Postgame Analysis- Notre Dame 23, Pitt 17

That one got a little too close for comfort, huh? Notre Dame was up 20-3 at halftime and then the final was 23-17... Again, a win is a win, but is it too much to ask for Notre Dame to put an opponent away early instead of letting them stay in the game?

Still, the Irish hung on and are now 3-3 on the season. At the end of the day, that's what matters most. I just wish the finish hadn't been quite that exciting.

Game ball-

The birthday boy, quarterback Dayne Crist. On his 21st birthday, Crist played arguably his best game of year. He looked poised and confident, never put the ball in harm's way, threw for 242 yards while completing (roughly) 61 percent of his passes, and ran in a touchdown. As Brian Kelly said, he is improving with each game. Happy birthday Crist!

Positives-

-Notre Dame capitalized on Pitt's mistakes. They were able to come away with points off of Sundari's interception, and scored touchdowns on their drives following Pitt's two missed field goals. Ultimately, those two missed opportunities were the difference in the game.

-The Irish also exploited their opponent's weakness. In this case, it was Pitt's secondary. We all knew coming into the game that Pitt had a soft secondary, and Crist and his receivers took advantage of it. Wide receivers Michael Floyd, Theo Riddick and true freshman T.J. Jones all played great (other than Riddick's iditoic offensive pass interference penalty).

-NOTRE DAME WON THE TURNOVER BATTLE! I REPEAT, NOTRE DAME WON THE TURNOVER BATTLE! Pitt had two turnovers and for the first in a game this season, Notre Dame had none! As I said above, Crist did not make any dangerous throws. They protected the ball well. It was heartening to see them on the positive end of the turnover battle for the first time this season.

(Note: Armando Allen actually did fumble later in the game, but was ruled down before the ball came loose. We got lucky on that one, especially because Pitt would've recovered the ball on ND's 15 yard line.)

-I have to give a shoutout to Notre Dame's special teams, especially field goal kicker David Ruffer. Not only has he made all of his field goal attempts on the year, but he calmly drilled in a 50-yarder today. Ruffer has now completed his last 16 field goal attempts in a row- a school record. Not too shabby for a walk-on, huh?

Punter Ben Turk had a good game as well. He also deserves an Oscar nomination for his acting performance on the roughing the passer call against Pitt. He made a fine show of going down hard and making sure the ref saw him limping to the sideline.

-Gary Grey. Having a cornerback who can tackle is a wonderful thing. I also liked what I saw from safety Harrison Smith. Particularly when he intercepted Sundari.

-The run/pass ratio was pretty even. It's always a plus when a team has a balanced attack on offense and don't have to rely on your quarterback or running back alone. It also makes a team harder to defend. That's why Notre Dame going up early on Pitt was an advantage. Pitt has an excellent run game, but because they fell behind so early they had to throw the ball more and play catchup, which took them away from their strength on offense.

Negatives-

-Notre Dame went a little bit backwards with penalties today. It wasn't so much the number of penalties that was the problem. It was mostly that they took the penalties at the most inopportune times. The two that stick out to me were Riddick's interference call which called back a touchdown, and Braxton Cave's huge holding penalty.

-I'd like to see the Irish dominate on both sides on the line of scrimmage a little more. The game starts and ends at the line of scrimmage. It's hard to complain about the defensive line when they had a multiple-sack game, but they need to be more consistent with their pressure. The offensive line is also better than last year, but they still struggle at times.

-I bet you thought I was going to make another Brian Kelly visor joke here, didn't you?

-Finally, Notre Dame needs to develop a killer instinct. This is the second week in a row where they were dominating with a considerable lead only to let the other team get back in the game. Just like against BC, the Irish were on a roll, then seemed to get comfortable and take their foot off the gas, which let Pitt hang around for too long. This game could've- should've- been over soon than the end of the fourth quarter. Notre Dame fans have seen too many horrendous fourth quarter collapses recently. They need to be able to deliver the final blow and end games like this early.

Notre Dame now has a two-game winning streak going, a breathe of fresh air after a 1-3 start. They will hopefully be over .500 this time next week. I don't care to imagine what will happen if they lose to Western Michigan.