we’re all quite upset about it. The Irish have a much-needed (and earned) bye next weekend, before facing the Navy Midshipmen on the 27th.