Last Saturday night, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame
defeated the rival Trojans from Southern California, 14-10. The victory
improved Notre Dame’s record to 5-2, and it also ended a home losing streak to
the Trojans that dated back to 2001. Notre Dame has now won three out of the
last four contests with USC, and it appears that the momentum has shifted in
this great rivalry.
The game on Saturday was really a tale of two halves. The
Irish open up the game with a solid drive, but the USC defense ultimately got
the first big play of the game when they stuffed a Notre Dame run attempt on 4th
and goal from the 1-yard line. From there, the Trojans drove 96 yards on 13
plays and took a 7-0 lead on Silas Redd’s 1-yard touchdown run. After that, Notre
Dame quickly responded with a 10-play, 77 yard touchdown drive that was capped
off by a 7-yd strike from Tommy Rees to Troy Niklas. Later, USC would add a
field goal in the second quarter to take a 10-7 lead, and it appeared they
would head to the locker room with a halftime lead. But, with 2:42 remaining in
the half, Notre Dame raced 91 yards down the field on five plays to take a
14-10 lead. The drive was highlighted by two long runs by Cam McDaniel (24 and
36 yards) and an 11-yard touchdown catch by T.J. Jones.
With that, the Irish went into halftime with a 14-10 lead, but
that would be it for the scoring. Tommy Rees left the game due to a neck strain
with nearly nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, and the offense was
non-existent from that point forward. With the offense struggling to move the
ball, the Notre Dame defense took it upon themselves to close out the game. Not
only did the Notre Dame defense hold the Trojans scoreless in the second half,
they also appeared to get their swagger back. For the first time all season,
the Irish defense looked like the 2012 defense.
The Positives
1. The first half offense. Prior to Tommy Rees exited the game
in the second half, the Irish offense was really clicking in the first half. In
particular, Brian Kelly made it a point to pick up the pace of the offensive
attack. Notre Dame opened up the game with back-to-back 10-plus play, 70-plus
yard drives. In all, Notre Dame ran 36 plays during their six first half
drives, spanning a total of 268 yards on the field. Tommy Rees look very
comfortable running the high-tempo attack and finished his night with
impressive numbers. Rees completed 14 of his 21 passes, for 166 yards and two
touchdowns. Based on the success the offense had running up-tempo, I would
expect this style of play to continue throughout the remaining five games.
2. Stephon Tuitt is back. After a slow start to the season,
Stephon Tuitt has regained his 2012 form over the last few weeks and Saturday
night was a perfect example. Tuitt finished the game with seven tackles and two
sacks, and he was virtually unstoppable in the second half. Tuitt’s relentless
play in the second half helped set the tone for the Irish defense, and is the
main reason why Notre Dame defeated their rivals.
3. Jaylon Smith is the real deal. Jaylon Smith really had his
coming out party against Arizona State when he made two key stops on the edge
where he held his containment. Those two plays really showed his athleticism,
as well as his interception did on Saturday night. Smith made a great read in
zone coverage and broke on the open receiver before the ball was even thrown to
make the interception. It appears that the Irish may have a special player for
the next two or three years.
The Negatives
1. Stalled opening drive. After 10 plays and 73 yards on their opening
drive, the Notre Dame offense was stopped on 3rd and goal from the
2-yard line and was stuffed for a three yard loss on 4th and goal
from the 1-yard line. After possessing the ball for 4:32, the Irish offense
came away empty handed. It would have been a huge momentum builder if the Irish
could have cashed in for a touchdown, but poor playing calling may have been a
reason why the drive ended on a turnover on downs. With 1st and goal
at the 8-yard line, Notre Dame called for four running plays with Cam McDaniel.
Personally, I would have liked to have seen the Irish throw the ball at least
once and try to utilize their big tight end, Troy Niklas.
2. Tommy Rees’ injury. With 9:31 left in the third quarter,
Tommy Rees dropped back for a pass and was driven to the ground by Lamar
Dawson. The sack resulted in Rees being injured and he was gone for the
remainder of the game. The good news is that Tommy is expected to start this
weekend at Air Force. The bad news, Irish fans got a glimpse of what life
without Tommy Rees would be like and it wasn’t pretty.
3. Andrew Hendrix’s performance. Even though Tommy Rees was sidelined
for the majority of the second half, it is not an excuse for the offense’s lack
of production. I understand it is tough to come into a game “cold”, but Andrew
Hendrix needs to perform better. By all indications, Hendrix throws the ball
very well in practice and even has a stronger arm than Rees, but that obviously
has not translated to game success. If Brian Kelly is faced with a similar
situation later this season, he may just have to consider taking the “redshirt”
off of freshman Malik Zaire.
-Eric Tichelbaut
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