Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh: 5 Halftime Adjustments the Fighting Irish Must Make

1. Mix it up on offense a little bit!
Brian Kelly and his staff are calling a ton of running plays, mostly to the right. The running game hasn’t been unsuccessful, but the scoreboard speaks for itself. Pitt is disguising its pass coverage pretty well, but the Irish should be throwing it down the throat of this 119^th-ranked pass defense. Then again, Rees might not be the right guy to be making those passes. I see nothing wrong with giving Dayne Crist a few snaps just to throw off the Pitt defense a little bit.

2. Pass protect on the blitz better

The offensive line has looked completely different on running plays and passing plays. They need to make sure they each got on a blitzer and get a hit on them, because Rees has looked extremely skittish when being pressured. Twice, a pass was nearly picked when Rees hurried a throw, and he had the fumble at the end of the 1^st quarter that led to a Pitt field goal. Even on the interception, Rees was getting moved around a lot by pressure in the pocket.

3. Continue the play

Well, first things first. Enough with the penalties! In down-and-long situations, the line looks nervous and has jumped offsides a couple times. They are opening huge holes for the running game, but they need to continue the play and keep those holes open for a second so their talented backfield can burst through them. On the 79-yard touchdown run by Jonas Gray, star wideout Michael Floyd made a key block, and didn’t stop until Gray was well past him.

4. Take a shot

Speaking of Floyd, he’s being doubled on every play. I understand he’s the most athletic player on the Irish, but the other receiving options are darn good too. Give it a shot downfield with one of the other guys. Let Rees air it out and surprise the Pitt secondary a little bit. Did I mention the Panthers are almost dead last in pass defense.

5. Step it up on defense

Considering the first half stats, this might seem like a strange adjustment. They have hardly allowed 100 total yards and held Pitt to six points on two field goals, despite stellar field position. So when I say step it up, I mean keep it up and make sure not to get burned on a long pass play. Todd Graham should be making his own adjustments, calling for some more spread pass plays or option plays and the secondary needs to be ready for that. The last thing the Irish wants is star receiver Devin Street getting involved.