Everything Bruce Pearl said about Auburn's 24-point blowout win over Notre Dame

Bruce Pearl has not been thrilled with Auburn's second-half defense in the first two games. He's questioned the team's effort and energy, even their desire to "hate to lose." But on Thursday evening, he saw some good signs. Pearl challenged his team at halftime after watching a 14-point lead turn into a 6-point lead at the break. However, he placed more of the credit on his players for challenging themselves before the final 20 minutes. "I think the magic words were said by the players in the sense that this is their team," Pearl said. "We had given up 33 points, 71 is kind of what our magic number is, so we put it on that. We knew we had to hold those guys down in the second half. The players understood that Notre Dame played with greater effort and energy than I thought we did." More from Pearl inside...