Players of the Game From The Notre Dame Victory Over Pittsburgh

Notre Dame (7-2) came out of the bye week and earned a dominant 58-7 victory over Pittsburgh. When you beat up a team this convincingly there will be plenty of standouts, but three players stood above the rest.

OFFENSE - WR Chris Tyree, RB Audric Estime

Estime Stats: 19 att., 114 yards, 6.0 YPC, 3 TD
Tyree Stats: 3 catches, 62 yards, 20.7 YPC
Runners Up: TE Mitchell Evans, LT Joe Alt

Tyree had another impact performance on offense, hauling in three passes for 62 yards. He didn't earn this spot just because of his three catches, including an outstanding downfield grab in double coverage. Tyree impacted Pitt even when he wasn't touching the football. 

After he made early big plays, and even got a short gain on a reverse, it was clear that Pitt was spooked by him. When Audric Estime rushed 15 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0, you could see the linebackers impacted by Tyree's motion. The Pitt defense also was focused on running vertically with Tyree on a 3rd-and-12 pass, which freed up Mitchell Evans for an easy conversion.

Estime ran with authority and decisiveness against the Panthers, racking up 114 yards and three touchdowns. He took even the smallest creases and turned them into positive yards. Estime ran with authority, he was decisive and the bye week seemed to get a bit of juice back into his legs. There were also several impressive pass blocks from Estime, and he caught two passes for 16 yards in the win.

DEFENSE - S Xavier Watts

Stats: 3 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 tackle for loss
Runners Up: DT Howard Cross III, CB Jaden Mickey, CB Christian Gray, NB Thomas Harper

Watts was once again an impact defender for the Notre Dame defense. He did a little bit of everything for the Notre Dame defense. Watts was active into the alleys, he was good in coverage and played centerfield well for the Irish. He made a great early read and showed impressive range making his first interception, and he was in the right place at the right time for his second pick.

It was hard to name just one player on defense in this top spot. Cornerbacks Jaden Mickey and Christian Gray were thrown into tough spots and responded extremely well. Nickel back Thomas Harper was impactful, finishing with five tackles and two tackles for loss. Howard Cross was active up the middle. At the end of the day, however, it was Watts that made the biggest game changing plays.

SPECIAL TEAMS - WR Chris Tyree

Stats: 82 yard punt return TD
Runners Up: RB Devyn Ford

The Notre Dame offense moved the ball early on but mistakes resulted in turnovers instead of points. Wide receiver Chris Tyree took matters into his own hands and got the Irish on the board despite those offensive mistakes. Notre Dame forced a three-and-out on its first defensive series, and Tyree took the kick back 82 yards for a touchdown.

Tyree made two players miss early on and then another miss in space before out-running the rest of the Pitt coverage unit on his way to the end zone. This provided a big early spark for the Irish team.