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Notre Dame Football

Game Thread | No. 10 USC at No. 21 Notre Dame

October 14, 2023
148,394

No. 10 USC (6-0) at No. 21 Notre Dame (5-2) 

Notre Dame Stadium | 7:30 PM ET | NBC | Line: Notre Dame -3.0 | O/U: 60

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Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love
Love has been great and earned his spot as Notre Dame's RB2 as the season has progressed. He's averaging 7.1 yards per carry and that's an incredible number given that his longest on the season is only 36-yards, which came on a fake punt. This could be a game where Love breaks a big one as a runner or receiver. He's due.

USC WR Zachariah Branch
Will Branch be healthy after missing the last two games? He's expected to play and has been practicing, but not as a full participant this week. He's a game wrecker as a returner and can flip a game with his speed. 

Notre Dame DT Howard Cross
Cross has been great for the Irish defense this season and they'll need him to continue that against USC. They need him to disrupt the pocket for Caleb Williams and make an impact stopping the run.

USC S Caleb Bullock
A ballhawk in the secondary who had five interceptions last season, he's the best player in USC's back seven...in coverage. He's had issues tackling and he's not alone. They are 111th in PFF's tackling grades. 

Notre Dame OT Blake Fisher
Fisher has had a disappointing season and he gets no break this week against a couple of very good USC edge rushers. Notre Dame needs him to play at a high level and be dominant as a run blocker.


Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
“As I told them on Monday, every week at Notre Dame is challenging. That’s what they do. I know they had midterms this week, but it goes back to preparation for your mid-terms and going doing a good job. 

“We won’t look to make any excuses. We embrace the challenge of the academic rigors of Notre Dame. It’s what makes this place so special. Our guys have done a great job. They have to prioritize getting rest and prioritize not wasting time. I think they’ve done a really good job.” 

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker:
“It starts with me. Sometimes when you call it on third down that I was hoping to get four downs on you’re making a run call to make a call on fourth down, they attacked our edges and again we didn’t execute properly. There is always one you’re going to stay up at night and say, ‘Man, maybe I can have that one back and go ahead and throw it there.’ That’s the stuff that I got to balance to make sure we attack them on. There is always an extra hat. It’s where you want it to be, and hopefully you execute better to do it. And then we got to put our guys in position to help them too.”

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
“We’ve got to do a better job. We’ve just got to keep tackling, keep fitting it, keep working through it. You're right. There were a couple tackles there that should have been — even earlier in the game, like sometimes you miss a tackle earlier in the game and someone bails you out. But you cannot, as a coach or as a standard on defense, say, ‘Oh, that's OK. That's OK.” Because it's not OK. I mean, we missed tackles early on, on a couple of screens. And they were two-yard gains that ended up being eight-yard gains.  

“That changes that series of downs. And then, as you said earlier, we just have to do a better job. So, we're working on it. But we’ve got to get the ball on the ground. And I think if we get the ball on the ground, our guys have confidence that we can get some red-zone stops. If you don't get the ball on the ground, you don't have that opportunity. If I was angry about anything on the long run, it was just — get the ball on the ground, and let’s play the next down.”  

Notre Dame TE Mitchell Evans:
”We don't really have an identity crisis, I would say. I just feel like that game was just a blip, to be honest, but I feel like our identity is when we want to run the ball, we can run the ball. Or when we want to pass the ball, we can pass. Whatever the situation needs, I feel like that's our identity. Whatever we need to do, we can do it. Whether if it's fourth-and-16, we gotta scramble and get the first down.Just any type of any type of player or situation, I feel like we can do that. It’s not like if it's a fourth-and-1 situation but our team can't run the ball, we have to pass it. I feel like we don’t struggle with that.” 

Notre Dame WR Jordan Faison:
”I definitely think I'm up to date with the playbook. I learned a lot over fall camp, and then especially now being involved into the offense. Coach Stuckey has taken a little extra time with me going over the playbook.”

Notre Dame DL Rylie Mills:
”I think everyone's kind of rallied around. Our goal is we're never satisfied. There's a million excuses you can make for everything but you know it comes to Tuesday like you gotta come out in practice your butt off or else like not be successful.” 

