Notre Dame Football: Winners and Losers from Fighting Irish Loss

Notre Dame faced another upsetting loss this season, this time at the hands of the USC Trojans.

The Trojans shined in a victorious effort led by quarterback Matt Barkley.

The game brought many questions on the faltering Irish squad and leaves the team and Brian Kelly with a sour taste in their mouths.

Losing a rivalry game is tough and, for the Irish, leaving with a 4-3 record is even worse.

Here are the winners and losers from this year's battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh. 

Winner: Matt Barkley

A clear winner in this match was Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley.

Barkley threw for 224 yards and three impressive touchdowns in the 31-17 victory over the Irish.

Barkley's efforts helped the Trojans jump out to a 17-point lead in the first half and he was solid throughout the game, unlike the quarterbacks of the Irish.

Barkley's two first quarter touchdown passes set the mood for the rest of the game as the Irish could not muster a comeback, though they had their chances.

In an impressive offensive game, Barkley played very solid for the Trojans.

Winner: Curtis McNeal

Trojans running back Curtis McNeal was a major factor in the offensive strategy of the Trojans and came through to help the team notch a win.

McNeal finished the game with 118 yards on 24 carries.

McNeal is a winner because he kept the Irish defense off balance. With the solid performance by McNeal, Barkley was able to find holes in the defensive secondary.

Although McNeal did not find the end zone, he led the way for a Trojan rushing attack that totaled 219 yards, ripping apart the Irish defense.

Winner: Jawanza Starling

The USC safety Jawanza Starling was in the right place at the right time on Saturday night to find himself a winner in the game.

Starling had the play of the game when he saw the ball loose on the ground inside his own five yard line. 

The fans in the stadium stood speechless while they watched Starling pick up the fumble and scamper 80 yards for a defensive touchdown and change the momentum of the whole game.

Starling's defensive touchdown was by far the momentum shift of the game. The Irish found themselves on the USC one yard line and when Dayne Crist mishandled the snap, the game was all but over. 

For his effort and representing the whole defense of the Trojans, Starling is a winner.

Winner: Robert Woods

Undoubtedly Matt Barkley's favorite target, wide receiver Robert Woods, is a big winner for the Trojans.

Woods reeled in 12 catches for the Trojans on their way to victory. His 119 receiving yards topped all players in the game as well.

Woods also caught two of the three touchdown passes from Barkley. One touchdown came in the first quarter to extend the Trojans lead over the Irish to 14 points and the second came in the fourth quarter to seal the deal for USC.

The Trojans passing game was helped a lot by Woods as the Irish could not find a way to stop the receiver.

Barkley was enthused by the wide out's performance.

"They can try to do whatever they want to him. It's just crazy. He still had 12 catches for over 100 yards and they were crowding him it seemed almost every play when he was singled out over there," Barkley said. "I think those play actions helped get him open."

Woods' big day gives him the title of winner.

Winner: Lane Kiffin

The ultimate winner in the USC, Notre Dame rivalry is the head coach of the winning team.

This time around it is Lane Kiffin.

Kiffin's Trojans were not looking to give up their streak of wins in South Bend and they proved it Saturday.

After last year's loss to Kelly and the Irish, Kiffin was determined to not let another loss affect his winning percentage against the Irish.

With the win, USC has come out victorious in nine of the last 10 meetings against their rivals and for this reason, Kiffin is a winner.

Loser: Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly fell to the Trojans for the first time since taking over as head coach for the Irish.

Last year, Kelly broke the trend of losing to the Trojans and the Irish were looking to continue to turn over a new leaf and start a winning streak of their own.

Unfortunately, Saturday night's loss brought the team back to their losing ways.

With the talent level of the Irish, it was unfortunate to see them fall to the USC squad and now morale for the team is even lower.

With Kelly's team starting the year with high expectations and now staring at a less than expected 4-3 record, Kelly needs to find a way to win with the Irish. 

With a loss to the Trojans at home, Kelly walks out a loser.

Loser: Tommy Rees

One of three quarterbacks to reach the field for the Irish, Tommy Rees was a major reason why the Irish could not win the game.

Rees could not find the end zone at all as he finished with 190 yards in total and threw an interception as well.

If your offense cannot move the ball against the opposing team, you are certain to be a loser in the game.

Rees was injured in the game but before and after the injury he could not find a way to beat the Trojans defense.

With a loss, Rees walks away with his head down.

Loser: Notre Dame Rushing Game

It's hard to single out one person to blame for how bad the Irish ran the ball on Saturday night, and for this, the whole rushing offense of the Irish will be losers.

The Irish could not run the ball at all during the game. Jonas Gray found the end zone once in the fourth quarter and led the team in rushing yards with 38, which is the positive note for the team.

The Irish totaled 41 yards on the ground with a despicable 2.9 yards per carry. 

Their top rusher, Cierre Wood, had no affect on the game as he ran for a grand total of five yards.

If your offense cannot find a way to get a ground game going, you will most likely find yourself on the losing end of the scoreboard, and that's what happened to the Irish.

The lack of rushing production gives the offense of the Irish a big loss.

Loser: Dayne Crist

When Tommy Rees was injured, it gave quarterback Dayne Crist a chance for redemption and another shot at the starting position.

Unfortunately, his night did not go as well as he would have liked.

He only threw five passes, and completed four of them, but that was not why he was a loser in the team's loss.

When the Irish saw themselves about to tie the game up in the third quarter on the Trojans' one yard line, he made the biggest mistake of the night.

Crist mishandled the snap, fumbled the ball and watched the Trojans bring it back for a touchdown. 

Crist is a loser because he brought the team within a yard of tying the game up and instead helped the Trojans extend their lead to two touchdowns.

Loser: Notre Dame Defense

The Notre Dame defense was a contributing factor to the upsetting loss at home.

The defense came out with no enthusiasm or motivation. They allowed the Trojans to drive on them early and were the reason the team fell into a 17-point hole early in the game.

The defense allowed 443 total yards to the Trojans and were knocked around in all facets of the game.

The Trojans ended up with 224 total passing yards and 219 rushing yards. 

The Irish could not even stop one part of the Trojans offense. 

The offense of the Irish did not help much for the defense, but the Irish could not give the offense time to drive, especially after being down by that much that early in the game.

USC held the ball for 39:41 minutes as opposed to the 20:19 of the Irish, which is why the defense of the Irish are losers. 

The defense was consistently off balance, and for this, they are losers.