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Two days after a 31-17 home loss to the USC Trojans the victorious team from Southern California is already preparing some bulletin board material for next season's game in Los Angeles. Several USC players, including starting quarterback Matt Barkley, believe that the Fighting Irish quit on coach Brian Kelly. Notre Dame did not use its timeouts when USC had the ball with about seven minutes left, and the Irish showed little urgency in the fourth quarter while trailing by two scores:
"It seemed from our sideline and our perspective that they did give up. It seemed uncharacteristic of Notre Dame. I wouldn't have wanted to have been on that sideline."
Once USC took possession with 6:43 left the Trojans were able to run out the clock on ten consecutive running plays. Running back Marc Tyler also believes the Irish quit:
"That's what happens when you beat them down," running back Marc Tyler said Saturday. "We wore them out. They didn't want to play no more. We out-physicaled them and beat them down."
Once again, turnovers were a major issue, as a fumble by Dayne Crist as the Irish were about to tie the game was returned 80 yards for a touchdown by Jawanza Starling. It was a major momentum-changing play, and the Irish managed just one offensive touchdown and 267 yards of total offense after having two weeks to prepare for the Trojans.
If you weren't able to catch the game, this clip on loop via Mocksession is really all you need to see:
Trailing by just a touchdown late in the third quarter, and driving, Notre Dame's senior backup quarterback Dayne Crist fumbled at the Trojans' 20-yard line. It was recovered by USC and returned 80 yards for a score. What could have potentially been a tie game quickly flipped to another two touchdown lead for Southern Cal.
Notre Dame did get back within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, thanks to a 25-yard touchdown run by Jonas Gray, which accounted for more than half of the Fighting Irish's rushing yards on the night, but the Trojans put it away seven minutes later after another Notre Dame turnover. On just the third play after the turnover, Matt Barkley hooked up with Robert Woods from 14 yards out for their second touchdown connection of the game.
In all, Notre Dame turned the football over three times and rushed for just 41 yards compared to USC's zero turnovers and 219 yards rushing. USC's Matt Barkley was 22-of-35 for 224 yards and three touchdowns. Robert Woods caught 12 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
The Southern Cal Trojans jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter, but the Fighting Irish fought back in the second quarter to cut the deficit to just seven heading into the third quarter.
Trojans got on the board first at the 6:16 mark when quarterback Matt Barkely found Randall Telfer from two yards out. Five minutes later, Barkley found Robert Woods from just a yard further out to give USC a two touchdown lead.
After much of the second quarter was quiet, USC added three on a 25-yard field goal from Andre Heidari to make it 17-0. On the ensuing kickoff, though, Notre Dame's George Atkinson III returned Heidari's kick 96 yards to put the Fighting Irish back into the game.
After stopping the Trojans on five plays, the Irish got the ball back at their own 25 and drove all the way down to the Trojans' seven yard line, but could only muster three points just before the half.
At the half, Tommy Rees is 13-of-21 with 110 yards passing. The Fighting Irish only have 17 yards rushing, however. As for the Trojans, Matt Barkley is 12-of-20 with 125 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Trojans have racked up 125 yards rushing.
Does crowd noise feed player performances or do player performances feed crowd noise?
Regardless of that chicken-or-egg conundrum, Notre Dame Fighting Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick clarified recent remarks by calling on the "quieter" 70 % of fans (the ones not in the student section) at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend to amp up the excitement and noise levels when the rival Southern Cal Trojans come to town this weekend on Oct. 22.
“What I intended to say on both occasions, I got right in one dining hall and got it wrong in the other,” the Notre Dame athletic director said of his pep talks about crowd noise to the ND students.
“The accurate version is that I think our students are as loud and as engaged and effective as any in the country. The other seven-tenths of the stadium could do better and needs to match the students’ enthusiasm and intensity. In that regard we are a quieter place to play.”
After a week off to heal nagging injuries, relax, and prepare for the second half of the season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish play host to the Southern Cal Trojans Saturday night inside Notre Dame Stadium, the first night game held at Notre Dame since a 1990 28-24 win over Michigan. The 4-2 Irish will look to have consecutive victories over the Trojans for the first time since 2001, as they won in Los Angeles last season 20-16, thanks to a late TD run by RB Robert Hughes, who steamrolled several SC players along the way.
Known as the 'Greatest Inter-Sectional Rivalry in the Country', Notre Dame and Southern Cal have met previously 81 times, including every year since 1946, making this the 66th straight season these two football powerhouses have met. This rivalry has produced 21 National Championships between the two schools, with many years the winning team using their victory to springboard them to the title. This won't be the case in 2011, but it remains one of the must-see rivalries in college football every season. The Irish holds a 43-33-5 series advantage, but lost eight straight to the Trojans before last season.
