Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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TURNING POINT The game's first possession was pretty much a harbinger of a long afternoon for Notre Dame. The Irish lined up in an illegal forma- tion on the first snap (a penalty declined by USC because the run from scrimmage gained only one yard), and then on the next play they were called for delay of game. On third down, senior quarter- back Everett Golson had some time, but when he was flushed out of the pocket, he did not see sophomore wideout Will Fuller breaking clear behind the USC secondary on what might have been a touchdown. Maybe the final score would have been only 49-21 in USC's favor in- stead, because there was no ques- tion who was the better team on this afternoon. However, the Irish needed a positive start after the past three weeks, and that missed opportunity portended the game's tone. STAT OF THE GAME Ten years ago, Notre Dame's 2004 regular season ended with Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko and USC quarterback Matt Leinart becoming the first two players in history to throw five touchdowns in a game versus the Irish during 41-38 and 41-10 victories, respectively. This year, Trojans junior quarter- back Cody Kessler became the third to match that total — in the first half alone, with 5:15 still remaining until the intermission. Kessler threw his record sixth touchdown pass with 11:19 still left in the third quarter with a nine- yard tally to fifth-year senior tight end Randall Telfer, his fifth differ- ent receiver to catch a scoring pass in the game. Honorable mention goes to Kes- sler completing all nine of his third-down passing attempts for 152 yards. DUBIOUS DISTINCTION This is the fourth time Notre Dame lost its final four (at least) regular-season games. The first was 1963, when interim head coach Hugh Devore's Irish lost five in a row to finish 2-7. The next season under first-year head coach Ara Parseghian the Irish were 9-1 and seconds from a con- sensus national title. In 1999, Notre Dame lost its last four for a 5-7 finish under head coach Bob Davie — but was 9-2 and earned a BCS bowl bid the following year with an NCAA-re- cord-low eight turnovers the entire season. In 2009, the Irish fell in their fi- nal four games under head coach Charlie Weis to finish 6-6, leading to the hiring of Brian Kelly about 10 days later. The heat is on Kelly next year to produce a major bowl team in year six. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY LOU SOMOGYI