Pittsburgh football lost an important game on Saturday to Notre Dame, ending a five-game win streak. The Panthers got blown out by the Fighting Irish at home, losing 37-15. Following the game, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi apologized to Panthers fans.
“I mean, that was a great show. I mean, when we walked out the game day, that was a heck of a day, at least to start. You know, for our Pitt fans, for the University of Pittsburgh, for the city of Pittsburgh. And I appreciate what they did. I wish I could have given more,” Narduzzi said, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The loss was even more difficult to stomach, considering everything going on around the Pittsburgh football program on Saturday. ESPN College GameDay showed up for a broadcast, and panelist Pat McAfee was living up that moment. McAfee is from the city of Pittsburgh.
The Panthers were also retiring the jersey of defensive star Aaron Donald. Donald was in attendance at the game, and spoke to the news media. Donald played a long NFL career with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams, after his time with Pittsburgh football.
Following the win, Notre Dame is now 8-2 on the season. The Fighting Irish have rattled off eight wins in a row. Pittsburgh meanwhile fell to 7-3 on the campaign.
“I don’t think we played our best game today against a really good Notre Dame football team,” Narduzzi added. “It starts with me. We’ve got to do a better job as coaches. We didn’t convert enough third downs. We didn’t get enough stops on defense. They ran the ball on us, which they’ve done all year. … We’ve got to make more plays, but I’m proud of our football team. We (didn’t) quit at the end.”
Pittsburgh has two games left on the schedule, and both of them are against ranked teams. Pitt must still play Georgia Tech and Miami (FL). The Panthers hope to close out the regular season on a high note.
