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Notre Dame Fighting Irish © |
Pittsburgh Panthers |
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Played November 10, 1973 at Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Notre Dame © | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | ||||||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Notre Dame |
7 |
3 |
7 |
14 |
31 |
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Pittsburgh |
0 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
10 |
Pittsburgh had its second chance at The Belt but the first with coach Johnny Majors at the helm. They met the 5th ranked, 7-0 Notre Dame Fighting Irish of coach Ara Parseghian. With a 4-game winning streak & a record of 5-2-1, the 20th ranked Panthers hoped to make the Fighting Irish title reign short. Pittsburgh's RB Tony Dorsett rushed for 209 yards but Notre Dame's RB Wayne Bullock responded with 167 yards rushing as well as scoring 4 touchdowns & the Panthers lost 4 fumbles as the Fighting Irish prevailed on the scoreboard 31-10 to extend their Belt reign. Notre Dame took the lead on the opening drive when Bullock scored on an 11-yard touchdown run. Late in the 2nd quarter, Fighting Irish's PK Bob Thomas connected on a 20-yard field goal giving Notre Dame a 10-0 lead. Pittsburgh got on the board with just 0:03 left in the half when PK Carson Long hit a 35-yard field goal & the Panthers trailed by just a touchdown at 10-3. Bullock's second touchdown came midway through the 3rd quarter on a 4-yard touchdown run as the Fighting Irish pushed the lead to 17-3. Time & again, Dorsett helped get the Panthers' offense rolling only to have a turnover stop the drive. Early in the 4th quarter, Pittsburgh again closed to within 7 points as RB Dave Janasek scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Bullock & the Fighting Irish offense dominated the rest of the game. His 1-yard touchdown run came with 7:55 left in the game &, when QB Tom Clements hit him for a 9-yard touchdown pass with just 0:40 to play, the Panthers' fate was sealed. Clements threw just 4 passes in the game due to a pulled stomach muscle but completed 3 of them for 28 yards with a touchdown. Pittsburgh's QB Bill Daniels threw for 117 yards but was intercepted 3 times as the Panthers turned the ball over 7 times in the loss. Notre Dame finished the season 11-0 & claimed the National Championship while the Panthers finished 6-5-1 in Majors’ first season. Pittsburgh would play for The Belt again in 1986.
