Pat Narduzzi thought the second quarter was too early to take risks, but if he knew then what long-suffering Pitt fans and a national television audience now know as fact, he might have been more inclined to gamble.

He didn’t know he had nothing to lose. He didn’t know Notre Dame would win, anyway, 45-3.

Before Notre Dame had started deconstructing its opponent Saturday at Heinz Field, Narduzzi decided not to attack the Irish defense with an offense run by a backup quarterback.

With Notre Dame leading 7-3, Pitt moved to the Irish 40-yard-line, thanks to a nice, 33-yard connection between Joey Yellen and Jordan Addison.

All of a sudden, however, it was fourth-and-7 at the 37. Narduzzi was concerned the wind wouldn’t allow Alex Kessman to kick a 54- or 55-yard field goal, so he elected to punt and try to pin the Irish inside the 10-yard line.

Close. Notre Dame’s Matt Salerno made a fair catch at the 13, but four plays and 87 yards later, it was 14-3 after Pitt’s defense gave up a 73-yard touchdown pass.

Three possessions later — after a punt and the first of three Yellen interceptions — the score was 21-3, 1 minute, 29 seconds remained in the first half and Narduzzi was coaching like he just wanted to find the security of the locker room and regroup. Some might call it playing not to lose too badly.

With the ball at Pitt’s 25-yard line and Narduzzi holding three timeouts in his pocket, the calls from offensive coordinator Mark Whipple were three runs and a short pass. The locker room beckoned.

Not so fast. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly called timeout with 20 seconds left and Pitt was forced to punt. Isaiah Foskey blocked it, recovered in the end zone, and the deficit was now 28-3.

“I’m never content,” Narduzzi said. “But I don’t feel like we were going to get into a two-minute drill and do anything crazy. With a backup quarterback in there, I didn’t want to go slinging it around the park and see something bad happen.”

Actually, it’s easy to understand that line of thinking, even if you don’t agree with it. When Yellen did start “slinging it” in the second half, he threw interceptions on consecutive plays.

Narduzzi was counting on his defense to compensate for the shortcomings on offense, and it didn’t happen.

Where’s the help?

Narduzzi was hoping to give 5-foot-9 cornerback Marquis Williams some help, but he pointed out that safety Erick Hallett was late on the 73-yard touchdown pass to 6-foot-3 wide receiver Ben Skowronek.

“Erick came out of the middle of the field and he’s got to finish it up and at least give us another yard to stay in down there,” he said.

The coach also took aim at the officials on the play, something he’s getting good at doing.

“I think, a little push off, whatever, a little lean on a guy, and No. 11 (Skowronek) makes a big play,” he said.

Too much laundry

Pitt committed 12 more penalties for 93 yards, but it wasn’t the team’s sloppiest effort of the season. Remember N.C. State? 13/125.

Pitt is 99th of 101 participating teams in total penalties (58). But to be fair, the Panthers are one of only four teams that have played seven games. On a per-game basis, Pitt improves to 86th (8.3).

During the game Saturday, a pass interference penalty against cornerback A.J. Woods kept a Notre Dame touchdown drive alive.

Asked if the penalties bother him more than anything, Narduzzi said, “There are a lot of things that bother me. I don’t know what the penalties were for the day. But now I’m just looking at it right now. 12 penalties? Yeah.

“There’s just little penalties here and there and they will get you. So, yeah, penalties bother me when I see 12 and that’s more than we had last week (10)”

Addison corralled

Faced with double teams through much of the first half, Addison ended up with only three receptions for 40 yards. It was his second-quietest day of the season.

Missing piece

After missing two games, Kenny Pickett remains Pitt’s second-leading rusher (119 yards). Yellen, however, is no threat to run.

He is credited with five rush attempts for minus-45 yards in two games, but four of those are sacks. Pitt misses that element it had on offense earlier in the season when Pickett was making plays with his feet. Of course, that’s how he injured his left ankle.

Meeting their match

Defensive ends Rashad Weaver and Patrick Jones II came into the game with a combined total of 11 1/2 sacks, but were shut out by Notre Dame’s massive and experienced offensive line.

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