Author's E-mail: aaron.calhoun451@gmail.com
PREGAME
12:30 – Notre Dame has not beaten USC since 2001. This is going to be their best chance to break that streak since it began.
12:37 – Charlie Weis opts for no green jerseys this year; that’s fine, they won’t necessarily need luck to win.
FIRST QUARTER
12:54 – Both teams are turned away on their first offensive possessions; neither side got the fast start they wanted.
12:59 – USC tight end Anthony McCoy turns on his jets and catches a downfield pass for 34 yards.
12:59 – The Trojans get 18 more on a pass, underthrown by Trojan quarterback Matt Barkley but complete, to wide receiver Damien Williams.
1:00 – Bang. Bang. Bang. Williams fakes outside, then cuts inside and catches the first touchdown of the game. Other than the first pass to Williams, Barkley was dialed in on that drive.
7-0 USC
1:08 – USC defensive end Everson Griffen must have channeled Michael Jackson on that play; he spun around his opposing lineman and ended up right in Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen’s lap.
1:18 – The Trojans were able to stop the Irish, but it looks like the latter is finding success in the running game while the former is finding success in the passing game.
1:19 – Notre Dame fakes the field goal and gets 24 yards on 4th and 2; there was no one even close to wide receiver Robby Parris.
1:20 – A direct snap to running back Robert Hughes pulls Notre Dame even after an official review confirms the call.
Tied 7-7.
1:24 – A reverse on the ensuing kickoff is fumbled by, you guessed it, USC running back Joe McKnight. Why is it that teams who just got burned on trick plays often feel compelled to get cute too? The Trojans did manage to retain possession, though.
1:27 – END FIRST QUARTER. TIED 7-7
SECOND QUARTER
1:37 – That drive may have only yielded a field goal, but USC got their running game going in a big way. The Irish will be in trouble if the Trojans continue to be successful in both aspects of moving the ball.
10-7 USC
1:52 – Great heads-up play by USC wide receiver Ronald Johnson to stay with the ball after it caromed off two other players and pick up the first down.
1:55 – A USC running back not named Joe McKnight looked to have fumbled the ball, but Allen Bradford was clearly down upon further review.
2:01 – USC takes advantage of the overturned call and kicks another field goal.
13-7 USC
2:13 – The “He’s a freshman” argument only goes so far; with two minutes left, instead of just taking the sack, Barkley almost made a profound mistake in trying to get rid of the ball. He tried to chuck it to one of his linemen and got called for intentional grounding while barely avoiding a fumble.
2:16 – McKnight didn’t fumble the ball on that run, but he did go out of bounds voluntarily; Notre Dame can save their timeout and have around forty-five seconds to score before the half.
2:17 – USC punter Jacob Harfman proceeds to bomb his kick all the way to the Notre Dame 10 yard line; so much for giving the Irish a chance.
2:18 – HALFTIME. USC LEADS 13-7.
2:20 – It’s either team’s game at this point. Both offenses have been able to move the ball and both defenses have gotten stops.
2:28 – That was some insightful first half analysis by Saturday Night Live star Seth Meyers. Why hasn’t one of the networks hired this guy as an analyst?!
THIRD QUARTER
2:49 – Notre Dame has a long yard to go on 4th down; this good-looking drive will mean nothing if they don’t make it.
2:49 – The Irish went with a straight run into the trenches and fullback James Aldridge didn’t even get close; that was a poor decision by Weis considering how good kicker Nick Tausch has been (ten straight made).
3:00 – Coming off of a sack, the Irish blitz again, but Barkley hits Williams on a screen and he dashes to the end zone for his second touchdown of the day.
20-7 USC
3:08 – HOLY (expletive [sorry])! Clausen lofted it up for streaking wide receiver Golden Tate, who was blanketed on the sideline and had USC safety Taylor Mays converging, and he jumped up to make a miraculous catch for a touchdown. What a play!
