By Justin Albers
INDIANAPOLIS- It was not what Charlie Weis or any other member of the Irish nation needed to see on Saturday. The offense never got on track, and the defense gave up big play after big play in a 44-24 defeat before a crowd of 91,800 at the Coliseum.
The Irish started slowly, but what else is new. They have battled back to beat Michgian State and UCLA this season, so it would seem as if a rally would not be difficult. Notre Dame drove down to the USC 30 yard line on their first drive, but they turned the ball over on downs. On their first drive the Trojans went 71 yards on 8 plays and got into the end zone on a 9 yard pass from John David Booty to Dwayne Jarrett. Notre Dame was unable to do anything on their second drive, and USC made the best of their opportunity. John David Booty hit Dwayne Jarrett again, this time for a 5 yard touchdown. With 5:16 remaining in the opening quarter USC already led 14-0. On the ensuing Irish drive they showed that they could move the ball. They went 71 yards in 14 plays, but the drive stalled and they were forced to settle for a field goal. Notre Dame faced an 11 point deficit going into the second quarter.
The Trojans wasted no time getting on the board in the 2nd quarter. John David Booty capped off a 9 play 59 yard drive with a 1 yard TD run. USC had a 21-3 lead with 11:37 left in the half. The Irish were unable to get anything going on their next offensive possession, but they caught a big play on special teams. USC was unable to score, and they had their punt blocked. Notre Dame took full advantage, scoring on only 1 play, an 8 yard pass from Brady Quinn to Marcus Freeman. The Irish would get another golden opportunity when John David Booty threw an interception, but they failed to capitalize. USC went into the locker room with a 21-10 lead.
USC came out in the 3rd quarter with a perfect drive. They traveled 65 yards on 10 plays and scored on a 2 yard Chauncey Washington run. That drive took all the energy out of Notre Dame, and gave the Trojans a comfortable 18 point cushion. The rest of the quarter was uneventful, except for a huge drive by Notre Dame in the final minutes. Quinn led them down the field on a 10 play 58 yard drive that ended with a 2 yard TD pass to Rhema McKnight. The lead was once again 11 going into the final quarter of the game.
The Irish defense bent but did not break on the first drive for the Trojans in the 4th quarter. The drive ended with just a field goal and Notre Dame was still within 2 touchdowns. When the Irish were unable to score on their next possession, things looked bad for the visitors. They looked even worse when John David Booty led his team down the field for a backbreaking touchdown. He hooked up with Dwayne Jarrett for a 43 yard score, Jarrett's 3rd touchdown catch of the game. After a missed extra point, USC led 37-17. Notre Dame would answer with a touchdown, but they took nearly 5 minutes off the clock in the process. Then they tried to kick an onside kick, USC ran it back for a touchdown to put the Irish away for good.
Key Performers: Notre Dame
Brady Quinn 22/45 274 yards 3 TD 0 INT, 9 rush 74 yards
Darius Walker 14 carries 56 yards 0 TD
Rhema McKnight 6 rec 109 yards 1 TD
Jeff Samardzija 6 rec 79 yards 1 TD
Key Performers: USC
John David Booty 17/28 265 yards 3 TD 2 INT
C.J. Gable 20 carries 107 yards o TD
Dwayne Jarrett 7 rec 132 yards 3 TD
Steve Smith 3 rec 35 yards 0 TD
Grading the Irish
Rush Offense....................D+
It was pathetic. I blame it on head coach Charlie Weis. He wanted this game so bad that he failed to establish the run before the pass. Walker only had 14 carries, it was simply unacceptable. You can't do the same play every time. It was play action after play action. They were not fooling anybody. It was very ugly to watch.
Pass Offense.....................C
They may have passed it more than 40 times, but they were not very successful in doing it. Quinn looked lost, and did not have open receivers on any plays. Once again I let the blame lie with Charlie Weis. His play calling was not good, USC knew exactly what was coming. They are going to need a lot of work before they are ready to play in a bowl game.
Overall Offense................C
Even though the Irish offense struggled the entire game, they put up 24 points. In most cases 24 points should be good enough to win you a ball game, but not when you have the secondary that Notre Dame does. They needed to put more points up there on the board and they were unable to do that. It was almost like watching them play Michigan again.
Rush Defense...................C
USC didn't have great success on the ground, but they had enough to keep the defense honest. Gable was able to go over 100 yards so it was not a great performance for Notre Dame either. They really need to get more of a push up front if they want to disrupt anything against good teams. This is why you play tough competition.
Pass Defense....................D
Except for a short stretch in the second quarter when the Irish picked Booty off twice, the defense was abominable. They let Dwayne Jarrett catch ball after ball, and they showed no sign of being able to stop the SC offense. The secondary was terrible all night long, a long way from being ready for a BCS bowl.
Overall Defense...............D+
It's simple. You cannot give up 44 points and expect to win a game. It just will not happen. You can have the best offense ever, but if your defense can't stop anybody then you won't win a game. I'm not putting the loss solely on the defense because they gave the offense chances. They intercepted Booty twice and both times the Irish turned it over on downs. They struggled all night long and deserved to lose the game.
WHAT IT MEANS
It appears that USC did enough on Saturday night to move in front of Michigan and into the BCS championship game. As for Notre Dame, they may fall out of a BCS bowl because they lost by such a large margin. If I were in charge I would not put them in a BCS bowl because they don't deserve it. They have played 2 quality teams all year, and both times they were blown away.
HOW THE TOP 25 FARED
# 5 Arkansas 26 #9 LSU 31
#7 West Virginia 19 South Florida 24
#8 Louisville 48 Pittsburgh 24
#11 Texas 7 Texas A&M 12
#12 Boise State 38 Nevada 7
#13 Oklahoma 27 Oklahoma State 21
#15 Rutgers 38 Syracuse 7
#16 Georgia Tech 12 Georgia 15
#17 Virginia Tech 17 Virginia 0
#18 Boston College 14 Miami (FL) 17
#19 Tennessee 17 Kentucky 12
#20 Wake Forest 38 Maryland 24
#21 BYU 33 Utah 31
#24 Clemson 28 South Carolina 31
#25 Hawaii 42 Purdue 35
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