Notre Dame Football: Grading the Fighting Irish's game vs. Pittsburgh

It certainly wasn't a pretty game, but Notre Dame walked out of Heinz field after taking down Pittsburgh 15-12.

Tommy Rees and the offense struggled to move the ball but made enough big plays to get the job done. 

The defense was a much different story as it limited Pittsburgh to 268 total yards on the day.

As usual, it's time to hand out grades to each position group from yesterday's game.

Quarterbacks

Grade: B-

Tommy Rees finished yesterday's game having completed 24-of-41 pass attempts for 216 yards and one touchdown.

However, he turned the ball over twice by way of a fumble and an interception.

It was apparent that Rees was at times perplexed by the different looks that the Pittsburgh defense was showing, and made a high number of poor throws.

Also, Rees, at times, locks in on Michael Floyd and seemingly isn't aware of the other receivers at his disposal.

There is some good news about Rees, though.

He came up big in the clutch, finding tight end Tyler Eifert for a touchdown as well as the ensuing two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter to put the Irish up 15-12.

Running Backs

Grade: A

Perhaps the biggest play of the day was Jonas Gray's 79-yard touchdown rumble in the second quarter to get Notre Dame on the board.

His final stat line included three carries for 81 yards and the score.

Gray's counterpart, Cierre Wood, quietly had a nice game, amassing 94 yards on 23 carries.

However, the reason to be happy with the Irish backs is the fact that they did not turn the ball over.

Both Gray and Wood must continue to protect the football for Notre Dame to fix its turnover woes.

Receivers

Grade: B

Like I said earlier, the coaching staff, as well as quarterback Tommy Rees, showed an over-reliance on Michael Floyd yesterday.

The star receiver only had four receptions, good for a pedestrian 27 yards due to being double-teamed for a majority of the game. 

Credit the Pittsburgh defense for doing what it had to do to take him out of the game.

Aside from Floyd, the other receivers quietly had a productive day.

Tyler Eifert led all receivers with eight receptions for 75 yards and a score.

Also, Theo Riddick hauled in six passes for 52 yards.

From the vantage point of watching the game on television, the receivers didn't make any crushing mistakes and did not drop any passes.

It's up to the coaching staff to get Riddick and T.J. Jones more involved in the passing game.

Offensive Line

Grade: B-

The Irish offensive line has consistently been the best position group to this point in the season, but yesterday wasn't a great day for the unit.

Zack Martin, Taylor Dever and Trevor Robinson were all flagged for false start penalties.

The entire group seemed like it was asleep from the start but did a good enough job of protecting Tommy Rees.

Despite the average performance, the big boys were still able to control the line of scrimmage.

Defensive Line

Grade: A

Notre Dame's defensive line had a second consecutive effective outing, hounding Pittsburgh quarterback Tino Sunseri from the get go.

One interesting package that defensive coordinator Bob Diaco inserted was Stephon Tuitt at nose guard with Aaron Lynch lining up on the outside.

That combination proved effective as Tino Sunseri was pressured all day.

Also, Pitt running back Ray Graham was limited to 89 rushing yards on 21 carries.

Linebackers

Grade: A

The heart and soul of the Irish defense, Manti Te'o, was exactly that on Saturday, leading the team with 10 tackles.

Joining in on the action was drop linebacker Darius Fleming who had, perhaps, his best game of the season.

One concern with this group was allowing an exorbitant amount of yards on underneath routes to Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins last week.

Against Pitt, the 'backers were much more effective against those same types of routes.

Prince Shembo returned to action after missing the Michigan State game due to a family emergency.

Secondary

Grade: B+

The Irish defensive backs have shown much improvement since the epic collapse at Michigan two weeks ago.

Leading that charge has been cornerback Robert Blanton, a player who has been highly praised by teammates and coaches in the last week.

He and fellow cornerback Gary Gray limited the Panthers to 165 passing yards and did an excellent job of playing within the system.

Special Teams

Grade: C+

Former walk-on kicker David Ruffer was anything but himself Saturday, as he missed what would usually be a very easy field goal attempt wide right.

It was his only attempt of the game.

The return game was horrid once again, although fumbles weren't an issue.

Coaching

Grade: B-

Despite the fact that the Irish came out victorious, the coaching in this game was still something to be concerned with.

Tommy Rees was confused with the different blitz packages and coverages presented by the Pitt defense, and Brian Kelly had a hard time helping him.

There weren't any adjustments made on the offensive side of the ball after halftime—a move that is irritating to say the least.

Luckily, the defense came ready to play and had a great game plan concocted by Bob Diaco.

Intangibles

Grade: A

Notre Dame showed its resiliency once again on Saturday especially during the drive late in the fourth quarter that put the team ahead for good.

As a team, the Irish are showing they have what it takes to win games.

I questioned the mental toughness of this team following the Michigan game, and the team has answered those negative criticisms.

With two very winnable games on the road against Purdue and at home against Air Force in the next two weeks, the confidence of this team is likely to skyrocket.