Pitt Awaits Fuming Irish
posted by John Vannie
Reeling and squabbling after a devastating loss to Navy, the Notre Dame football team heads to Pittsburgh to take on the ninth-ranked Panthers on Saturday night. Dave Wannstedt’s team is 8-1 on the season after easily dispatching Syracuse, but there is no chance they will take the Irish lightly. Led by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, the entire city is intent on showing extraordinary support for Pitt this weekend as the Panthers pursue their own BCS dream.
The Irish players have attempted to show solidarity this week in the aftermath of public player criticism of the defensive schemes run against the Midshipmen. As a consequence, starting nose tackle Ian Williams will not start at Pittsburgh and it is unclear whether he will play in the game.
Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate and Kyle McCarthy ultimately accepted responsibility for the loss on behalf of the players, but the smoldering remnants of internal strife remain palpable on campus. Irish assistant head coach Corwin Brown fanned the flames by calling out Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo for encouraging illegal blocking methods against his defense, and he went on to defend his team’s game plan. This circling of the wagons is usually a bad sign that significant cracks are forming in a program’s foundation.
Meanwhile, Coach Charlie Weis hopes to have tailback Armando Allen and guard Trevor Robinson back for this game, but tight end Kyle Rudolph injured his shoulder last week and will not be available on Saturday. The defensive line will be thin without Williams in the middle, which may enable Pitt’s running game to wear down Notre Dame’s front as it did in last season’s quadruple overtime victory.
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