SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It wasn’t just about the thousands of passes senior wide receiver Chris Tyree caught from Notre Dame’s $50,000 robotic quarterback this summer.
The humility to go to an incoming freshman, wideout Jaden Greathouse, and pick his brain about how to make his own conversion from running back more impactful this season helped make all that repetition come alive.
And so did being strong enough to weather the growing pains and the criticism early this season when Tyree’s unselfish shift in positions played like an experiment with good intentions but not necessarily a good ending.
And now, after Tyree helped the 14th-ranked Irish obliterate Pitt, 58-7, Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium and has emerged as Notre Dame’s leading wide receiver in receptions (19) and yards (417), the part of it that makes it seem unlikely to morph into a mirage is the toughness that has surfaced along with this recent statistical spike.
Mental and physical toughness to pull in contested catches. Even his brilliant 82-yard punt return that jump-started the Irish scoring began with two broken tackles and some serious leg churn through a scrum before running away from the Pitt punt coverage team.
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“It’s just being able to put that preparation into work and then finally getting able to show it on Saturdays,” Tyree said of his new-found chutzpah and three catches for 62 yards Saturday, including a deep shot for 47. “It’s just adjusting to the new role. I’m definitely getting really confident in where I’m at right now.”
It appears to be contagious. Three games after an admittedly diluted Irish wide receiver group labored for a collective four catches for 56 yards in a 21-14 survival at Duke on Sept. 30, they combined for 11 receptions for 233 yards on Saturday as the Irish amassed a season-high 380-yard passing total behind starting QB Sam Hartman and backup Steve Angeli.
Included in that total were two catches for 50 yards for demoted sophomore Tobias Merriweather and the first college catch for freshman Braylon James, a 12-yard reception.
“Every time we have a somewhat good game as a whole, as a receiver room, we always say, ‘That’s the standard. That’s what we can do,’” Tyree said. “We’re trying to constantly raise that each and every day and after each Saturday as well. We’re just trying to continue to grow.”
It’s actually necessary that they do if getting to a 10-2 regular-season record and a New Year’s Six Bowl are going to be realistic goals for the Irish (7-2), as well as actually winning one for the first time since the 1995 season.
They’ll get their first official progress report toward that end Tuesday night (7 EDT on ESPN), when the College Football Playoff selection committee — which is the matchmaker for all New Year’s Six bowls, not just the playoff semis — releases its first rankings of the season.
Pitt (2-6), 26th in total defense nationally coming into the week, was a team that usually does naturally what Duke, Louisville and — to a certain extent — a defensively challenged USC team schemed up the past three games. And that is to load the box, bringing extra resources to defend the run, and daring the Irish to beat them with the pass.
But after Hartman threw interceptions on ND’s first two offensive possessions, sandwiching the first Irish punt return for a TD in eight seasons, and the Irish turned the ball over on downs on the third, the Notre Dame passing game took flight.
“We said we wanted to throw some balls down the field and make plays,” Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. “We saw that. One of the first ones was picked off. And I remember telling [offensive coordinator Gerad] Parker and telling the offense, ‘No matter what the result is on the last play, we're going to continue to be aggressive and take shots down the field.’ That's what I loved to see out there. They continued to be aggressive and started making those plays down the field.”
Hartman finished 18-of-25 for 288 yards and the two picks, complemented by Audric Estimé in the running game with 114 yards on 19 carries and three TDs. The junior AP midseason All-American is 99 yards away from a 1,000-yard rushing season with three regular-season games and a bowl left to go.
Angeli was impressive in mop-up duty, going 6-for-7 for 92 yards and his first collegiate TD pass, a 19-yarder to freshman tight end Cooper Flanagan.
For the second straight game, sandwiched around a bye week from a game and from classes, the ND defense so overwhelmed the opposing offense, it only really required the Irish offense to be opportunistic rather than dynamic. This time, Parker’s unit was eventually able to do both, with 535 total yards, most against a Power 5 opponent this season.
A game after coaxing five USC turnovers, the Irish defense forced four on Saturday. And special teams got a fifth on a muffed punt, recovered by Irish safety Ramon Henderson.
ND senior safety Xavier Watts had two of ND’s four picks Saturday, giving him four in the last two games and six on the season. Going into Saturday’s games, Iowa State’s Jeremiah Cooper and Kentucky’s Maxwell Hairston shared the FBS lead nationally with five picks each.
The Irish have 13 interceptions as a team this season. Going into Saturday’s action, only Liberty (16) had more than 12 this season.
And the Irish harassed Pitt starting QB Christian Veilleux into a paltry 57.5 pass-efficiency rating, even with All-American cornerback Ben Morrison being a late scratch because of a quadriceps injury and sidekick Cam Hart exiting early with an upper-body injury.
Freshman Christian Gray and sophomore Jaden Mickey were phenomenal in filling in, each picking off a pass. For Mickey, who returned his first career interception 43 yards for a TD, his big play came with a heavy heart.
Dad Lamar and mom Nilka were watching back home in Eastvale. Calif., unable to make it out to the game. Lamar shared with Inside ND Sports that Nilka has recently entered hospice care for Stage 4 colon cancer.
“That’s all I was thinking about," Jaden Mickey said of his family. "I told my friends, I was like, ‘I promise I’m going to get one today.' I just was picturing my mom and my dad in the living room yelling. I said, ‘My mom’s gotta see this.’ I'm happy it happened today."
After roughing up reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams in a 48-20 romp over USC on Oct. 14, the Irish defense encored with their best run-defensive showing of the season (53 yards on 19 carries) and a 1-for-11 conversion rate on third down for the Pitt offense.
Veilleux replaced former Notre Dame QB Phil Jurkovec after five relatively ineffective starts this season. The sixth-year grad is now listed as the Panthers’ third option at QB and did not play against the Irish. He ran routes and blocked as a tight end in warmups but has yet to appear in a game at that position.
Two other former Irish, both from the same 2018 recruiting class, did see action for Pitt. Running back C’Bo Flemister started for the Panthers and ran for 24 yards on eight carries with one reception for minus-4 yards. Starting linebacker Shayne Simon collected a tackle and a QB hurry.
Sixth-year safety DJ Brown is the only member of that 27-man class still on the Irish roster.
The Irish now turn their attention to Clemson (4-4), a 24-17 loser at NC State on Saturday, despite only yielding 202 total yards. Coupled with road loss at Miami last week, the Tigers have dropped back-to-back games for the first time since 2011. Kickoff is set for noon EDT on ABC.
“If you're not a fierce competitor and that doesn't excite you, this isn't going to be the right sport for you,” Freeman said of the road trip to Clemson. “We're excited to get another opportunity to play this game versus a really good opponent, and it's on the road in a hostile environment. Our guys will be ready to roll.”
And perhaps with a revived passing attack when the Irish need it most, thanks in part to Tyree’s growth spurt.
“Honestly, I never really thought about the numbers,” he said. “I’ve always thought about how I can help the team as much as I can. With me being a new receiver now, that’s the best way I can do it.”
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