First Half Analysis: Notre Dame Leads Pitt 17-0

Notre Dame has a 17-0 lead over Pittsburgh heading into halftime. The Irish have controlled action throughout, but the offense has missed some and made mistakes, which is why the game isn't even more in Notre Dame's favor.

Here are my first half thoughts and analysis.

NOTRE DAME OFFENSE

*** Notre Dame moved the ball up and down the field against Pittsburgh, but the mistakes at quarterback played a huge role in keeping points down. Notre Dame moved the ball into Pitt territory on every possession but only scored two offensive points. The game plan was sound, with the offense using leverage early to get outside of Pitt's man coverage, and they took enough shots to keep Pitt honest. 

*** Using Chris Tyree early was smart, and it's helping the offense in a big way. Tyree caught a quick out early, ran a reverse and also caught a deep ball for 46 yards. As soon as he started being used in motion Pitt started to over-react. If you watch the 15-yard touchdown run by Audric Estime, the cut back lane is wide open because the linebackers were focused on Tyree going in jet motion. On the 3rd-and-12 conversion where the tight end was uncovered, the Pitt defense had three guys running with Tyree up the seam. We should have seen this all year, but it's good to see now.

*** The fact Notre Dame has moved the ball the way it has, but scored just 10 offensive points, is a failure to put away a bad opponent. 

*** The issue with the offense in the first half was primarily mistakes by quarterback Sam Hartman. His first interception was partly on him and partly on freshman receiver Rico Flores not playing the ball. Simply put, Hartman misread the coverage. The way the safety was playing that ball needs to go over top to Flores, and if it does it's likely a touchdown. He forced a play-action pass on the next series and threw into coverage for a second interception. On Notre Dame's failed 4th-and-3, Hartman had tight end Mitchell Evans open for a big play but Hartman held onto the ball too long and then threw a bad pass as the pressure got to him. He threw some good balls in the game as well, which is why he has the numbers he does, but Hartman's mistakes have been a major problem for the offense, and none of them, in my opinion, were forced by the defense as much as they were just bad reads.

*** Estime has run effectively in the game so far despite inconsistent openings. Notre Dame is letting him get downhill a bit more and he's run with authority and making players miss. Notre Dame's run blocking up front has been way too inconsistent, but when it's good Estime has taken full advantage and ripped off big runs. 

*** Pitt is having a tough time covering Tyree, and the offense has had some success hitting some outside breaking routes off RPOs on top of Chris Tyree getting behind the defense for his 46-yard gain. The offense needs to be willing to take a couple of outside shots in the second half, as Pitt is giving one-on-one's and focused so much on Tyree and the run game.

*** There are things there for the offense, they just need to get the ball outside and the QB needs to make better decisions. If they do that the offense will start scoring a lot in this game.

NOTRE DAME DEFENSE

*** The Irish defense has played really good football outside of about three plays. Pitt has been able to get outside on a few outside zone and toss plays, which has given them quality rushes in the first half. They also had success throwing behind the blitzes on the one drive where they got into field goal range. Outside of that, Notre Dame has controlled the line of scrimmage and been very good in coverage.

*** The run defense has been good as well outside of three carries. The Irish are stout up front, and all of Pitt's rushing success has been getting the ball outside. Xavier Watts, Thomas Harper, Cam Hart and Christian Gray have all made strong plays on the perimeter to stop the rest of the perimeter runs we've seen. There have been several snaps where it looked like Pitt might have something, but the Irish DBs would get off blocks and quickly close on the ball and force minimal gains.

*** The blitzes from Al Golden have been largely effective in the game, although Pitt made some adjustments late to get the ball out on slants, crosses and overs behind the blitzing backers. That is what Pitt leaned on in their drive that ended with a missed field goal. 

*** Notre Dame's star so far has been Xavier Watts, who is eating up the alleys in the run game and quick game. He has three solo tackles so far, including a tackle for loss on a speed option play that he blew up. He also played the centerfield role perfectly on his first pick. Gray forced the receiver inside, knowing he had deep help, Watts then read the eyes of the QB and perfectly got off the hash for the interception. His second interception was more of a bad ball, but he was where he needed to be and read the QB appropriately.

*** Gray and Jaden Mickey have filled in for Benjamin Morrison, who has yet to play. Hart also got hurt in the second quarter and both corners were on the field. Mickey made two huge mistakes. He tried to jump a route and almost picked it off, but missed and allowed Pitt to compete it for a good gain. He also fell for a double move that could have gone for a touchdown if not for a poorly thrown ball. Gray has been outstanding so far in coverage, and surprisingly he's doing a good job getting off blocks and coming up on the run/quick pass game. Strong showing so far for him.

*** Pitt is going to come out and try to hit some double moves and big plays, so the secondary needs to continue being disciplined. The pass rush has been solid, but if Pitt does try to get downfield more they'll need to be big in the second half.