Saturday marked the beginning of the Charlie Weis area as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football program entered its 117^th season. This was the moment that all of the Irish faithful had been patiently awaiting since last December.  Would Weis live up to all the expectations and all of the hype that has been building in South Bend for the past eight months?  Those questions were answered for now with an emphatic yes as the Fighting Irish rolled past the No.23 Pittsburgh Panthers, 42-to-21 in front of over 65,000 at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field.

The contest was one of the more anticipated match up’s of college footballs opening weekend as it pitted former NFL coaches’ Charlie Weis and Dave Wannstedt.  The two coaches are no strangers as they squared off twice a year in the Nation Football League’s AFC East Division.  Weis as the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriot’s offensive coordinator, and Wannstedt as the head coach of the rival Miami Dolphins. Both coaches return to their respective alma mater with the same goal of restoring their programs to prominence.

Coming into the contest, most experts felt that Wannstedt and Pitt (0-1) were closer to that goal than Weis and Notre Dame (1-0) as the Panthers have been to an impressive five consecutive bowl games, and return a dangerous unit on offense led by quarterback Tyler Palko and standout receiver, Greg Lee.

As the game got underway, it looked like this was true as Notre Dame had a quick flash back to last year’s contest on the games opening drive as Palko hooked up with Lee for a 39-yard score that capped off an impressive eight play 73-yard drive giving Pitt an early 7-0 lead. A lead they would see fade away.

Brady Quinn and the Irish offense came right back to score their first of an impressive five touchdowns on their first six possessions. Quinn got things started when he hit sophomore tailback Darius Walker on a 51-yard screen pass to even the score 7-7 midway through the first.

Quinn looked like some of Notre Dame’s legendary quarterbacks on the night as he went 18-for-27 and threw for 233 yards and two scores.  The first to Darius Walker and the second to a stretched out Jeff Samardzija for 19-yards late in the second quarter. Not only did Quinn put up impressive numbers, he also displayed poise and great pocket awareness that reminded Notre Dame fans of another Brady, New England’s Tom Brady.

Pitt would come back late in the first to make it 10-7 on a 49-yard Josh Cummings field goal.  It would be the last time Pitt led in the contest as Weis and the Notre Dame offense would go on an impressive romp through the second quarter as Notre Dame outscored Pitt, 28-to-3 in the period.

Notre Dame’s first score of the second quarter came as Darius Walker rushed for a two-yard score to cap off a nine-play 65-yard drive. It was Walkers second score on the night, and gave Notre Dame a 14-10 lead it would not relinquish.

Walker had another impressive opener for the Irish as he ran for 100 yards on 20 carries and one score. He also caught three passes for 52-yards and another score, amassing an impressive 152-yards of total offense.  Even more impressive, 113 of his 152 total yards came in the first half.   The sophomore looked like a seasoned veteran as he displayed phenomenal field vision throughout the contest, often leaving would be tacklers scratching their collective heads and wondering how the Irish tailback had eluded them.

Roshon Powers-Neal would score two of his three touchdowns in the second quarter and receiver Jeff Samardzija would catch the second of Quinn’s two scores as Notre Dame poured on 21 more points in the second stanza to take a commanding 35-to-13 halftime lead, leaving Pittsburgh and its fans bewildered.

Notre Dame would open the second half with a 20-play 80-yard scoring drive that took seven minutes off of the clock, and half of the Panther fans to the exits as Notre Dame had a comfortable 42-13 lead with no hope in site for Pitt.

With his first victory under his belt, Weis and the Irish now have their sites set on the No.4 Michigan Wolverines as they head to the  Big House to square off with their rivals from Ann Arbor. The  Wolverines will have revenge on their minds as they were upset in South Bend last season, derailing any hopes the team had at a National Championship.  It will be Notre Dame’s first of three games this season against the nation’s preseason top four, and their second of four road games in their first five weeks of the season.