Beyond the Boxscore: Notre Dame Punches Playoff Ticket with 49-35 Win Over USC

Two pick-sixes in the final four minutes by Christian Gray and Xavier Watts, respectively, helped Notre Dame cement a berth in the postseason playoffs by defeating the Southern Cal Trojans, 49-35. The victory was the 10th in a row for the Irish and ended a modest two-game winning streak for the Trojans.

Gray’s interception with 3:39 to go came at the Notre Dame one-yard-line and Southern Cal in position to tie the game. Gray managed to navigate his way down the sidelines for a 99-yard return. On the next series, Watts picked off a pass three yards deep in the end zone and managed to top Gray’s feat by a yard to put the game away.

Below are some of the key aspects of the win:

Throwing the First Punch

Notre Dame’s vaunted defense watched Southern Cal get past midfield on the first drive of the game before stopping the Trojans on downs. That gave the Irish the ball on their own 28, from where they put together a 13-play drive that took over seven minutes and ended with Jeremiyah Love bulling his way into the end zone for the early 7-0 advantage.

Love’s aggressive approach to running was especially evident during this drive, with the running back, picking up 19 yards on Notre Dame’s first offensive play. About half of that yardage came from the second effort on his part, something that he showed again later in the series on a nine-yard run and on the touchdown.

Back and Forth Battle

Until the final pair of defensive gems, Notre Dame and Southern Cal matched each other for most of the contest. The Irish had the only score of the first quarter on a short run by Love, with the Trojans matching that three minutes into the second quarter. Before halftime arrived. Notre Dame would take another seven-point lead, only to see USC again tie things up.

The third quarter was more of the same, with the Irish taking the opening second-half kickoff and marching 75 yards on six plays to give them a 21-14 lead. The Trojans immediately responded with an eight-play drive that spanned 77 yards to make things deadlocked once more. Until Gray’s pick-six, Southern Cal was poised to mark a fourth tie in the game.

Running Toward the Playoff

A strong ground game is especially important late in the season, and Notre Dame once again delivered an outstanding performance in this area. The Irish finished with 258 rushing yards, led by Jadarian Price’s 111 yards on just eight carries. Price’s 36-yard scoring run in the second quarter was part of an effort in which he averaged 9.3 yards per carry.

Love finished with 99 yards on 13 carries and likely would have topped Price’s total but a third-quarter injury kept him on the sidelines for the rest of the contest. Riley Leonard, like Price and Love, scored on a rushing touchdown and finished with 50 yards while throwing for 153 and two scores.

Costly Errors

Southern Cal’s ability to stay with Notre Dame was in part due to some unfortunate mistakes during the course of the contest. After the Irish took the early lead, they allowed the Trojans one first down before forcing a punt. However, on the first play of the second quarter, Leonard’s 14-yard completion to Jayden Thomas ended in disaster, when Thomas fumbled and Southern Cal needed just 37 yards to knot the score.

The next two scores by the Trojans were aided by a pair of pass interference calls against Gray. The first came in the final minute of the first half when Gray was flagged near the goal line, giving Southern Cal a first down at the Irish 12. Southern Cal converted that error into six points on the next play. Gray’s second interference call came on the Trojans’ first drive after intermission, with USC needing just four plays to tie the game for the third and final time.

Delivering in the Clutch

Simply looking at the numbers shows that Notre Dame gave up 35 points and allowed Southern Cal to gain 557 yards of total offense. However, delivering when it mattered most can be seen by noting not only the scoring romps of Gray and Watts but also the Irish defensive effort on crucial downs.

Notre Dame stopped the Trojans seven times in 12 third-down attempts and even more importantly made three stops on a trio of fourth-down attempts that led to a pair of Notre Dame touchdowns. In the latter category, opponents had converted 12 of 32 attempts on fourth down before the start of this game.

Next Up

Notre Dame now waits to find out what their playoff fortunes will be, with the victory no doubt ensuring a home game against an unknown opponent. Ohio State’s stunning loss to Michigan on Saturday does raise the possibility of Notre Dame moving all the way up to the 5th seed in the final rankings. However, the actual selections won’t be announced until Sunday, Dec. 8.