Notre Dame Special Teams, Defense Sparks 58-7 Rout Of Pittsburgh

Notre Dame, Ind. - On a day when Notre Dame’s offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders, the Irish defense and special teams provided the sparks to fuel a 58-7 rout of visiting Pittsburgh. Both the defense and the special teams scored touchdowns for the second straight game to propel the Irish (7-2) to victory coming out of last week’s bye.

Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts intercepted two passes, Jaden Mickey scored on his first career interception, Chris Tyree returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown and Ramon Henderson scored on a muffed Pitt (2-6) punt return.

Audric Estime was Notre Dame’s most consistent offensive force, finishing with 114 rushing yards and three touchdowns. It was Estime’s fourth 100-yard game of the season and his first since Sept. 16 when he gained 176 against Central Michigan.

It all helped the Fighting Irish overcome Sam Hartman’s off day. The veteran quarterback was 18 of 25 for 288 yards. He had no touchdown passes for just the second time this season and threw interceptions on Notre Dame’s first two drives of the game.

Notre Dame was marching downfield on the opening drive of the game before Hartman under threw Rico Flores, Jr on a deep post. Pitt’s Phillip O’Brien intercepted it and returned it 17 yards to the Irish 28.

Aided by a Marist Liufau sack on 1st down, the Irish defense forced a three and out and a punt. Chris Tyree fielded it at his own 18, slipped three tackles and then bolted for an 82-yard touchdown return and an early 7-0 lead.

After the Irish defense forced a second three and out, Hartman hit Tyree down the seam for a 47-yard gain. It was 2nd and goal at the 10 two plays later, but Hartman was intercepted again, this time by linebacker Brandon George on a short pass over the middle. George initially tipped it in the air and then caught it and returned it to the Irish 16. Hartman has thrown all five of his interceptions this season in the last three games.

Notre Dame went for it on 4th and 4 at the Pitt 36 early in the second quarter but Hartman’s pass to Mitchell Evans was off target after firing under pressure. The Irish still led 7-0 despite two interceptions and the turnover on downs on its first three drives of the game.

Watts, who had a pair of interceptions in Notre Dame’s last game against USC, struck again when he picked off Christian Veilleux on Pitt’s next drive. The Irish took over at their own 37 with 11:42 remaining in the first half.

The Fighting Irish capitalized with a 15-yard touchdown run from Estime to finish a quick four-play drive. Estime gained more than half of the yards on the 63-yard drive when he cranked out a 33-yard gain on the first play.

Pitt drove to the Irish 27 while completing consecutive passes of 14, 13 and 13 yards, but were ultimately forced to settle for a 45-yard field goal try that Ben Sauls pushed wide left.

Watts struck again when he came up with his second interception late in the first half. He returned it to the 14, but JD Bertrand was flagged for a blind side block on former Irish running back C’Bo Flemister, who finished with 24 yards on eight carries in his first game back at Notre Dame since transferring to Pitt prior to last season.

Notre Dame still started its drive at the Pitt 30 and settled for a 23-yard field goal from Spencer Shrader on the last play of the half. It looked like Hartman had his first touchdown pass of the day to Holden Staes two plays earlier, but it was negated by an offensive pass interference call on Evans.

Notre Dame’s defense rendered Veilleux to irrelevance. The sophomore was an abysmal 14 of 29 for 127 yards and four interceptions. He finished with a quarterback rating of 57.5. Pitt pulled him in favor of Nate Yarnell in the fourth quarter. Yarnell hit Konata Mumpfield with a 25-yard touchdown pass with 8:18 to play after the Irish had led 51-0.

Notre Dame’s defense forced Pitt’s fourth punt of the game to start the second half and then the Irish offense needed just three plays to go 80 yards for a Jadarian Price 10-yard touchdown run. Hartman opened the drive with a 60-yard catch and run to Flores.

Jaden Mickey came up with the biggest play of his young career when he jumped a pass Veilleux under threw to his left. Mickey, who made the start when All-American cornerback candidate Benjamin Morrison was a pregame scratch due to a quad strain, returned it 43 yards for a touchdown and a 31-0 Irish lead with 10:12 on the clock in the third quarter.

Freshman Christian Gray got in on the act when he intercepted Veilleux’s next attempt on the second play of Pitt’s next drive. It was Gray’s first career interception, and it gave Notre Dame the ball at the 50.

Notre Dame’s offense went three and out, but Pitt returner MJ Devonshire muffed the punt at the five. The ball rolled into the end zone and Ramon Henderson recovered it in the end zone for the second special teams touchdown of the day.

A 42-yard pass to Tobias Merriweather, his first catch since Oct. 7 at Louisville, set up Estime’s second touchdown run of the day to make it 44-0.

Steve Angeli came in at quarterback to play out the fourth quarter. The sophomore led a pair of touchdown drives, including the final points of the game when he hit freshman tight end Cooper Flanagan on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 3:41 to play. Angeli finished 6 of 7 for 92 yards in his first action since the Central Michigan game.

The Irish tallied 535 yards of total offense to 255 for the Panthers.

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