Notre Dame Stays in Title Hunt As They Hold on Against USC

South Bend, Indiana – Notre Dame hosted the University of Southern California in its 91st game against both storied programs.  Notre Dame is sitting nicely at the ninth position in the national rankings as of yet and they are looking to make a come back into the top four.  Meanwhile, the USC Trojans are looking to find some sort of stability.  The Trojans were happy to see that their new starting quarterback Kadon Slovis has recovered from his concussion and will start the game.  Going into this matchup, Slovis is looking to continue to build apron his great start and keep the Trojans headed towards victory.  Unfortunately for Slovis and the rest of the USC team, Notre Dame is not an easy opponent to get past.

                    The Trojans started off the game receiving the ball in the first half.  On USC’s first position they were unable to make any significant progress and had to kick the ball away.  The Fighting Irish were in the same boat as the Trojan defense was able to force them to punt the ball away.  This would be the case for almost the whole first quarter until USC was able to get into field goal position.  The Trojans were able to put up the first points of the game but this 3-0 game would not last for long as Notre Dame was looking to make a statement.  On the Irish’s first possession of the second quarter they were able to score within three minutes, over powering the USC defense.  Notre Dame’s quarterback Ian Book connected with Cole Kent for a 10-yard pass, giving the Irish the lead 7-3 and considerable momentum.

The next Trojan possession would result in eight plays for 29-yards and a punt.  Giving the Irish yet another chance to put points up on the board.  Notre Dame took advantage and was able to see the end zone again with a huge run from Braden Lenzy for 51 yards.  That touchdown would extend the Irish’s lead to 14-3.  USC was looking to make a powerful response but the Notre Dame defense had other plans for the men of Troy.  The Irish, on third down came up with a huge sack on Slovis for 12-yards forcing USC to punt the ball away.  Notre Dame responded with this three and out with a nine play 29 yard drive resulting in a field goal to extend their ever growing lead to 17-3.

The fighting Irish received the ball in the second half and were looking for another touchdown but the Trojans’ defense were able to hold them to just a field goal.  USC looking to turn this game around were able to push the ball 68-yards on eleven plays but unfortunately responded back to Notre Dame with a field goal themselves.  This put the score at 20-6 Notre Dame commanding the lead.  The next Irish possession was their most dismal display in the entire game.  They were only able to move the ball 37-yards on ten plays resulting in a turnover on down after an incomplete pass on 4th.  The Trojans took this little bit of a momentum shift and utilized it to their own advantage.  Slovis connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 38-yard touch down giving the Trojans a fighting chance to make a comeback.  The score at this point is 20-13 and the momentum shift has seemingly gone to USC.  Book and the fighting Irish offense look to make a strong response but the USC defense was able to come up with some crucial stops forcing them to just a field goal.  This would be the last points scored in the third quarter, putting the score at 23-13 with Notre Dame holding the lead.

At the start of the 4th quarter, USC was determined to get back into this fight and in nine plays for 75-yard they were able to find the end zone.  Between Markese Stepp and Stephen Carr, they were able to pick up significant ground to put the men of Troy in great scoring position.  Slovis was able to connect with Tyler Vaughns for 5-yard in the end zone that closed the Notre Dame lead to just three points.  The Irish responded with their own 75-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown in the next position.  Notre Dame’s Book connected with Jahmir Smith for a beautiful 13-yard pass that gave the Irish a great field position on the USC 40-yard line.  After a few passes and some solid runs, Book kept the ball and rushed for 8-yards and a touchdown with about three and a half minutes left in the 4th quarter.  With this touchdown, this would extend the Irish’s lead to 30-20.  The Trojans responded to this touchdown with a touchdown of their own.  Stepp was able to find the end zone after the offense was able to move downfield for 77-yards on nine plays.  This, unfortunately, was not enough to stop Notre Dame from winning as USC had to use their timeouts.  Notre Dame ended the game with the victory formation and taking a knee to run the clock out.  Notre Dame takes home the win 30-27.

USC clearly has some places to improve but considering that their starting quarterback is extremely fresh, this could mean that the Trojans have something to look forward to in the incoming years.  Notre Dame might have taken the win but for the 9th ranked team in the nation to not just roll over an unranked team means that the Irish may need to rethink their approach on play calling.  Not all the plays called were bad and sometimes USC just happens to make the right adjustment to slow them down. But it will be interesting to see what will come from both of these storied schools in the future.  The USC Trojans will be hosting a PAC-12 after the dark home game against Arizona on October 19th at 6:30PM.  The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be on the road against (16) Michigan on October 26th.

Written by Robert Henry

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