Pitt Is Nothing Special Against Notre Dame : Midwest: Blocked punt, muffed return are costly as Panthers suffer first defeat, 42-7.

Notre Dame made the best of Pittsburgh’s mistake-ridden kicking game to hand the Panthers their first defeat of the season.

Reggie Brooks recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown and Jerome Bettis scored after a muffed punt as No. 7 Notre Dame beat No. 12 Pittsburgh, 42-7, on Saturday.

“If we had been a team that struggles with special teams, I don’t think the block would have bothered us,” Pitt Coach Paul Hackett said. “But we excel in that area.”

The second-quarter kicking mistakes and a punchless offense ended an unbeaten season for Pittsburgh (5-1), which was off to its best start since 1982.

Bettis, who scored twice for Notre Dame (5-1), ran a yard for a second-quarter touchdown after Steve Israel fumbled a punt and Irv Smith recovered for the Irish at the Pitt 31.

“I tried to do too much and lost my concentration,” Israel said.

With Pitt facing fourth and eight at its 26 on its next possession, punter Leon Theodorou saw his kick blocked by Brooks, who pursued the ball into the end zone and recovered it in the corner.

“I saw him coming from the corner, and I thought I could get it off, but he came so fast and so clean, and he blocked it,” Theodorou said.

“I stretched out past the point of the ball, and it hit me right in the jaw,” Brooks said.

“Reggie did it perfectly,” Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz said.

Pitt’s only score came at 12:44 in the fourth quarter when Alex Van Pelt connected with Eric Seaman on a 51-yard scoring pass. The drive began with Elexious Perkins’ interception of Rick Mirer’s pass at the Pitt 38.

“No one is pointing fingers, but little things here and there keep us one step away from being a high-caliber team,” Van Pelt said.

Curtis Martin, who had consecutive 100-yard rushing games for the Panthers, left the game because of an injured toe after getting 10 rushing yards. Pitt ran for only 59 yards.

“We lost Curtis Martin after the first series. That’s clearly a blow for us,” Hackett said.

A Notre Dame defense that surrendered 26 points last week to Stanford kept Pitt outside its 20 until Van Pelt’s touchdown pass.

Van Pelt, who set a Pitt single-game passing record last year against Notre Dame, threw for 207 yards, completing 22 of 37 passes.