After a shaky first half last week, Notre Dame regrouped at halftime and came out to dominate Virginia Tech en route to a 45-23 win over the No. 24 ranked Hokies.

After an impressive first drive of the game, the Irish offense looked anything but sharp while the defense lacked the intensity of the previous week against Stanford. But whatever head coach Brian Kelly and his staff told the team at the half worked as a different Irish team took the field for the final two quarters.

Quarterback Ian Book had his first “bad” outing in the first half. Defensive end Julian Okwara was ejected for targeting and the Irish seemed to go through the motions.

Book’s most glaring shortcoming was his inability to throw the long ball. Book began the game going 8-for-8 for 114 yards in the opening series. He then finished the first half 7-of-15 for 49 yards and an interception. Part of the miserable first half was the Hokies run defense, which was ranked fourth nationally. ND had a minus-three yards on 13 carries in the half.

The return of Dexter Williams to the lineup has been a major plus for the Irish, who are a little short on running backs. Williams is making the most of his senior year and chances to show himself. His 97-yard touchdown scamper at the start of the third quarter started the Irish on their way to their sixth victory. Williams finished with 178 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns. It was a remarkable night for Williams, who had to sit out the first four games due to a university imposed suspension. Williams has had other problems to face during his years at ND, including problems academically and physically. But he vowed to overcome everything that had happened to him, some of his own making, to come back and be a valuable member of the team. So far he has fulfilled that promise to himself and his teammates.

Another outstanding performance came from receiver Miles Boykin, who caught eight passes for 117 yards and two TDs. Book finished the night 25-for-35 for 271 yards with two TDs and one interception.

Defensively, Te’von Coney had nine tackles as did Asmar Bilal with Julian Love getting seven, Drue Tranquill, playing with a broken hand, had five as did Jerry Tillery.

Khalid Kareem had his best game of the season with tackles causing 17 yards in losses for the Hokies and two sacks. Love also had an interception that set up a ND score and returned a fumble for a score.

More on the game later.

Today the Irish are home against another ACC rival in Pittsburgh.

Pitt enters the game at 3-3 with wins over Albany, 33-7; Georgia Tech, 24-19; and last week Syracuse, 44-37 in overtime. The three losses were to Penn State, 51-6; UNC, 38-35; and UCF, 45-14. The win over Syracuse was an important one for the Panthers. Syracuse entered with just one loss.

Pitt is led by runningbacks Qadree Ollison with 596 yards on 92 carries and five TDs. Quarterback Kenny Pickett has run for 103 yards on 24 carries.

Pitts doesn’t throw the ball a lot as Pickett’s stats will tell you. He has completed 87 of 142 throws for 880 yards with six TDs and five interceptions. Considering they have played six games to date, that is not a lot of attempts or yards. The top receiveris Rafel Araijo-Lopes with 13 catches for 167 yards and three scores.

ND leads the series, 47-21-1. The last time the two teams played was 2015 at Pitt with the Irish winning, 42-30.

The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV with a 2:40 p.m. kickoff.

IRISH NOTES ... Some more game stats from last week. Chris Finke caught three passes for 71 yards, Alize Mack had six for 39 and Chase Claypool four for 26. Justin Yoon made his only field goal attempt of 31 yards. Virginia Tech never punted in the game .... Notre Dame entered the Tech game with an overall strength of schedule of No. 8 .... The Irish allowed fewer than 17 points in four of their first five games .... The Irish move up one spot in theAP poll to fifth this week .... Notre Dame began construction of a new indoor facility in April that expands the indoor space available to the football program. It is schedule to be completed by July 2019. The new facility will be a valuable tool in the recruiting process .... Although the Irish probably won’t be playing anymore ranked teams this season, they have to stay focused, and that especially means today. The last time an undefeated Notre Dame team hosted Pitt was in2012. It took three overtimes for the Irish to escape, 29-26. ND is heavily favored today, by 21 points. Since 2012, Pitt has upset five ranked teams, including a 28-21 win over Notre Dame in 2013. ND can’t take the Panthers lightly like they did Ball State in game two of the season .... After today’s game, ND is off next week and then travels to San Diego, California, to face Navy. ND has one more home game in South Bend, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. against Florida State. In between ND is on the road after Navy to Evanston, Illinois, to face Northwestern, and then Nov. 24 at USC. The Irish play Syracuse in a Shamrock Series game in Yankee Stadium on Nov. 17. A home game away from home .... A short column this week as I headed to South Bend on Wednesday morning. In my preseason picks I have the Irish winning today. And they should. But ND can’t letdown as they enter at 6-0 and with the national press predicting ND could end up in the top four by season’s end, if they stay unbeaten. Pitt has caused ND problems in the past, but I hope Kelly and his staff hammered that home during this week’s practices.