Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Pittsburgh Panthers Match Player Stats On Sep 24, 2011

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 24, 2011

Tommy Rees engineered a decisive fourth-quarter touchdown drive and Notre Dame's defense held firm in the final minutes of a 15-12 victory at Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.

Rees was 8-for-8 on the go-ahead march for the Fighting Irish (2-2), capping the 85-yard drive by hitting tight end Tyler Eifert for a 6-yard score with 6:48 remaining. On the ensuing two-point try, Rees connected with Eifert again to stretch the lead to three.

The Panthers (2-2), a week removed from squandering a 17-point fourth-quarter lead at Iowa, advanced as far as the Notre Dame 40-yard line on its final possession before quarterback Tino Sunseri was sacked twice in three plays.

Sunseri's fourth-down pass was broken up and the Irish were able to run out the clock.

Notre Dame, which came into the game ranked last nationally in turnover margin, had two more giveaways in the first half but took a 7-6 lead into the intermission thanks to a 79-yard scoring run by Jonas Gray.

Hubie Graham caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Sunseri to put Pittsburgh on top 12-7 in the third quarter.

Cierre Wood rushed for 94 yards to lead Notre Dame. Eifert finished with eight receptions for 75 yards as the Panthers double-teamed Irish receiver Michael Floyd (4 catches, 27 yards) for much of the day.

Ray Graham paced the Pittsburgh offense, rushing for 89 yards and hauling in eight passes for 43 yards.