USC comes into South Bend 5-1 on the season, with their only blemish being a 43-22 road loss at Arizona State. Last Thursday night they forced five Cal turnovers in a 30-9 win over the Golden Bears. QB Matt Barkley leads the way for the Trojans, completing nearly 70% of his passes, and has thrown 16 TD passes to just four interceptions, and is being talked about as a high first round pick in next year's NFL draft. He did start back in 2009 against Notre Dame, a 34-27 USC victory, but was injured a season ago and did not play.
The Notre Dame Offense had one of its best games over the past 5 seasons last time out against Air Force. Their 59 points were the most since 1996, as they scored eight touchdowns on just eleven possessions, and will look to have similar results against a USC defense that has been vulnerable against the pass this season, giving up over 270 passing yards per game, which is 105th nationally, and ranks just 70th in Pass Efficiency defense. Look for Irish QB Tommy Rees to spread the ball around frequently, trying to get multiple receivers into the game. Last year, Michael Floyd had a huge day against the Trojans, catching 11 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown, and will be the focus of the passing attack, but keep an eye on the other Irish receivers, namely TE Tyler Eifert and WR Theo Riddick, who will play big roles on Saturday night.
Rees is also looking to make-up for possibly his worst game at Notre Dame, where he threw three picks against USC a year ago, as well as fumbling inside the Irish 5 yard line, leading to the only touchdown allowed by the ND defense the final three games of the regular season. The turnover problems continued into this season, attributing to their two losses this season. However, the Irish have played mistake-free the past two games, both blowout wins. The Trojans have forced 10 turnovers on the season, but five of those did come last week. Notre Dame will have to take care of the football to win on Saturday, as they can't give USC short fields if they expect to win. The ND Defense shouldn't be expected to bail them out time and again like they did last year.
Speaking of the Irish defense, they will be tasked with slowing down one of the best aerial assaults they'll face all season. The Trojans have thrown for nearly 300 yards per game, and 8 yards per attempt, and will put pressure on an Irish secondary that has looked shaky at times, especially against long passes. A key to the game will be the matchup between USC WR Robert Woods, who has 60 catches on the season already, against the two ND Cornerbacks, Robert Blanton and Gary Gray. Much like Floyd for the Irish, Woods is their go-to playmaker, and they'll look to get him involved early and often. He had 8 catches for 81 yards last year against Notre Dame.
The running games for each team will be tested, as both defenses have been very good stopping the run this season. The Irish gave up a lot of yards to Air Force two weeks ago, as they ran the option with moderate success. However, Notre Dame has swallowed up all other "conventional" rushing attacks this season, which is what they'll see on Saturday. Southern Cal's starting RB, Marc Tyler, injured his left shoulder last week against Cal, and it's still up in the air whether he'll play Saturday or not. If he can't go, Curtis McNeal will do the heavy lifting, as he had 86 yards rushing and a TD against Cal.
USC's rush defense has also been up to the task this season, giving up less than 3.5 yards per carry. However, they haven't faced a combination like Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray yet, who are averaging over 6.5 yards per carry on the season. In fact, according to SB Nation's Bill Connelly and his S&P+ ratings, USC's rushing defense is pretty average, ranking just 74th in the country, while the Irish rushing attack ranks 7th nationally. For USC to win, they'll need to slow down both Wood, Gray, and possibly Freshman QB Andrew Hendrix, who came in for a couple series against Air Force and had a long 78 yard run off the read-option.
Last season, Notre Dame used their bye week to regroup after two disastrous losses to Navy and Tulsa and win their final three games of the season, including the game at USC. This season after the bye the Irish look to keep their momentum going after four straight wins. The Irish are an 8.5 point favorite in Vegas, and certainly looks that way on paper. However, as in all rivalry games, those numbers fly out the window. Being the first night game in over 20 years will create an electric atmosphere, something Notre Dame Stadium hasn't seen since the Trojans visited in 2005.
If the Irish don't turn the ball over, they win this game going away. Look for USC to throw a few wrinkles in, much like Pittsburgh did, to confuse Rees under center. The Irish must find a way to get to Barkley as well, who has only been sacked four times all season. If Barkley has time to find Woods and the other receivers, it could be a long night for the Irish secondary. ND's defensive line is all healthy, so that'll be a key match-up to watch Saturday. In the end, look for the Fighting Irish to run their win streak to five games, as they'll be too much at home for Southern Cal to handle.
SB Nation Indiana pick: Notre Dame 38, USC 27
Notre Dame's Unused Timeouts Vs. USC Sell For $53.50 On Ebay
by Brian Packey
A couple weeks ago vs. Southern Cal, with 6:43 left in the game, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly decided to not use any of his timeouts, despite only being down 31-17. USC proceeded to run out the clock:
Some Notre Dame fans didn't quite see it how Kelly saw it. In fact, one salty Notre Dame fan put a pair of shiny Brian Kelly timeouts up for auction on Ebay. Yes, you can sell anything on Ebay these days. The auction ended tonight and they were sold for a total bargain $53.50 to "e***e". Free shipping, too!
Nov 05 9:37p