Notre Dame vs. USC: First-Quarter Analysis

As is the case with nearly every rivalry game, there will be moments of frustration. Notre Dame certainly experienced some of that in the first quarter of its game against USC. Still, the Irish should be pleased with where they are at. A 7-0 lead through 15 minutes will do that.

The frustration came on the game’s opening drive. Jack Coan smoothly executed a game plan that got the Irish into the Trojans’ red zone. A drop by Kevin Austin on third-and-4 soon after derailed some of the excitement. All excitement went away when Jonathan Doerer kicked a 36-yard field-goal attempt wide right.

The Trojans were unable to capitalize on this break when they went three-and-out on a drive that began when Jayson Ademilola sacked Kedon Slovis on the first play. The Irish got the ball back and had an even better drive than the one before. A series of short gains were made possible by runs from Kyren Williams and a combination of passes from Coan and Tyler Buchner. The drive ended with the game’s first score when Coan threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Avery Davis.

The Trojans took the ball back looking like a much different offense. They went to their bread-and-butter by finding star receiver Drake London on back-to-back first-down plays. The second such play came at a hefty cost to the Irish as Kyle Hamilton went down awkwardly on his knee trying to defend the pass. He didn’t put any weight on his leg as he was helped off the field, so we’ll have to see what happens with him for this game and beyond.