Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DECEMBER 2016 25 USC RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Sophomore running back Ronald Jones II's day (16 carries for 134 yards) was highlighted by his 51-yard touchdown jaunt in the first quarter in which he beat the Irish defense that dialed up a run blitz. Even without that run, USC averaged a strong 5.1 yards per carry while total- ing 207 yards on the ground. ADVANTAGE: USC USC PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE The Irish played off-coverage and zone early, so USC used mainly a steady diet of hitches and outs in the opening quarter with success while Notre Dame attempted to keep everything in front of it. With USC star wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster (four catches for 23 yards and one touchdown) a little hobbled, Notre Dame played well in man coverage thereafter, and the Trojans almost never went downfield. The main negative was the 52-yard touchdown to speedster Adoree' Jackson (the cornerback's first catch of the year) off a screen in which he went into motion. Otherwise, quarterback Sam Darnold's 18 other completions totaled only 153 yards. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. USC RUN DEFENSE Sophomore Josh Adams (17 carries for 180 yards) had the best game of his young career, running primarily between the tackles with tremendous au- thority and making yards after the initial contact, which had been a problem earlier in the year. He opened the contest with a 74-yard run and remained consistently effective thereafter while averaging nearly seven yards per carry. The bad news was the rest of the Irish rushing attack netted minus-26 yards, attributed in good part to six sacks on junior quarterback DeShone Kizer. ADVANTAGE: Even NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. USC PASS DEFENSE In what has been a consistent pattern this year, Kizer started off hot while "on script," and then tailed off thereafter. He completed six of his first seven attempts for 70 yards — and then missed his next six in the first half, most no- tably a back-breaking interception that was returned for a 33-yard touchdown by redshirt sophomore cornerback Ajene Harris to give USC a 24-7 cushion right before halftime. Notre Dame's best series with the pass came when it cut its deficit to 31-21. That's when Kizer found sophomore wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown and freshman wideout Kevin Stephenson on 40- and 29-yard completions — the latter for a touchdown — off double moves. Kizer completed a so-so 17 of 32 throws, and that combined with the six sacks and only 6.9 yards per attempt tilt the advantage to the Trojans. ADVANTAGE: USC SPECIAL TEAMS Leading 10-7 in the second quarter, USC gave Notre Dame a second chance with a roughing the punter penalty in the end zone, but that drive ended with a missed 37-yard field goal by sophomore Justin Yoon (he had converted nine straight before that). On junior Tyler Newsome's next punt from the end zone, USC junior speed- ster Adoree' Jackson returned it 55 yards for a touchdown with 1:24 left in the first half to give the Trojans a 17-7 lead. Jackson's lost fumble on a punt in the third quarter set up a Notre Dame touchdown. But Jackson then compensated with a 97-yard kickoff return to make it 38-21. This area proved to be a significant difference in the outcome. ADVANTAGE: USC THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS Among all of Jackson's heroics with his three different touchdown tallies, an overshadowed play came in the first quarter when USC trailed 7-3 and faced third-and-11 from its 37. Jackson ran for 12 yards for the first down, and two plays later Jones' 51-yard touchdown put USC in front for good. Overall, USC's 5 of 12 result (41.7 percent) was better than Notre Dane's 5 of 17 (29.4 percent), although the Irish also converted both fourth-down attempts. ADVANTAGE: USC TURNOVERS Both of Notre Dame's turnovers resulted in USC touchdowns, one of them directly on Harris' interception return right before halftime that made it 24-7. For USC, Jackson proved mortal on a fumbled punt on the first series of the second half that Notre Dame converted into a 40-yard touchdown drive, culminated by a 14-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wideout Chris Finke. ADVANTAGE: USC ANALYSIS It's virtually impossible for a football team to win a game when it yields two special teams touchdowns and then a third on a defensive score. Notre Dame's defense played relatively respectably — other than a 51-yard run and a 52-yard screen pass that resulted in touchdowns — to keep it in the game. But special teams snafus have been devastating also in defeats to Michigan State, North Carolina State, Navy and Virginia Tech, and nearly versus Miami. Limiting USC's offense to 24 points was a laudable effort, but giving up three touchdowns elsewhere was too much to overcome. ON PAPER REVISITED BY LOU SOMOGYI Senior end Isaac Rochell and the Irish defense had a tough time corralling USC sophomore running back Ronald Jones II, who carried the ball 16 times for 134 yards and had a 51-yard touchdown run. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA