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Sunday Press Conference
Nov. 16, 1996
Special Teams Spark Irish In 60-6 Win Over Pitt
By Tim Sherman
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- At Friday night's pep rally at the
Joyce Center, Lou Holtz eschewed his customary introduction of
the starting offense and defense in favor of recognizing the
special teams' units.
He must have known something.
The next day, the Irish punt return team, propelled by the sheer
speed of Allen Rossum, broke the game open with three punt
return touchdowns in the second quarter. Notre Dame never looked
back as it raced to a 60-6 victory over an overmatched
Pittsburgh squad.
Rossum's two returns of 55 and 83 yards set the tone in a
quarter in which the Irish racked up a modern-day record with 40
points in the quarter.
"Once I see open field, I know I'm going to score," Rossum said.
"I guess I broke a record (most kick returns in a season). I
just give credit to the group in front of me. They do a terrific
job."
While the returns stole the headlines, the Irish offense was
just as efficient throughout the game. Dave Roberts' unit racked
up 565 yards in total offense, including 245 in the explosive
second quarter.
"That second quarter was nice," said Ron Powlus. "The returns
were great and we just got it going. We kind of put out their
fire with the punt returns."
After a scoreless first quarter, Rossum got the 14th-ranked
Irish (7-2) on the scoreboard with a 55-yard burst at the 12:42
mark. Picking the ball up at his ankles, the junior eluded two
Pitt tacklers, cut right, and sped past Panther Curtis McGhee
along the sidelines.
"I was surprised I caught it," Rossum admitted. "I made one move
and headed outside. I was blessed with some speed."
A few moments later, the Irish found themselves in the end zone
again on the strength of a 32-yard catch by Pete Chryplewicz and
a 40-yard TD gallop by Jamie Spencer.
Then it was the Rossum and Autry Denson show again. With 5:30
remaining in the half, Rossum fielded a Nate Cochran punt at the
17 - 83 yards later the Irish led 26-0.
After a quick three-and-out, Denson took advantage of Rossum's
fatigue. The sophomore tailback handled Cochran's punt on the
right side, broke all the way to the left through a pile of
Panthers, and raced 74 yards for the score.
"He (Rossum) gave me a chance to run one back," Denson said. "I
was confident from the first run that if I got a chance, I could
break one."
Denson's classmate and fellow Florida transplant Bobby Brown got
his shot at glory on Notre Dame's next possession. Powlus hit a
wide open Brown in the right flat and Brown dashed toward the
end zone, only to step out of bounds at the 2. Tailback Randy
Kinder took it in from there, making Notre Dame's halftime lead
40-0.
"They were just a much superior team out there in every way,"
Pitt coach Johnny Majors said. "They have great speed (on punt
returns), and speed kills."
With the commanding lead, Holtz had the opportunity to see some
of his youngsters, notably sophomore Jarious Jackson.
Not really given a chance to shine, Jackson simply ran the
offense with efficiency. Jackson (4-of-7, 58 yards) mixed in the
options nicely and let freshman fullback Joey Goodspeed and
senior tailback Robert Farmer do the lion's share of the work.
Goodspeed opened the scoring in the second half with a 22-yard
run after a screen pass, and Farmer rushed 17 times for 124
yards in the final half. Farmer, who finished with 140 yards on
the ground to lead the Irish attack, scored his second touchdown
of the game late in the third quarter to cap an impressive
18-play, 93-yard drive that chewed more than nine minutes off
the clock.
"The offense is clicking, we're tough to stop," said sophomore
right guard Tim Riddler. "We fired off the ball well today. The
backs know what we're going to do."
And the offense knows what the defense is going to do -
dominate.
Sure, the total yards accumulated by the Irish were impressive
(565), but the defense fared just as well, limiting Pitt (3-7)
to 244 yards and just a fourth-quarter touchdown.
"I'm very proud of the way our football team played today,"
Holtz said. "We're in a rhythm and we're playing well right
now."
The Panthers can attest to that.
NOTRE DAME (14) 60, PITTSBURGH 6
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
--- --- --- --- -----
Pittsburgh 0 0 0 6 6
Notre Dame 0 40 13 7 60
SCORING SUMMARY
Second Quarter
ND -- Allen Rossum 55 punt return (Jim Sanson kick), 2:18
ND -- Jamie Spencer 40 run (PAT failed), 5:25
ND -- Robert Farmer 1 run (two-point conversion failed), 8:29
ND -- Allen Rossum 83 punt return (Jim Sanson kick), 9:30
ND -- Autry Denson 74 punt return (Jim Sanson kick), 10:47
ND -- Randy Kinder 2 run (Scott Palumbo kick), 13:29
Third Quarter
ND -- Joey Goodspeed 22 pass from Jarious Jackson (Chris McCarthy kick), 2:43
ND -- Robert Farmer 16 run (PAT failed), 13:32
Fourth Quarter
P -- Jake Hoffart 32 pass from Pete Gonzalez (two-point conversion failed), 0:07
ND -- Kevin Carretta 2 run (Kevin Mc Donnell kick), 11:42
Pittsburgh Notre Dame
First downs 16 28
Rushed-yards 39-101 55-332
Passing yards 143 233
Sacked-yards lost 5-47 0-0
Return yards 6 279
Passes 14-30-2 13-21-0
Punts 9-45.2 2-37.5
Fumbles-lost 3-2 2-2
Penalties-yards 4-20 4-25
Time of possession 27:01 32:59
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Pittsburgh -- D. Schulters 13-45, Poteat 8-44, B.
West 8-43, Dinkins 1-0, Gonzalez 2-minus 4, Lytle 7-minus 27.
Notre Dame -- Farmer 22-140, Denson 12-104, Spencer 5-58,
Carreta 3-9, Goodspeed 5-5, Kinder 2-4, Jackson 2-4, Powlus 1-3,
Barry 1-3, Stephens 2-2.
Passing
Pittsburgh -- Lytle 12-20-1-97, Gonzalez
2-7-0-46, Zimmerman 0-2-1-0, Dinkins 0-1-0-0.
Notre Dame -- Powlus 8-13-0-171, Jackson 4-7-0-58, H Smith
1-1-0-4.
Receiving
Pittsburgh -- Hoffart 6-76, Jones 3-24, Butler
3-21, Mcmullen 2-22.
Notre Dame -- Stephens 3-62, Chryplewicz 3-60, Brown 1-49,
Goodspeed 1-22, Farmer 1-13, Carreta 1-10, Mosley 1-9, Berry
1-4, Spencer 1-4.
Attendance: 59,075
