It was such a good line that it was hard to believe Pitt center Jimmy Morrissey came up with it on the spot.
“I don’t want to be known as a giant-killer,” Morrissey said when asked about facing No. 5 Notre Dame on the road Saturday afternoon. “I want to be known as a giant.”
One of those quotes that will end up in Pitt football lore, maybe even find its way onto a T-shirt, if the Panthers can stun the Fighting Irish this weekend and avoid snapping their streak of two consecutive seasons with a victory against a Top 5 team.
That uncanny tendency, more than anything, makes this matchup worth chattering about. The story isn’t whether Pitt can handle the mystique of Notre Dame football in South Bend. If the Irish roll, it will be because they’re the better team, not because the Panthers got spooked by “Touchdown Jesus” or the “Rudy” factor. But don’t just take it from the players.
“Pitt has been in this situation multiple times — where Notre Dame has had a good season going, the Panthers have come to South Bend and made it a good game,” said veteran sportscaster Mike Tirico, now in his second season doing Notre Dame play-by-play on NBC. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from them.”
It’s a safe bet that Tirico will set the scene on the broadcast when it comes to Pitt’s history with one of college football’s biggest brands. Nine of the past 11 meetings decided by single digits, two of the past three at Notre Dame Stadium needing overtime, and a 2-2 split in the past four matchups in South Bend.
Both of those Pitt wins won’t soon be forgotten by its fans, regardless of the Notre Dame connection. When your starting quarterback drops a postgame curse word on live TV — “I’m so proud of this [expletive] football team,” Tyler Palko bellowed — and you pull out a road victory in four overtimes, it almost doesn’t matter who you beat for those memories.
It might just be a bonus when it’s Notre Dame.
“Yeah, it’s cool to go into Notre Dame,” said Morrissey, who was shown the Palko video by former teammate Adam Bisnowaty and called it “pretty funny.” “I’ve never been there before, never really grew up being a fan, but it’ll be cool. It’s a historical college football place.”
Kenny Pickett, however, did grow up an Irish fan, passed down from his grandfather to his dad to him. Before he became Pitt’s starting quarterback, Pickett wanted to be Brady Quinn, but those rooting interests are “put on hold” for his family, at least for the time he’s a Panther.
Pickett has already been there, done that, when it comes to shocking a Top 5 opponent, and did it in his first career start last season against No. 2 Miami. Pitt might’ve earned the “giant-slayer” label by ending that perfect season, 54 weeks after doing the same thing to eventual national champion Clemson, even if it’s not something on Morrissey’s radar.
“I think what Jimmy’s saying is that you don’t view anyone as a giant,” said tailback Qadree Ollison. “Especially in the game of football, you respect all and fear none.”
The Panthers respected their previous opportunities this season against highly ranked foes but got blown away by No. 8 Penn State and No. 10 Central Florida. Both were No. 13 at the time, and very unlucky draws for Pitt.
But coach Pat Narduzzi has found a way to rally his troops when it was least expected the past two seasons. Junior safety Damar Hamlin — who was recruited heavily by Notre Dame and played with Irish nose guard Kurt Hinish at Central Catholic High School — acknowledged that Narduzzi “definitely gets us going” from a motivational standpoint, but that the key to those past upsets is more than that.
“Coach Duzz is a guru,” Hamlin said. “He definitely knows what he’s doing. He reads offenses so well. Coach Duzz can do anything. Under him, we can do anything.”
The big picture for this game is juicy enough, but the subplots are there, too. Hinish is one of three Western Pennsylvania natives playing for coach Brian Kelly, with Monroeville’s Robert Hainsey a sophomore starter at right tackle, by way of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The backup to Hainsey, who spent his first two seasons at Gateway High School, is North Allegheny graduate Josh Lugg. Former Pine-Richland star Phil Jurkovec is a freshman quarterback behind starter Ian Book, while another Central Catholic alumnus, linebacker David Adams, left the program in the offseason due to injuries.
On the Pitt side, defensive tackle Amir Watts will have about a dozen friends and family members in attendance from his native Chicago, just 100 miles away. Kicker Alex Kessman grew up in Clarkston, Mich., cheering for the Michigan Wolverines and attended their 2011 game against Notre Dame, the first in prime time at Michigan Stadium.
Last time first-year defensive coordinator Randy Bates was in South Bend, he was linebackers coach for Northwestern in a 43-40 overtime upset of the Irish. Last time Pitt was there, the Panthers nearly spoiled No. 3 Notre Dame’s unbeaten season, but blew a 20-6 fourth-quarter lead to fall, 29-26, in three overtimes. Those overtimes followed a shaky fourth-down pass interference call on Pitt that extended a fourth-quarter Notre Dame touchdown drive, and included a missed Pitt field goal that should’ve been an Irish penalty. These Panthers aren’t returning looking for any could’ve, would’ve, should’ve-been moral victories.
“If that’s your mindset, you’re already beat,” Pickett said. “That’s a terrible mind set to have going into a game, trying not to get blown out. We’re going in to win every game we have, no matter what the team is or what the situation is. If that’s our mindset, we’re screwed. So we’re going in to win. That’s all I know, and that’s what I’ve felt all week. That’s what we feel every week we prepare.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
Matchup: Pitt Panthers (3-3) vs. No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-0), Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, Ind.
When: 2:41 p.m., Saturday.
TV, Radio: WPXI; KDKA-FM (93.7), Sirius Channel 205, XM Channel 385.
DYK? Tony Dorsett’s 303 rushing yards in Pitt’s 34-20 win upset of Notre Dame in 1975 remain the most all-time by a player against the Irish.
First Published: October 12, 2018, 3:04 p.m.
