Notre Dame Football: USC Can't Overcome the Irish Defense

Well that was a thriller of a season finale.

It’s been a long time coming since Notre Dame beat USC and it sure feels good, doesn’t it?

Let’s not waste any time and go right Inside the Irish Huddle.

Seniors Came Up Big

This was such a great sight to see, with such a great performance by Brian Smith, Harrison Smith and Robert Hughes.

It’s funny how things work out sometimes, because these are the three players that many Irish fans have ridiculed and lambasted the most over the years, yet here they were still standing strong and leading this program to its first win over USC in nine years.

I will include myself in that group of people who questioned these players’ abilities, but I give them all the utmost respect for continuing to battle every day and not giving up.

They might not have won a national title or a BCS bowl game, but the perseverance and heart all of them have shown this year has been pretty inspirational to everyone associated with this program.

For those who relish the true student-athlete, this is quite a heart-warming story.

I am very proud for what players like Hughes, Brian Smith and Harrison Smith have achieved while at Notre Dame. It could have been easy to quit and leave this team with no momentum going into next year, but instead they gave the program a huge boost with a sensational November.

3-0 in November

Speaking of finishing the season strong, the Irish end the regular season having won their last three games and going undefeated in the month of November.

This perfection coming after a 0-4 end to the 2009 season and a 1-8 record during the previous two November months combined.

I’m not sure it makes up for the losses to Navy and Tulsa, but it’s worth something that this is the most satisfying ending to a season in years.

Bowl Picture

With this victory over USC and their seventh win of the season, it looks highly likely that Notre Dame will be playing in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Florida against an ACC team.

As of right now it looks like the opponent will the Maryland Terrapins who just defeated North Carolina State over the weekend and with whom they are tied for third in the ACC.

If the Irish do play Maryland, it will be their second-ever meeting with Notre Dame defeating the Terrapins 22-0 in Giants Stadium to open the 2002 season.

Also, do not forget that Notre Dame and Maryland will square off on November 12th next season at Fed Ex in the third annual installment of the Fighting Irish neutral “barnstorming” schedule.

Position Grades

Offensive Line: A-

The offensive line capped off what has been a very productive season in what has been a relative difficult transition from a pro-style attack to a spread offense.

They only gave up one sack and continued to be very solid in pass blocking. Last year USC wreaked some serious havoc all over the Irish offensive line and it was nice to see Notre Dame not let that happen again this year.

Also, they led the way blocking for 147 rushing yards (most against USC since 153 in 2005) and 4.6 yards per rush (most since 5.3 YPC in 2004), with a very respectable 6.0 YPC from running backs Cierre Wood and Robert Hughes.

Let’s also not forget that in order to win the game, Notre Dame had to charge down the field and score a touchdown, and did so by pounding the ball down USC’s throats.

That is a big deal.

Wide Receivers: B-

Notre Dame went with a very conservative passing game (149 yards, 4.7 average), so the receivers weren’t a huge part of the game.

However, Robby Toma made a couple big catches in the slot, Tyler Eifert chipped in three big catches and senior Duval Kamara made a beautiful touchdown catch by stretching back across the goal line at the end of the first half.

Most of all, Michael Floyd came up with a gritty and top-notch performance with 11 receptions, 86 yards and a touchdown. After a slow start to the season and even in this game, Floyd has turned it on and is showing why he was an All-American candidate this year.

Running Backs: A-

The running game got off to a very slow start but gradually gained some traction and came up big in key moments during this game.

Cierre Wood looked ineffective early but slowly found his groove and ran hard through some holes. His 28-yard run set up the late second touchdown before the end of the first half and his 26-yard run set up the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

As a redshirt freshman, Wood finishes the regular season as the team’s leading rusher with 522 yards and a 4.9 yards-per-carry average.

Hughes played sparingly in the first half, but then carried the ball a lot in late in the game coming up with a huge final drive. After Wood’s long run, Hughes picked up 6, 12, 13 and five yards on four separate carries, the latter giving the Irish the game-winning touchdown.

Quarterbacks: D

This was clearly Rees’ worst performance of the season.

Given that he is a true freshman, 18 years old and making his first true road game against USC, I can’t really say that Rees played terrible, although I thought he was visibly the weak link in the offense.

Both of his touchdown throws were smart and accurate decisions, but Rees was staring down receivers far too often and was not a threat to send the ball deep and take advantage of what is a rather weak USC secondary.

The turnovers were worst of all and, for the most part, were all avoidable. The first interception was a great diving catch by the Trojan linebacker, but it was another play in which Rees seemed to predetermine where he was going with the ball and didn’t read the zone coverage in the middle of the field.

His other two picks were bad decisions and he had other receivers open, while he waited far too long to get the ball out when he fumbled deep in his own territory.

Over the past four games as a whole, Rees has still exceeded my expectations, but now the honeymoon period is over. He’ll have to put in a strong showing in Notre Dame’s bowl game to regain a little bit of momentum and confidence heading into what should be an intriguing quarterback battle during the offseason.

Defensive Line: B+

The defensive line didn’t really put a ton of pressure on Mitch Mustain, but they were stout in run defense holding USC to only 80 yards rushing.

