Notre Dame Football: Victory Can't Hide Irish's Massive Faults

The good news for Notre Dame is that they escaped Pittsburgh with a 15-12 victory. The bad news is that this is a still a sloppy, mistake-prone team that is capable of losing to anyone, anywhere.

Notre Dame entered the fourth quarter down 12-7. Then with just under seven minutes to play, Tommy Rees found Tyler Eifert for a six-yard touchdown.

To Rees' credit, he led a brilliant drive when it mattered most. He was a perfect 8-for-8 on the drive. Not to his credit, or Notre Dame's, they needed that drive to save themselves from another miserable loss.

As it has been for most of the season, Notre Dame was its own worst enemy. They lost the turnover battle 2-0. Rees threw a pick, and he also lost a fumble.

The mistakes can't all be pinned on Rees. His offensive line was giving him little time to throw the ball.

They also had several drive-killing penalties and ended the day with eight penalties for 85 yards.

These mistakes kept Notre Dame from attaining any cohesion on the offensive end. Their fourth-quarter touchdown drive was their only real sustained drive of the game. Their other touchdown was the result of a 79-yard scamper by Jonas Gray.

The Fighting Irish's defense kept them in this game. It was a solid performance. They held Pitt to just 268 yards. However, they were not going against a high-powered offense. Pitt entered this game ranked in the 50s in both passing and rushing yards per game.

Notre Dame definitely showed flashes in this game, but through four games, they have proven that they are too undisciplined, reckless and mistake-prone to have this season end in anything but frustration.