Jeremiyah Love and No. 9 Notre Dame overwhelm No. 23 Pittsburgh in 37-15 victory

PITTSBURGH AP Jeremiyah Love ran for yards and a sum Malachi Fields hauled in a pair of touchdown passes and No Notre Dame breezed past No Pittsburgh - on Saturday The Fighting Irish - have won eight straight games by an average of points since their - start Notre Dame likely demands to merely avoid upset bids by Syracuse or Stanford to end the season to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff Love gave his burgeoning Heisman Trophy campaign a boost by finishing with yards of total offense the highlight coming on a -yard sprint to the end zone in the first quarter that included a spin move at midfield that left Pitt s Kavir Bains-Marquez grasping at air Notre Dame s Tae Johnson picked off Heintschel on the next play from scrimmage and raced yards to the end zone to give the Irish an early -point lead they never squandered C J Carr threw for yards with two interceptions and touchdown passes of and yards to Fields The -foot- Fields made a leaping grab at the goal line to secure the first result late in the first half then effectively put the tournament out of reach early in the second half by barrelling into the end zone against a tournament but ineffective Pitt defense that was physically overmatched at times It was much the same on the other side of the ball as Notre Dame kept Panthers true freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel in check Pitt s rise to near the top of the ACC standings began when Heintschel supplanted Eli Holstein to start October Heintschel s impressive start hit its first key speed bump against an Irish defense that gave him little time or space to work Heintschel completed just of passes for yards with an interception while getting sacked four times He had a -point conversion attempt late in the third quarter returned -plus yards the other way by Irish safety Adon Shuler to put Notre Dame up - and end any remote chance of a comeback after a pick- by Pitt s Rasheem Biles had briefly given the Panthers a jolt Takeaways Notre Dame The Irish seem to be getting better with each passing week Save for specific questionable play-calling Notre Dame turned it over on downs at the Pitt in the first half when the Irish opted to have Carr pass rather than hand the ball to the best running back in the country this one was never in doubt just like the greater part of Notre Dame s previous seven victories The Irish will hold steady at worst and could tick up a spot or two in the polls depending on what happens elsewhere in the country Pitt The Panthers still have a shot at reaching the ACC title battle if they can beat No Georgia Tech and No Miami to end the regular season Still they were decidedly outclassed by the Irish who outgained the Panthers - and bullied Pitt in a way it hasn t been bullied this year Pitt s appearance in the AP Top and the CFP rankings figures to be a cameo though the Panthers will have multiple chances to earn their way back in over the next two weeks Up next Notre Dame Hosts the Orange next Saturday Pitt Travels to Georgia Tech next Saturday Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top throughout the season Sign up here and here AP News mobile app AP college football https apnews com hub ap-top- -college-football-poll and https apnews com hub college-football Source