COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Pitt Upsets Notre Dame : Genilla Helps Lead the Panthers to 30-22 Victory Over 4th-Ranked Irish; Andrysiak Breaks Collarbone

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Coach Mike Gottfried, whose team was upset by Temple and Boston College in its last two games, searched all week for a quarterback to replace slumping Sal Genilla against fourth-ranked and unbeaten Notre Dame.

Gottfried tried freshman Larry Wanke in practice, then freshman Darnell Dickerson. Finally, he found a quarterback--Sal Genilla.

Genilla passed for one touchdown and ran for another as Pitt built a 27-0 halftime lead and then held on to upset the previously unbeaten Irish, 30-22, Saturday night.

“This was a big game for the team, but it was even a bigger game for me,” Genilla said. While Pitt improved to 4-2, Notre Dame dropped to 3-1 and also lost quarterback Terry Andrysiak, who broke his collarbone in the third quarter and was replaced by Tony Rice.

Genilla, who threw four interceptions last week in Pitt’s 13-10 loss to Boston College, teamed with Bill Osborn on a crossing pattern for a 30-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter. Then, after Gary Richard intercepted an Andrysiak pass on Notre Dame’s next play from scrimmage, Genilla passed to Henry Tuten for 17 yards to set up Craig (Ironhead) Heyward’s 1-yard touchdown plunge with 2:04 left in the quarter.

Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz said: “I can’t make any excuses. Pitt played well and we made a lot of mistakes. I was confident we could come back in the second half, but then I always think we’re going to pull it out.”

Heyward carried a school-record 42 times for 132 yards, scored 2 touchdowns and went over the 2,000-yard career rushing mark while gaining at least 100 yards for the sixth straight game.

Said Holtz: “Heyward makes your tacklers look bad because he runs through so many of them.”

Notre Dame’s Tim Brown caught 6 passes for 156 yards but lost a fumble in the second quarter at the Pitt 26, from where the Panthers drove for their third touchdown, a 2-yard bootleg by Genilla.

Heyward’s second one-yard touchdown run made it 27-0 with 3:55 left in the half.

With Rice at quarterback, the Irish scored 22 points in the second half, with Rice scoring the first touchdown on a 16-yard run.

Mark Green ran 17 yards around left end for a touchdown, and Brown went up the middle for a two-point conversion with 1:29 remaining to pull the Irish to 30-22.

Notre Dame then recovered an onside kick, but Pitt held on downs to preserve the win, the Panthers’ third straight over the Irish.