PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh spent 45 minutes knocking Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees around.
The sophomore needed less than five minutes to knock the Panthers out.
Rees shrugged off a miserable start to hit tight end Tyler Eifert on a 6-yard touchdown pass with less than 7 minutes to go and lift Notre Dame to a 15-12 win yesterday. The score and subsequent two-point conversion — also to Eifert — capped 4:40 of perfection from Rees as the Irish (2-2) won their second straight.
Rees went 8-for-8 on the game-winning drive, remaining patient even as the Panthers (2-2) bottled up Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd.
Did Rees want to go deep to his favorite target? Sure. Yet he reined in his inner swashbuckler and ignored the beating he took over the first three quarters to play with the kind of poise that has earned him the starting job and his teammates’ respect.
“You’ve just got to make the right decisions,” Rees said. “We did some good things getting the ball underneath and just kind of chipping away at their defense.”
Rees finished 24 of 41 for 216 yards with a touchdown and an interception and running back Jonas Gray scored on a 79-yard touchdown run for Notre Dame, which overcame eight penalties and two costly turnovers.
“Yeah there’s some frustration when you’re not putting points on the board,” Eifert said. “But at the same time you’ve got to keep grinding . . . our defense stepped up big and our offense scored just enough points.”
The Panthers were hoping to prove the announcement they were bolting the Big East for the ACC in three years wasn’t a distraction. When it mattered, however, Rees delivered, showcasing why he took the starting job away from senior Dayne Crist three weeks ago.
“He’s growing up and seeing some things,” said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. “There were some new looks for him that he had not seen before that we had to adjust. And after Tommy sees it, he gets much more comfortable.”