Notre Dame S Xavier Watts:
“It’s just coming out and having a mindset. Tackling is difficult. Everybody has to work on it, I feel like. Obviously we try to get better at it every day in practice, so we have to translate that to the game. Those angles are really important and staying vertical as much as you can. At the end of the day, it’s just shooting your shot, don’t be too hesitant with it. Those are the kinds of things I’ve been working on. I feel like lately I’ve been a little too hesitant. I just need to shoot my shot and show I’m capable of what I’ve known to do, what I’ve done before. Just thinking too much out there.” 


TEAM STATS

STAT USC NOTRE DAME
Total Yards 523.3 437.9
Passing  355.2 266.9
Rushing 168.2 171.0
Yards Allowed 421.3 279.4
Passing Allowed 264.3 146.6
Rushing Allowed 157.0 132.9

For Your Nerves 


PRESSERS

Under Armour White Notre Dame Fighting Irish Infinite 5 Running Shoe

Game Thread | No. 10 USC at No. 21 Notre Dame

148,374 Views | 920 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by JEB1979
Rwolf101
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Frankbuz said:

C'Bo Flemister had two TD against Louisville during Pitt's victory

How many picks did Phil manage to throw as a tight end that loud mouth no talent underaveiving puss
ndrockland
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Kick the FG. Do t be Dan Lanning
JDAtlanta
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ND is going to cover the spread
ejsjr
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Kick the ****in' field goal.
Sgt Hulka
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Man, Caleb looks like Ice Cube....

ND's defense had a good day
Joe1976
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Damn USC has a rough schedule ahead...... HOPE THEY LOSE THEM ALL
Greg Flammang
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Staff
Link to the postgame show

https://www.youtube.com/live/lK8MWt6TyKY?si=CXyQ9c8LcoAqkIz0
sstol
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Joe1976 said:

Cassin said:

Absolutely beautiful

Al Golden is a god
PAY THAT MAN!!!



Frankbuz
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Kick the FG
Hecklinski8
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Again, how are you not able to move the ball here??

This offense is gonna be the death of us when our defense doesn't show up
NDmark1
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JDAtlanta said:

ND is going to cover the spread


Maybe. They have Lincoln and Caleb. Explosive

IrishRob
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Enjoy the W
Joe1976
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Freeman being nice there...

F that lol.
ejsjr
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NDmark1 said:

JDAtlanta said:

ND is going to cover the spread


Maybe. They have Lincoln and Caleb. Explosive




The spread is like 2 1/2 points isn't it?
ndrockland
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Lincoln Riley. Does this guy know you have to play defense? I mean Oklahoma, now USC. Dude, get a clue
geckovip
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Joe1976 said:

Freeman being nice there...

F that lol.


Kicker needs practice on chip shots.
Joe1976
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sstol said:

Joe1976 said:

Cassin said:

Absolutely beautiful

Al Golden is a god
PAY THAT MAN!!!




YESSS!
Frankbuz
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Hecklinski8 said:

Again, how are you not able to move the ball here??

This offense is gonna be the death of us when our defense doesn't show up


Our weakest unit is the WR. Until someone shows they can beat a CB in man coverage, our offense is going to suck.
irishkevdc
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Nice win but holy **** this offense is a train wreck.
Ryan_ATL
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Sgt Hulka said:

It's almost like Golden was embarrassed from happened last year in LA and has been scheming this deal since January


Masterful tonight
SHAMROCK
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Still think FG is the wrong call there. I am sure it won't matter. But the worst case scenario is long field and three scores down.
NDmark1
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ejsjr said:

NDmark1 said:

JDAtlanta said:

ND is going to cover the spread


Maybe. They have Lincoln and Caleb. Explosive






The spread is like 2 1/2 points isn't it?


Yes. Kidding
Rwolf101
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Joe1976 said:

Freeman being nice there...

F that lol.

I disagree. That was ice cold. Usc has no chance but kept calling timeouts. The 3 was icing on the cake.
nd93 mom
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I would have enjoyed a fake POT in favor of a TD. Just sayin'……..
ndsean44
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These commercials breaks are stupidly long
atl irish
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This is a slaughter. This team showed up
ndSlaw
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Nice way to cap a great game by X
hockey8390
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Let's go!
Cassin
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Feed me more sacks
6926bp
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Give credit to the coaches
syens1
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Watt mvp
atl irish
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****iing Watts went insane tonight
ejsjr
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The cherry on top of the mile high defensive sundae!
Cassin
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Watts!
PepND04
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X watts!! What a game for him
 
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