Notre Dame Celebrates on USC’s Turf, Wins 22-13

Nov 24, 2012   //   by admin   //   Football  //  Comments Off on Notre Dame Celebrates on USC’s Turf, Wins 22-13

Screen Shot 2012-12-27 at 9.39.32 PMLOS ANGELES–The Coliseum’s walls are awfully thin.

As Trojans coach Lane Kiffin addressed the media following his team’s 22-13 loss, he could hear the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrating. Notre Dame had just secured a national championship bid on the Trojans’ home turf.

This was supposed to be the Trojans’ season. Instead, the preseason No. 1 team in the nation dropped its fifth game of the season. In a season with such high hopes, USC ultimately lost four of its last five regular-season games after beginning the year with a 6-1 record.

“It’s very difficult for everyone in our locker room,” said Kiffin. “For everything that hasn’t happened the way we wanted this season, we hoped things could have been different today.”

Led by Heisman trophy-hopeful Manti Te’o, Notre Dame’s talented defense limited the Trojans to 13 points and 285 total yards. The Trojans converted just one of eight third-down opportunities, and Marqise Lee was held to five catches and 75 yards, marking the first time the explosive receiver was kept under 100 yards in six weeks. It was also his second-fewest catch total of the season.

Screen Shot 2013-02-01 at 8.41.13 PMThe Fighting Irish gained 222 yards on the ground with senior running back Theo Riddick doing most of the damage. “It was a great feeling to see the offensive linemen doing their job and moving those big guys up front to make great holes for us,” said Riddick. “Without them, there’s no me.”

“I would give kudos mostly to the offensive line,” said Trojan linebacker Hayes Pullard. “They recognized our defense.”

Not only did Riddick gain 146 yards on 20 carries (7.3 yards per rush), but he continually moved the chains, keeping the Trojan defense on the field and the Trojan offense on the sidelines.

In the loss, redshirt freshman quarterback Max Wittek, who was starting for the injured Matt Barkley, showed flashes of brilliance. Wittek’s second throw of the night was a deep beauty, but went right through Lee’s hands. Then, in the fourth quarter with the Trojans down nine points and fewer than six minutes remaining, Wittek hit Lee for a 53-yard strike all the way down to the 2-yard line.

After a pair of pass interference penalties, the Trojans were one yard away from cutting Notre Dame’s deficit to within a field goal (22-20, pending the extra point). But as many of USC’s games unfolded this season, the Trojans could not make a key play down the stretch. After three unsuccessful runs (two Wittek sneaks and a McNeal no-yard rush), Kiffin dialed up a fourth-quarter play-action pass. Wittek had an open Soma Vainuku in the end zone, but Vainuku could not come up with the low pass.

“Our plan was to pass to the outside,” said Kiffin. “We weren’t able to convert with the fullback on the flat out. That really is the story.” After the turnover on downs, the Irish essentially ran out the clock, having to punt with less than a minute to go and leading by two scores (nine points).

Despite Wittek’s respectable line of 14 of 23 for 186 yards and a touchdown, at times, he showed his inexperience with poorly executed or ill advised passes.

Screen Shot 2013-02-01 at 8.40.05 PMOn the Trojans’ last possession of the first half, Wittek was intercepted on a deep ball intended for Lee. While Lee probably should have made a better (or any) effort to bat down the ball, the pass was not placed well.

And then on the Trojans’ very first possession of the second half, Wittek made a poor decision not to throw the ball away. Facing intense pressure on the play, Wittek threw the ball directly to Te’o, who caught it and probably considered sending the freshman quarterback a thank you note after the game.

Wittek’s two interceptions were the only turnovers of the game.

All season, Notre Dame has excelled at taking care of the football, and Saturday night was no different. “They are not very exotic, but they don’t give things up,” said Kiffin. “You can see that today they went 69 plays without committing a turnover.”

Sophomore quarterback Everett Golson was nothing special, but he managed the game well. Although Golson’s 217 passing yards and no touchdowns are nowhere near spectacular, he avoided mistakes, handed the ball off to Riddick and allowed his team’s running game and defense to win the game.

Early in the fourth quarter, Wittek also misfired on a critical third-down, red-zone opportunity, throwing a pass too high for Lee.

“You are not going to beat the No. 1 team in the nation kicking field goals instead of getting touchdowns,” said Kiffin. As a result of Wittek’s overthrow, the Trojans were forced to settle for a 21-yard field goal that made the game 19-13.

For the Fighting Irish, sophomore Kyle Brindza was a field goal-kicking machine, converting five of six chances for a total of 15 of Notre Dame’s 22 points. He even made a career-long 52-yard field goal as the first-half clock expired. The made kick gave the Irish a six-point halftime lead.

Notre Dame has not always won pretty. In fact, five of its wins came by a touchdown or less, but Notre Dame finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record, nonetheless.

Does Notre Dame deserve to be the No. 1 team in the country?

“Most definitely,” said Pullard. “They took care of business out there. They played all four quarters.”

Originally published by Neon Tommy.

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BIO

Aaron Fischman is a sports writer, editor and multimedia journalist, who currently hosts the On the NBA Beat podcast, a weekly interview show he co-founded with fellow USC alums Loren Lee Chen and brother Joshua Fischman in advance of the 2015-16 NBA season. On the podcast, he and the crew interview some of the league’s best reporters on their particular beat. Fischman is also currently hard at work on his first book, a nonfiction baseball story. Read more.