Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 28, 2023 21 dominate and play as best you can." The Irish intercepted USC junior quarterback Caleb Williams 3 times and picked up 6 sacks, building a 24-6 first- half lead that lasted the rest of the night. Notre Dame moved to 6-2 entering its first bye week. "I don't have a whole bunch of words," Freeman said. "I'm just going to enjoy this one, and I'm so happy to be a part of this place with this team and this university." The pick party started on USC's first possession, when Notre Dame graduate student defensive end Javontae Jean- Baptiste broke through the USC offen- sive line and got pressure in Williams' face right away. Williams fired it off his back foot, over the head of redshirt sophomore tight end Lake McRee and into Watts' arms. Watts, playing the proverbial "center field" deep safety position, kept his foot on the gas. He flew in from that center field spot to bring down Williams on one of the scramble attempts that killed Notre Dame last season. Two plays later, Watts played man coverage on redshirt senior Tahj Washington, USC's leading receiver, and brought him down imme- diately after a 5-yard catch for a stop on third-and-8. On the Trojans' next possession, Watts got Williams again. Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison came in on a blitz, forcing Williams to step up and make an off-balance throw with defenders in front of him and into double coverage. Watts jumped in front of junior wide- out Dorian Singer and pounced on the football again. Playing complementary football at its finest, Morrison was rewarded later in the first half. Again, the Irish defen- sive front flustered Williams, and again, the defending Heisman Trophy winner threw into double coverage. Morrison leaped and made the catch, securing Notre Dame's third interception. "They battled their tails off, man," Freeman said about his defense. All three first-half picks led to touch- downs, the first from sophomore run- ning back Gi'Bran Payne and the next two from junior running back Audric Estimé. The interceptions set the Irish up at the 12-, 2- and 50-yard lines, re- spectively. "Like they say, defense wins cham- pionships," Hartman said. "I guess I have to buy [defensive coordinator] Al Golden another Ferrari. They ain't pay- ing me enough to do that." Throughout the week, the Irish made it clear that they would be fired up and ready to play against their historical ri- val. They insisted the stain of their 33- 20, College Football Playoff chances- eliminating loss would be gone by the time they entered Notre Dame Stadium. "Weeks that you lose are really long, es- pecially around here," Freeman said. "But it is what it is, you know what I mean? You have to pick your head up and go back to work. Adversity is a part of life." With their performance against the Trojans, the Irish proved themselves right. FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 7, USC 3 Top Moment: Senior Safety Xavier Watts was in the right place at the right time to pick off a poorly overthrown ball from USC quarterback Caleb Williams and return it 38 yards to the Trojans' 12- yard line. The Irish scored a touchdown three plays later. Feature Performer: Watts had 2 tackles in the first quarter in addition to the first of his 2 interceptions on the night. Stats: USC outgained Notre Dame 79 to 34 in total yards. The Trojans aver- aged 4.6 yards per play to the Irish's 3.8. Items: Sophomore linebacker Nolan Ziegler made his season debut on spe- cial teams … Sophomore running back Gi'Bran Payne caught the game's first touchdown from 4 yards out on third- and-2 … Notre Dame stopped USC on third-and-6 from the Irish 9-yard line to force the Trojans' short field goal. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 24, USC 6 Top Moment: Watts picked Williams off again and returned the ball to the USC 2-yard line. Junior running back Audric Estimé scored on the next play. Feature Performer: Estimé scored 2 touchdowns and had 20 rushing yards in the second quarter. Stats: USC outgained Notre Dame 111 to 96 in total yards. The Irish averaged 6.9 yards per play to the Trojans' 4.3. Items: Graduate student Spen- cer Shrader hit a 36-yard field goal for the first scoring play of the quarter … A running into the kicker penalty on sophomore linebacker Jaylen Sneed allowed USC to go for it on fourth- and-short near midfield, and Williams moved the chains with his legs; USC ul- timately turned it over on downs on that possession … Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison inter- cepted Williams at midfield to mark the first time in his career Williams threw Watts compiled 7 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 pass broken up, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery he returned 15 yards for a touchdown to help Notre Dame stymie USC's explosive offense. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER