Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Pittsburgh Panthers Match Player Stats On Oct 24, 2020

Ian Book passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to Ben Skowronek, and No. 3 Notre Dame rolled past host Pittsburgh 45-3 in an Atlantic Coast Conference showdown Saturday afternoon.

The Irish got three interceptions from its defense - one each by Bo Bauer, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Nick McCloud - and Isaiah Foskey blocked a punt and recovered it for a special teams touchdown.

Notre Dame (5-0, 4-0) remained undefeated as it nears its potential showdown with No. 1 Clemson in two weeks. First, the Irish face struggling Georgia Tech.

Pitt (3-4, 2-4) dropped its fourth game in a row. Quarterback Joey Yellen finished 10 of 27 for 101 yards to go along with his three picks.

Notre Dame outgained Pitt 434-162 and controlled time of possession 40:59 to 19:01.

Book moved into second place in Notre Dame history in career touchdown passes, bypassing Jimmy Clausen and Tommy Rees. The senior from California has 63 touchdown passes, which trails only Brady Quinn, who threw 95 touchdowns (2003-06).

Saturday, he hit Skowronek from 34 yards out to cap the game's opening drive, marking the wide receiver's first touchdown since transferring from Northwestern. After Pitt managed a field goal, Book found Skowronek again from 73 yards away, and the Panthers never were never a threat after Kyren Williams added a 2-yard touchdown run and Foskey scored on the blocked punt.

Foskey sprinted around the right edge of the Pitt offensive line to stuff the punt with just 11 seconds remaining in the half. The ball bounced backward into the end zone, and he chased it down for the special-teams touchdown.

On their first possession of the second half, Notre Dame added a 21-yard field goal by Jonathan Doerer to make it 31-3.

The advantage ballooned to 38-3 when Book connected with tight end Michael Mayer for a 14-yard touchdown with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter. It was the second touchdown of the season for Mayer, a highly touted freshman out of Kentucky.

Notre Dame extended the lead to 45-3 on C'Bo Flemister's 2-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

Pittsburgh, already having played seven games while some around the country have yet to take the field, gets a much-needed week off before visiting Florida State on Nov. 7.

--Field Level Media