Saturday, October 15, fans packed the Notre Dame stadium for a more than exciting matchup. USC came into the game 3-2 while Notre Dame was 5-1. This was the 87th meeting of these two teams.
(Touchdown Jesus Pictured above).
The opening drive didn’t take USC long to move down the field and score.
But, the Irish were able to answer in one play, 75- yard pass from Kizer to Fuller.
As the end one the first quarter, the Irish had 21 points and USC trailed behind with 10.
Justin Yoon came away with a field goal for the Irish to increase their score to 24. However, the Trojans were just getting started. Irish defense got beat down the field on both touchdowns. Nearly every time USC touched the ball, a 5 yard-plus gain happened. The offensive couldn’t get a drive going and ended up punting the ball away every drive. Late in the second, the offense for the Irish had some momentum building, but at the two yard line, Torii Hunter Jr., reached out for the end zone and fumbled the ball. USC scored two more touchdowns before halftime evened the game out at 24. Right before half, USC kicker missed a 36-yard field goal.
Irish victory looked doubtful in the third quarter.The Irish came out of the second half looking flat. Punt after punt. The offensive was getting stuffed at the line, and Kizer had to release the ball quickly. Inaccurate throws didn’t help the situation either. Trojans scored three straight touchdowns to go up 31- 24. The third quarter was all Trojans.
However, Notre Dame was able to rally back 17 points in the fourth quarter. Each possession only lasted about 3:00 minutes and all under 10 plays. The crowd was on their feet and the stadium roared.
A Notre Dame defense interception sealed the deal with eight minutes left. The offense was able to shave time off of the clock, ending with a 32-yard field goal by Justin Yoon.
Kizer was able to throw for 234 yards and complete 16-of-25 passes on his fifth career start. He also had 58 yards on the ground. According to CFBstats.com, Kizer is ranked number 16th in the nation in passer rating.
Notre Dame improved its record to 6-1 and USC suffered its second loss in a row. The final score was 41-31.
There’s nothing like a home Notre Dame game. Night games are always my favorite games to attend, especially against USC. The atmosphere is so alive and the crowd is never silent. With the game being at night, tailgates last longer and there is more anticipation for the game. Around 200,000 people showed up all over campus to tailgate and attend pre-game traditions. Every home game since 1966 has been a sellout for the Irish. Fans (like me) fly in from all around the country to see The University of Notre Dame play a football game. Irish fans are said to be the most loyal fans than any other school.
The next football game is on Halloween against Temple. The Irish are working hard to stay healthy on their bye-week. Cleaning up both sides of the ball is also on the agenda.
“We play at different times really, really good football,” Brian Kelly said. “We saw it against Georgia Tech where we were dominating at times. We just haven't put together four quarters of football defensively, and then there are simply issues of fundamentals and tackling and doing your job and not somebody else's job.”
The Irish offensive needs to clean up the penalties and Kelly wants the tight ends to make a bigger impact.
Coach Kelly is confident in his quarterback and his team to not make the same mistakes. Tune in on October 31 on ABC at 8:00 p.m. for the Irish-Temple game.
