By Brian Hamilton
PITTSBURGH -- Quite the sports weekend in the Steel City, with a local paper's Web site sounding a "Leave now!" alarm in mid-afternoon for those en route to the 8 p.m. ET Notre Dame-Pittsburgh matchup and facing traffic snarls along the way.
Pittsburgh undergrads wandering toward the student entrance at Heinz Field were bewildered by the line snaking along the concourse. The open end of the stadium was opened for standing-room only seats.
The buzz within a few blocks of the stadium was indeed notable, meaning that a fast start could buoy either side's emotions and help carry either the Irish or the Panthers through.
PITTSBURGH -- Quite the sports weekend in the Steel City, with a local paper's Web site sounding a "Leave now!" alarm in mid-afternoon for those en route to the 8 p.m. ET Notre Dame-Pittsburgh matchup and facing traffic snarls along the way.
Pittsburgh undergrads wandering toward the student entrance at Heinz Field were bewildered by the line snaking along the concourse. The open end of the stadium was opened for standing-room only seats.
The buzz within a few blocks of the stadium was indeed notable, meaning that a fast start could buoy either side's emotions and help carry either the Irish or the Panthers through.
Kyle Rudolph, despite the separated shoulder suffered against Navy, made the trip to Pittsburgh. Dayne Crist did not, after his ACL surgery a week ago.
Freshman punter Ben Turk was left behind; Ryan Burkhart was listed as Eric Maust's backup. Nose tackle Ian Williams did travel with the Irish even after his notorious "out-schemed" comments last weekend, though no word if they left his larynx behind.
A couple last words from ABC/ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who was calling Saturday night's game. Few people found Corwin Brown's rant against Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo amusing, but Herbstreit saw a bit of the player he tangled with when Herbstreit was quarterbacking Ohio State and Brown was in the Michigan secondary.
"That's the player in Corwin coming out," Herbstreit said. "That's the guy I competed against. He was a trash-talker on the field, and he's been kind of programmed by the Bill Parcells and Al Grohs and Charlie Weises -- he's a coach, he's a man. But he's finally letting his guard down. The No. 20 in maize and blue came out a little bit in that area."
A number: Irish center Eric Olsen hasn't allowed a sack this year in 300 pass attempts.
Freshman punter Ben Turk was left behind; Ryan Burkhart was listed as Eric Maust's backup. Nose tackle Ian Williams did travel with the Irish even after his notorious "out-schemed" comments last weekend, though no word if they left his larynx behind.
A couple last words from ABC/ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who was calling Saturday night's game. Few people found Corwin Brown's rant against Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo amusing, but Herbstreit saw a bit of the player he tangled with when Herbstreit was quarterbacking Ohio State and Brown was in the Michigan secondary.
"That's the player in Corwin coming out," Herbstreit said. "That's the guy I competed against. He was a trash-talker on the field, and he's been kind of programmed by the Bill Parcells and Al Grohs and Charlie Weises -- he's a coach, he's a man. But he's finally letting his guard down. The No. 20 in maize and blue came out a little bit in that area."
A number: Irish center Eric Olsen hasn't allowed a sack this year in 300 pass attempts.
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