Instant Reaction | Notre Dame 30 USC 27
It was closer than anyone wanted it to be in the end, but a dominant first half helped the Irish to a big win over USC.
The game plan on defense was terrific. They took away the big play. They forced USC into running the ball when they didn’t want to. They frustrated Kedon Slovis into 4.3 yards per attempt and held USC to 3.9 yards per play.
The most important stat was holding them to three points.
The second half was a different story. Slovis was much sharper and USC was able to attack the middle of the field more effectively. Markese Stepp was a huge factor running the ball breaking tackles as well. They wanted to dare USC to run, but it started to feel like a bad idea once Stepp got going.
Even when Clark Lea adjusted with extra pressure, they showed they had the advantage against Notre Dame’s corners in man coverage.
Notre Dame wouldn’t have won the game without that long drive in the fourth quarter. Hats off the Irish offensive line and Ian Book, who wasn’t very sharp in the game, but was good on that drive when he needed to be.
Throw in some clutch kicks from Jon Doerer and it was a total team win with other areas of the team picking each other up when needed.
It’s been awhile since Notre Dame had one one of those. It would have felt better for every fan if they didn’t have to sweat it out during the second half, but anyone who complains about a win against USC must have forgotten the Pete Carroll years.
This makes Brian Kelly 7-3 against them. Not bad for a guy who looked like he might have coached his last game for Notre Dame after that blowout in Los Angeles back in 2016.
- The Irish ended up giving up only one play longer than 30-yards the whole night and it was a brilliant throw by Slovis and catch by Amon-ra St. Brown. They needed more negative plays to compliment that strategy in the second half, but limiting Michael Pittman and Tyler Vaughns was an effective strategy until late in the game.
- I think if Lea could roll back the fourth quarter, he would have rushed four on that final touchdown drive. Jamir Jones had that sack on the three man rush, but without any stunting, it made it too easy for Slovis to step up and either make throws or run.
- It was not a great start for the offense, which seems to be too much of a recurring theme. It was a great use of tempo to turn things around on that 97-yard drive in the second quarter, though.
- Let’s call it like it is on offense: Notre Dame was much tougher than them. Especially the offensive line and Tony Jones who proved that they were much tougher than USC.
I don’t know how many yards after contact Jones finished with, but it had to be a ton. It wasn’t like he didn’t have big holes to run through as well. Their defensive line got worn down by the Irish.
308 yards on the ground is good on any day. 308 yards on the ground against USC is a great day for Notre Dame.
- Everyone expecting a Dexter Williams-esque debut for Jafar Armstrong left disappointed, but with how Jones is running, Armstrong might end up as a complimentary piece to the offense. That may actually suit his skill set better as he doesn’t run inside as well as Jones and doesn’t pass block as well either.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Notre Dame uses him against Michigan.
- Great call by Long on the end around to Braden Lenzy. Not only did it take advantage of his great speed, it put Lenzy up against Christian Rector. He’s solid in other areas, but hopeless in space against quick athletes like Lenzy.
- The pop pass to Chris Finke on a key third down in the fourth quarter was the opposite of that call. He wasn’t going to out athlete any USC defensive back if the call didn’t fool USC up front. They sniffed it out and it went nowhere.
You have to put players in a position to succeed and that play did not do that.
- I mentioned before the game that a key for the Irish would be to get them in 3rd and long. USC was 4 of 5 on 3rd and 4 or less. They were 1 of 7 on all 3rd downs of 5 yards or more.
Slovis was 2 of 6 on 3rd downs and they only made one first down passing on those completions.
- Where would Notre Dame’s offense be without Cole Kmet? Let’s not even bother talking about it because it would not be pretty.
- Asmar Bilal balled out. Wow, everyone was completely wrong about him after week one of this season. He’s playing his way into being an NFL prospect.
- Bowling Green beat Toledo today. Brian VanGorder’s defense only allowed seven points against a team that was a 27-point favorite.
Georgia played terrible today and lost to a team with a losing record.
Michigan let Illinois, Lovie Smith’s Illinois, almost come back and beat them.
Chew on that for a moment while thinking about Notre Dame beating USC three times in a row and the Irish heading into the open week 5-1.