Weis’ Debut Is Rousing Success for Irish, 42-21

One game played by the Ohio River on a Saturday is nowhere near enough to determine whether Charlie Weis will return Notre Dame to glory or whether Dave Wannstedt puts the “it” back in Pittsburgh.

Or is it?

“Don’t ever fool yourself about coaches being geniuses,” former Chicago Bear coach and Pitt star Mike Ditka huffed before the game.

Weis then set out to prove Ditka wrong in video-game controlling Notre Dame to a somewhat stunning 42-21 win over Pitt at Heinz Field.

Weis moved to 1-0 as Notre Dame coach and Wannstedt dropped to 0-1, with the rest of the season left to settle whether this was an indication or an aberration.

For one night, at least, Weis decidedly topped Wannstedt in the network battle of former NFL stalwarts returning to college to coach their alma maters.

“I just wanted to get to kick-off,” Weis said of the game’s buildup. “There was so much hoopla. I’ve been such a sidebar. I’ve almost been a distraction.”

Weis attended Notre Dame but did not play, but if he keeps this up he may soon receive an honorary doctorate.

The former offensive coordinator for the three-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots basically did to Pitt what the Patriots did to the Pittsburgh Steelers in last year’s NFL playoffs, on the same field.

The final of that game was 41-27. There was a Brady involved then (Patriots’ quarterback Tom), and a Brady at quarterback Saturday, Brady Quinn.

With Weis calling the plays and Quinn putting them into production, the Irish scored 35 points in a half for the first time since 1996.

For the game, Quinn completed 18 of 27 passes for 227 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

The Notre Dame offense totaled 502 yards.

“It’s good to see what it’s actually like on the field, when it means something,” Quinn said of running the offense.

Not a man lacking for confidence, Weis said he was going to be a difference-maker for the Irish, and has quickly set about doing it.

Notre Dame scored more points in the first half Saturday than the Irish scored in 10 games last year under Tyrone Willingham, who was abruptly fired with two years left on his contract after going 6-5.

The Weis era, strangely, began with a thud, as Pitt marched the field and scored first on a 39-yard scoring pass from Tyler Palko to Greg Lee.

Notre Dame answered with an inside screen pass from Quinn to Darius Walker, who wiggled and ran 51 yards for the tying touchdown.

Then, after a Pitt field goal, Notre Dame took the lead for good on a 65-yard drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Walker.

The Irish made it 21-10 on a two-yard scoring run by Rashon Powers-Neal and then, after Pitt fumbled the ensuing kickoff, extended the lead to 28-10 when Jeff Samardizija made a sprawling end-zone catch of a Quinn pass for a 19-yard score.

There was still 6:03 left in the half, enough time for Powers-Neal to make it 35-13 with another touchdown run.

Taking another page from the Patriots’ script, Weis spent the second half methodically pounding down the opposition and running out the clock.

The Irish put Pitt away in the third quarter with a 20-play drive that lasted seven minutes and ended with Powers-Neal’s third touchdown.

Too early for a Weis coronation? Probably.

Notre Dame started 8-0 in 2002, Willingham’s first year, but then the Irish broke out their green jerseys and lost at home to Boston College, and you could argue the program never really recovered.

Afterward, Weis said he was already thinking to next week’s game at Ann Arbor, where, two years ago, Michigan beat Notre Dame, 38-0.

Saturday was for his players, who were allowed to dream big.

“I guess this game sort of gives you a preview of what this season is going to be about,” tailback Walker, who ran for 100 yards in 20 carries, said.

Wannstedt’s night could not have gone any worse than Weis’ went well.

“We did not deal with adversity the way championship teams deal with adversity,” Wannstedt said. “We didn’t handle it well. Notre Dame is obviously a fine football team and we must have miscalculated them and that’s my responsibility.”

Wannstedt, a former Pitt player, spent most of his formative years in the NFL, going 82-87 in 11 seasons as coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins, but his return was being celebrated. Pitt pulled out all stops on opening night, bringing back former stars Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, Bill Fralic and Ditka.

But opening night was stolen by the new man in South Bend.

Said Weis, “There will be a lot of people drinking coffee tomorrow that’ll have a big smile on their face.”