Notre Dame vs USC: Perfect Hollywood Script Co-Written By The Irish
If you grew up a Notre Dame fan or even became one later in life, there is one lesson you learn early. Losing to USC is never OK. It just isn’t. Period. For any reason. Winning seven of the last nine battles and every one since 2017 only to relinquish control so quickly and in showstopping fashion in year one of both Marcus Freeman and Lincoln Riley’s tenures will sit poorly with the Irish all off-season.
Aside from dropping to 8-4 on the year the Irish also aided in catapulting USC potentially into the College Football Playoff and most assuredly aided in Trojan’s quarterback Caleb Williams’ Heisman bid. Certainly, he is spectacular, and likely deserves the award on merit alone. But that doesn’t change the fact that Notre Dame had a particularly bad game in a lot of key areas they couldn’t afford to. And it cost them the game.
The Irish didn’t give the Trojans their best shot. That is the most disappointing part of the evening for Irish fans and has only helped to inflate already plenty large LA area egos. Let’s take a look at Notre Dame’s most costly breakdowns.
Slow Start
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Everybody who has watched Notre Dame play this year knew that they could not afford to get behind USC early. The Irish offense just isn’t built to keep up in a shootout. A fast start was critical for Notre Dame to dictate play their way.
Instead, Notre Dame found themselves down 10-0 early after allowing an impressive opening statement TD drive by USC. Williams made it look “video game ” easy against the Irish defense. Combined with Notre Dame not being able to garner any early traction on offense despite the Trojans struggling defensively all year, this slow start was a harbinger of bad things to come. Southern Cal seized control.
Turnover Battle
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Again, a key area Notre Dame simply could not afford to lose at -2. Not only could they not afford to commit 2 turnovers, but both were absolute backbreakers. At critical times and junctions in the game. Brutal.
The last thing an opposing team can do is provide the high scoring USC offense with extra chances on short fields. These two major mistakes alone kept the Irish just out of reach of any hope of a comeback. A bitter pill to swallow considering [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag] actually had a very solid statistical day other than these keys errors despite still being notably limited overall.
O Line U?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 26: Logan Diggs #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs the ball against Shane Lee #53 of the USC Trojans in the first half at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Notre Dame was thought to want to enter this game and play bully ball up front. Pound the rock. Be physical. Their bread and butter. USC was going to want to throw it all over the yard. These contrasting styles.
USC beat Notre Dame the way Notre Dame wanted to play AND the way they wanted to play. The Irish had 90 yards rushing to the 204 of the Trojans. USC won up front in this regard. They played physical on the O-Line and had Williams’s arm and dazzling escapability to lean on as well. The Irish couldn’t match that output in the run game. Period.
Irish Defense
Nov 26, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver Jordan Addison (3) runs the ball against Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Benjamin Morrison (20) during the first half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
In total yardage the game ended up fairly even at 408 yards for the Irish and 436 for the Trojans, it’s just that the yardage looked and felt so different. Much of what USC tried to do either functioned through the effective run game or Williams’ ability to extend plays. It worked and kept the Irish off balance. Looked easy. Nothing came easy on the Notre Dame end most of the night.
Notre Dame also seemed to be a step sluggish defensively. Seemed a half step from full gear, especially early on. The tackling was atrocious and made Williams seem like he had superpowers all evening. No turnovers, bad tackling, and allowing 204 rushing yards is a bad recipe before I even bring up the Heisman front-runner.
Containing Caleb Williams Specifically
Nov 26, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams (13) runs the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
This was perhaps the most frustrating part of the game from an Irish fan perspective. Caleb Williams was terrific. But he didn’t have to look as good as he did. Both of these statements can be true at the exact same time.
Notre Dame did a particularly poor job containing him all night, as everyone does. I get it, But Notre Dame couldn’t allow it to happen in this moment. Not with the Heisman on the line, the CFP for USC, power in the rivalry up for grabs year one of the new coaches, all of it. Not to this extent. This was essentially a coronation of a rival’s QB at Irish expense and watching his earned showboating stings bitterly.
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