It continues to be a huge storyline that the Irish are remaining strong up front without senior nose tackle Ian Williams and with Sean Cwynar and Hafis Williams filling in.

Linebackers: A-

Kerry Neal had a decent game, Manti Te’o played well and laid some big hits as usual and Darius Fleming had one of his best games of the season for this unit.

But the special performance of the game came from senior Brian Smith who ended up with five tackles, one tackle for loss, and two pass break ups. That stat line doesn’t do Smith justice as he was all over the field-making plays in what could have been the best game of his career.

Secondary: A

Here was another outstanding performance from the secondary, holding Mustain to only 133 yards passing until the final drive, in which Harrison Smith ultimately came up with a game-clinching interception at the goal line.

USC relied on a short passing game that was very spread-like in its execution and it was clear that Mustain and the Trojan coaching staff did not want to test the Irish secondary too often on Saturday.

It has been such a great turn around for the secondary this year and it was great to see Harrison Smith come up with the pick at the end to seal the victory.

Final Thoughts

We really can’t harp enough on how good the defense played in this game and has overall to close out the regular season.

USC didn’t have one single long sustained drive and scored all of their points off of bad Notre Dame turnovers in Irish territory. The Trojans averaged 2.7 yards per rush and finished the night converting only four of 17 third down attempts.

Would the game have been different had a healthy Matt Barkley been under center for USC? Most definitely, but the Irish had enough of their own injuries and were practically starting a high school kid in this game themselves.

And it’s not like Mitch Mustain is some 3-star re-tread hanging on to a division-I roster either. He was a former 5-star recruit who has been in the USC program for three years now and should have been more than capable to lead the Trojans against Notre Dame.

Notre Dame should be very proud for winning this game and ending the losing streak, because it means a lot for the future and for building something positive and lasting in the coming months.

Sure this isn’t the mighty USC from years past, but they are still a good team and Notre Dame’s biggest rival. This was a tough road game and the psychological barrier alone that needed to be overcome was a lot bigger than most realize.

A few weeks ago there was nothing but dark clouds surrounding this program and now there seems to be quite a lot to look forward to in the future.

As the rain poured down in the Los Angeles Coliseum, it was purifying this team from its past mistakes and giving the program a fresh new start heading into the bowl season and into next year.

In the past, Ronald Johnson would have caught that deep pass late in the fourth quarter to win it for USC, while Harrison Smith lay on the ground after slipping on the slippery turf.

But this time, the ball glanced off Johnson’s shoulder pad and Harrison Smith was redeemed with a second chance and made the most of it with an interception at the goal line.

I have to be honest, I am pretty shocked at how this season has ended. I may not be alone in believing this could be the best 7-5 season in Notre Dame history.

Now we can sulk as fans because the Irish didn’t meet some of our expectations and are still a ways away from being a legitimate BCS contender, but I feel a sense of hope and promise in this team that I’m not sure I felt after the 2005 season when Notre Dame was coming off of a 9-3 season.

At the beginning of the year I wrote that it was much more important to pick up a big win or two this season, more so than it was to have a great record or having some bad losses.

By beating Utah and USC in November, Notre Dame defeated two very solid opponents and pulled out victories as underdogs in each contest, something the program hasn’t done in ages.

Those wins mean more than the losses to Navy and Tulsa, when the team was in the midst of recent crippling injuries and off-the-field issues. And for the record, Navy and Tulsa are a combined 17-6 this season.

No, they are not great teams by any stretch of the imagination, but those teams do deserve some credit for being legitimate opponents in this age of parity.

The two biggest things to take away from this season are that the defense has improved, and the team is buying into Brian Kelly as head coach. A 7-5 season may be a disappointment to some, but improving the defense and having a coaching staff that worked through the problems, injuries and then overcame that with determination…it’s so important for the future.

This team will miss Ian Williams, Brian Smith, Kerry Neal, Darrin Walls, Christ Stewart, Robert Hughes, Armando Allen and a couple other players who won’t be coming back to play for the Irish, but there is a lot of talent coming back on both sides of the ball.

Best of all, Brian Kelly has laid a solid foundation for this program and has a lot of the right pieces in place to continue improving each and every day.

Just the thought that the offense has been rather mediocre (injuries taken into account) and that the defense has played so well and will end up with quite astonishing statistics in comparison to last year…it is almost unbelievable.

Depending on how the bowl game plays out, a Notre Dame team will likely go into 2011 having a better defense than offense. And the offense is not very far away from becoming a dangerous unit either.

Doesn’t that make you feel good about the future?

If the Irish win a bowl game this will be a very successful 8-5 season and after three straight depressing endings in November, I am full of a ton of pride for this football program.

It hasn’t been easy, and there’s still a long way to go, yet I like where things are headed. When outsiders and non-fans are echoing those same sentiments, that something good is in the works at Notre Dame, you know it is real.

I’d just like to congratulate the entire Notre Dame team, all of the players and coaches, for fighting through a very difficult season and giving us something to be proud of. We can live with a 7-5 season for right now, because that is a hard earned record and one in which even ardent supporters didn’t think you could pull off.

But you did, and it feels really good.

Now let’s go pick up a bowl victory!

From the FanTake blog: One Foot Down

Follow on Twitter: @OneFootDown