20-14 USC
3:14 – The Irish blitz on 3rd and 1, but Barkley throws off his back foot as he’s hit and McCoy catches the pass, then bullies his way to the Notre Dame 5 yard line; these last few minutes have been extremely entertaining.
3:16 – USC answers with a touchdown of their own; both offenses are coming alive.
27-14 USC
3:25 – Williams and McCoy are making life miserable for the Irish secondary—Barkley hit both of them for huge gains. The only thing that has stopped USC on this drive, so far, is the third quarter gun.
3:25 – END THIRD QUARTER. USC LEADS 27-14.
FOURTH QUARTER
3:32 – On 2nd and Goal from the 1, McKnight is stopped short and he nearly fumbles.
3:32 – The Trojans go back to McKnight on a toss sweep, and he stretches the ball past the goal line without fumbling (although it did come loose when it hit the ground); no goal line stand for the Irish this time.
34-14 USC
3:40 – A late hit by Mays sparks an Irish scoring drive, but time is running short and the Trojan offense has been unstoppable in the second half.
34-20 USC
(Note: The extra point was blocked.)
3:51 – It’s not over yet. Barkley overthrows his receiver on 3rd and 14, Irish cornerback Gary Gray picks it off, and runs it back to the Trojan 13.
3:52 – Clausen is sacked on the first play of the drive and comes up limping. He’s staying in, but that can’t be good for his mobility considering he is already playing with a turf toe.
3:54 – Tate slips free over the middle and reels in his second touchdown catch. GAME ON!
34-27 USC
4:01 – Defensive end John Ryan came untouched to sack Barkley on first down; the Irish defense is choosing a good time to finally worry the Trojan offense.
4:03 – Notre Dame is going to get the ball back; is the college football world in for another heart-stopping finish from the golden domers?
4:07 – Running back Armando Allen made a heads-up play recovering that fumble by wide receiver John Goodman; if USC recovers that, then the game is all but over.
4:12 – 4th and 10 from the Trojan 30 yard line; the game is on the line after the timeout.
4:14 – Parris loses his helmet, gets injured, and still holds on to the pass to keep hope alive for the Irish. A helmet-to-helmet personal foul moves the ball to the Trojan 8 yard line.
4:15 – An incompletion on 1st and Goal, but a roughing the passer penalty moves it to the 4 with nine seconds left.
4:17 – Tight end Kyle Rudolph stays with a tipped ball, but his knee was out of bounds when he made the catch. Four seconds left—time for maybe one more play…
4:18 – Clausen tried to hit an inside slant to Tate, but it was knocked down and time may have expired; it looked like there was one second remaining when the ball hit the ground, though.
4:20 – One last second, one last play…
4:22 – Rudolph was wide open in the end zone, but Clausen missed him. USC, despite a severe lack of discipline and self-control by their defense, hangs on.
GAME OVER. USC WINS 34-27
FINAL THOUGHTS
USC deserves credit for getting out of South Bend with a win, but this game was another indication of the Trojans’ fall from dominance. They may have a similar ranking to those other great USC squads, but those teams never let an opponent battle back from a twenty point deficit in the fourth quarter and come up four yards short of sending the game into overtime. Matt Barkley had a career day, but his youth is still a resident and it came knocking at the worst possible time with that late interception; it is likely he will be great one day, but he’ll need more of the poise he showed at Ohio State for that to happen.
If Notre Dame weren’t this generation’s version of the cardiac kids before, then they definitely are now. It’s just too bad that their defense couldn’t figure out how to stop USC a little sooner because the Irish had clearly taken control of the momentum throughout the fourth quarter. What will hang over their heads this coming week, though, was the failed 4th and 1 conversion inside of Nick Tausch’s field goal range and the blocked extra point; right there is four points the Irish left on the field that would’ve left them behind three instead of seven on their final drive. It’s questionable calls like going for it on fourth down that cause such criticism to be thrown at Charlie Weis.
Too bad he catches it and an Irish receiver couldn’t catch the ball on that last play.
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