Whether or not it was truly the last yearly meeting between Notre Dame and USC, the Irish put their stamp on the historic rivalry, defeating the Trojans 34-24.
“That’s what it’s about, it’s about sacrificing,” Marcus Freeman said. “It wasn’t an easy win.”
Jeremiyah Love has had a career filled with big nights, but Saturday may have been his best yet. The junior ran for a career-high 228 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. The performance placed Love fifth in rushing yards in a single game in program history.
The defense also buckled down in the fourth quarter, forcing three turnovers and holding the Trojans scoreless. The run defense continued to thrive, allowing just 68 yards on 29 carries.
“We challenged them, let’s make (USC) one dimensional,” Freeman said. “Our guys kept battling and that’s what is takes to have success.”
The first half was a mixed bag for the Irish, some good, some bad, and it wasn’t going to be good enough to win on Saturday.
After winning the coin toss, USC proclaimed it wanted the ball — and it was obvious why.
The Trojans marched right down the field with ease as Jordan Maiava picked apart the Irish on a statement 10 play drive. The quarterback was ⅘ for 62 yards with a couple big throws. Facing a 3rd and long, Maiava found a wide open Tanook Hines for 24 yards.
He capped off his impressive opening drive with about as perfect a throw as you can picture, hitting Luke McRee high in the right corner of the endzone for a 10-yard touchdown strike.
If the Trojans opening drive was any indication, Notre Dame’s offense was going to have to put points on the board — and often.
Love got the message.
The junior running back only needed two rushes to take the Irish 75 yards for an opening score of their own. Love set up his touchdown with a mammoth 63-yard run up the left hash to ignite a rainy South Bend.
Maiava continued his impressive start dissecting the Irish defense, and even with Bryce Young sitting in his lap, the quarterback flicked a throw down the sideline for a 21-yard completion to Hines. Notre Dame did snap back in as Adon Shuler knocked loose a third-down pass to force a USC field goal.
Following USC’s field goal, the Irish’s defense beared down, forcing two straight punts as well as a turnover on downs deep in their own territory. Drayk Bowen came up huge on the fourth down stop, blowing up the Trojan tight end at the line to force the incompletion.
On the other side of the ball, the running game propelled Notre Dame to the lead. Jadarian Price followed up Love’s hot start with 56 rushing yards on the Irish’s second touchdown drive of the half. The back capped it off with a blazing run to the left pylon to put Notre Dame up 14-10.
The running game as a whole was unstoppable, rushing for 182 yards on 15 carries in the first 30 minutes. Love was as special as ever, putting up 134 of those yards.
182 rushing yards was the most USC had allowed on the ground all season — Notre Dame did it in the first half.
CJ Carr on the other hand was anything but special. The signal caller struggled mightily throughout the half, missing open targets and running into sacks. But his worst play came when Notre Dame was knocking on the door of the endzone.
Facing a third and goal at the two-yard line, Carr didn’t have an open target, opting instead to scramble all the way back to the 20. What happened next best resembles a seven year old playing a game of Madden. Carr heaved a pass that didn’t reach the endzone but instead was intercepted by USC.
Carr finished the game with a pedestrian stat line, going 16/26 for 136 yards and a touchdown.
“It’ll be interesting to talk to CJ to see what he felt,” Freeman said. “If he knew what was causing those incompletions he would have fixed it.
“He’s resiliant man. Did a good job of leading the team down in the second half.”
The Trojans capitalized off the errant throw to put up one last field goal at the end of the second to go into half down 14-13.
To kick off the second half, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock put the ball into Carr’s hands to try and get the quarterback going. It worked as the signal caller completed four passes for 31 yards, capping off the drive with a six-yard strike to Will Pauling over the middle of the endzone to extend the lead.
Now with the offense moving the defense was running into trouble — mostly in the secondary. The Irish were flagged for three defensive pass interference penalties on the Trojan’s next two drives. Christian Gray was named responsible for two of those flags.
Things got worse for Gray as Ja’Kobi Lane hit him with a double move and got loose for the 66-yard touchdown score, putting USC up 21-16.
The lead didn’t last long however — thanks to Price.
The running back reignited South Bend with one touch of the ball, taking back the kickoff for 100 yards. Noah Burnette missed the extra point, but the Irish still led 27-24.
With the Trojans chasing again in the blink of an eye, it was no other than Gray to keep it that way. The sophomore feasted on a bad throw by Maiava, intercepting the Trojan and setting up Notre Dame to take control of the game entering the fourth quarter.
“I reminded him, no one feels bad man,” Freeman said. “After that pick he ran over and said a couple words to me. I liked that. You have to let the last play go and that’s an example of what Christian did.”
The Irish’s offense couldn’t take complete control however as it came up short in the redzone. Carr’s third down pass to Jordan Faison was a little high, and the receiver couldn’t reel it in. Burnette continued to struggle, shanking a chip shot field goal to the left to come up scoreless after the interception.
With the offense not making the big plays, it was the defense who continued to step up at the right time. After an explosive reception, Makai Lemon tried his hand in passing — it didn’t work.
After taking a reverse to the boundary searching for a receiver, Lemon panicked and was met by Adon Shuler, who forced a fumble recovered by the Irish.
Love — who crossed over 200 yards rushing on the drive — got Notre Dame down the short field in a hurry, blasting forward with 36 yards on the ground. While he didn’t put the ball into the endzone, he did lead the way for Carr who found the endzone on a one-yard keeper.
Needing a score, and fast, Maiava and the Trojans were faced with a fourth and inches. Lincoln Reilly opted to forgo the sneak and instead rolled Maiava out to the right, and Notre Dame was ready. The Trojan quarterback faced pressure and had nowhere to go, spiking a pass into the turf.
The Irish offense couldn’t slam the door shut, but it drained enough clock to leave USC to fight a losing battle with the clock. Luke Talich was the recipient of a late-game interception to seal the game for the Irish.
Notre Dame will now head on a bye before hitting the road to take on Boston College on Nov. 1.
“This is the reward for the hard work,” Freeman said. “Tomorrow the reward goes away. We have to make sure we enjoy it.”
