Notre Dame Football: Winners and Losers from Irish's Win over Pittsburgh

Notre Dame got a win against Pittsburgh in Week 4, but it wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops for the Irish.

The game was littered with mistakes and missed opportunities. Notre Dame showed tremendous heart by pulling out a win late in the fourth quarter, but given the talent disparity between the two teams, there’s no reason that the game should have been that close.

All in all, the Irish recovery marches on, but there are some adjustments that must be made if it’s going to continue.

Coming out of the Pittsburgh game, a few players and coaches stood out as winners and losers.

WINNER: Tommy Rees

To say that Tommy Rees had and up-and-down afternoon in Pittsburgh would be a tremendous understatement.

Early on, Rees struggled to decipher the multitude of looks that the Pathers defense threw at him. He was confused. He was rattled. Even as the Irish coaching staff began to feed adjustments in to Rees, he couldn’t execute consistently.

Then, something happened. Who knows what it was, but all of a sudden, Rees woke up.

On Notre Dame’s final scoring drive, Tommy Rees completed all nine of his pass attempts, marching the Irish 85 yards for the winning touchdown (and two-point conversion). He was calm, poised, accurate; he was everything that Brian Kelly knew Rees could be when he handed the sophomore the keys to his offense.

All in all, it was a pretty rough day for Tommy Rees, but the way that he bounced back to lead the Irish to a victory absolutely makes him a winner.

LOSER: Dayne Crist

When Rees was stumbling through the first half, the NBC cameras unsurprisingly panned over the Dayne Crist on the sidelines.

As the Notre Dame offense continued to stagnate, it seemed inevitable that Crist would get another shot at the helm. Yet the call never came. Crist spent the entire day on the sidelines, outfitted with a baseball cap, rather than a golden helmet.

It’s impossible to know exactly what’s going on at practice every day, but the fact that Kelly never seemed to even consider a quarterback switch speaks volumes about his level on confidence in Crist, which at this point seems nearly nonexistent.

If there was ever a time to give Crist a chance, it was this game.

Perhaps it’s good news for the long term that Rees has such impregnable job security, but for Dayne Crist, it might signal the end of his playing career at Notre Dame.

WINNER: Tyler Eifert

Of the nine passes that Tommy Rees completed on Notre Dame’s game-winning drive, five went to Tyler Eifert, including the touchdown and two-point conversion.

When Rees needed a security blanket, Eifert provided a reliable target over the middle of the field. Even as Michael Floyd was suffocated by the Panthers' defense, Eifert found a way to get open.

He cruised past the overmatched Pittsburgh linebackers in man coverage, and sat down in holes when the Panthers switched to a zone. On the final touchdown, he found space between two defenders and used his 249-pound frame to shield them off and secure the football, and the win.

Overall, Eifert led the Irish with eight catches and 75 receiving yards. That alone would be a good day for the tight end, but what he did to preserve the confidence of his quarterback really makes him a winner.

LOSER: Michael Floyd

Michael Floyd’s day couldn't have started out much better.

On Notre Dame’s first play from scrimmage, he turned near disaster into success, making a juggling catch with a defender draped all over him and breaking free for a first down.Floyd was the target for three of the first four offensive plays for the Irish.

Then he disappeared. Floyd’s next catch didn't come until the game’s final possession.

The Pittsburgh defense deserves a ton of credit for finding ways to bottle up Floyd, but Notre Dame isn’t going to win many games when its best offensive player is a non-factor for 90 percent of the time. All afternoon, the Irish offense was dying for a spark, but Floyd wasn't able to provide it.

Double team or no double team, Michael Floyd needed to find a way to get himself involved in the game. His talent goes beyond just winning one-on-one match ups. He should be able to win against double coverage at least part of the time.

Every team remaining on Notre Dame’s schedule will see the Pittsburgh film. Every team will think that it can neutralize Michael Floyd by simply rolling a safety to his side of the field.

Floyd needs to prove them wrong, or else the Irish will be losers again this season.

WINNER: Bob Diaco

After struggling against Michigan’s sandlot offense this season, and having been carved up by Navy, Michigan and Todd Graham’s Tulsa squad last season, it seems Bob Diaco has finally figured out how to stop an option attack.

His defense stepped up and allowed just 268 yards and 12 points against the Pittsburgh Panthers.

The tackling could have been better, but Diaco did an excellent job of preparing his players and calling a game that put them in positions to succeed. Notre Dame wasn’t perfect on defense, but they never looked confused by what Pittsburgh threw at them.

Led by Aaron Lynch, Darius Fleming and Prince Shembo, the pass rush finally woke up. The Irish recorded six sacks, including two on Pittsburgh’s last drive that effectively ended the game. The fact that Notre Dame could finally get to the quarterback on a consistent basis took pressure off of the secondary and forced the Panthers to switch to a more conservative game plan.

There will always be a few areas where the Irish could have executed better, but Bob Diaco’s outstanding defensive game plan against Pittsburgh was a big reason that the Irish were able to leave with a win.

LOSER: Brian Kelly

The Notre Dame offense, which had effortlessly rolled up yardage through the first three weeks, was completely befuddled throughout the entire first half in Pittsburgh.

Some of the blame for the struggles should fall on the shoulders of Tommy Rees, but the majority rests with Brian Kelly for his inability to adjust to Pittsburgh’s scheme.

Kelly couldn’t seem to get his team in the right play, as Pittsburgh switched up its defensive scheme on seemingly every snap. Rees was not adequately prepared for what the Panthers threw at him, and he and Kelly were clearly not on the same page.

Expect to see the same type of defensive trickery from future Notre Dame opponents; Kelly must find a way to adjust. Whether it’s sending two plays in for each snap, or just teaching Rees how to adjust on the fly, something has to change. Fifteen points isn't going to get the job done against USC or Stanford.

Ultimately, the Irish got the win, and that’s all that matters.

But in the weeks ahead, Brian Kelly needs to tune up his offense in order to ensure that the wins keep coming.