Notre Dame Shakes Up Pittsburgh : Nonconference: Holtz benches six starters before 44-0 victory. The Irish total 539 yards on offense.

Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz used Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh to send a message to six of his starters.

It was received loud and clear.

Holtz replaced the six and watched the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish roll to a 44-0 victory. Lee Becton gained a career-high 142 yards as Notre Dame (6-0) rushed for 371 yards. The Irish held the Panthers (1-4) without a first down in the second half.

“I think the shuffle made a big difference,” said senior co-captain Jeff Burris, who returned a punt 60 yards for Notre Dame’s final touchdown. “It’s going to motivate a lot of guys. It’s going to make them realize that it’s time we move on as a team.”

The Irish never punted and gave up only 122 total yards to post their second shutout in three weeks. Pitt managed only 38 passing yards and ran only two plays in Notre Dame territory, both in the first half.

Most surprising among Holtz’s lineup changes was the benching of right tackle Todd Norman, a fifth-year senior and two-year starter. Senior Mike McGlinn made his first start in his place.

Norman, who knew the day after last week’s victory at Stanford that he was being demoted, returned in the second half as the Irish scored 31 points and got 246 rushing yards. Norman acknowledged that he had something to prove against the young Panthers, who entered the game with 29 freshman and sophomores among the 44 players on its two-deep depth chart.

“It was a very long week,” Norman said. “You’re not sure you’re going to be on the field again. I needed to show (Holtz) that I had the intensity and the effort and the desire to play again.”

Holtz acknowledged that he juggled his lineup to get his players’ attention.

“I don’t send a message through the depth chart. I send the results through the depth chart,” he said.

Notre Dame finished with 539 total yards, its highest total of the season.

Since a season-opening victory over Southern Mississippi, the Panthers have been outscored, 199-56, in four consecutive losses, three to ranked teams.

“I’m very pleased we won one game at this point,” said Coach Johnny Majors, who returned to Pitt this season after 16 years at Tennessee. “I was worried we wouldn’t win one game.”