Yes, USC was better and deserved the win, but this loss didn’t feel like we were overwhelmed at all and had no chance. On the contrary, I liked what I saw even though there was a massive talent differential at the most important position, i.e., QB. Williams made ZERO mistakes, and made many “plus” plays in situations in which positive yards weren’t really available, and still we were in this game. We need to get better, but we are very, very close right now. With elite QB talent and a little more talent in the front 7, we could become a monster down the road. As it is, Pyne has done incredible well given his talent limitations.
Notre Dame didn’t punt after its first series; on that first drive, we were doing exactly what we have been doing during this winning stretch, i.e., running with success, and had a 3rd and 2, which is a running down for us. We unfortunately didn’t block well and SC blew us up. We wouldn’t punt again and really only came close again twice.
—Punt
—Downs had 3rd and 2 and 4th and 1; we had been dominating these downs. The downside is that USC‘s defensive front had been getting pushed around by everyone and we failed in these first two critical junctures
—TD — converted a 3rd and 10
—End of half
—Fumble after pushing USC around
—TD — not close to being stopped
—TD — not close to being stopped
—Interception — bad decision by Pyne
—TD
While a better offensive performance would have helped, the defense was the primary problem. The craziest thing about this game was that USC clearly respected what we could do and changed up its entire MO to grinding out the clock to shorten the game once it got a lead which isn’t something USC does this year. USC seemed wary the entire game. Had those two first drives ended differently, we could have seen a vastly different game,
After seeing how their pull counter runs could get big yardage, they changed up their game and milked the clock knowing that they were having a difficult time stopping us.
USC 1st Run: 7 yards
2nd run: 1 yard in short distance
3rd run: 13 yards
4th run: 7 yards
5th run: 2 yards in short distance
6th run: 3 yards in short distance
7th run: 5 yards
8th run: -3 yards (on 1st and goal from the 2—saved the TD)
9th run: 12 yards on long distance draw play
10th run: 4 yards on first down
11th run: 9 yards
12th run: -2 yards on first down [first actual run stop that disrupted USC came with 4 minutes left in the half]
If you had told me before the game that Pine would have the type of game that he did in that we would not punt after the first possession, I’d be pretty sure that we would win but I’m unfortunately our strength the entire year didn’t come through.
Notre Dame didn’t punt after its first series; on that first drive, we were doing exactly what we have been doing during this winning stretch, i.e., running with success, and had a 3rd and 2, which is a running down for us. We unfortunately didn’t block well and SC blew us up. We wouldn’t punt again and really only came close again twice.
—Punt
—Downs had 3rd and 2 and 4th and 1; we had been dominating these downs. The downside is that USC‘s defensive front had been getting pushed around by everyone and we failed in these first two critical junctures
—TD — converted a 3rd and 10
—End of half
—Fumble after pushing USC around
—TD — not close to being stopped
—TD — not close to being stopped
—Interception — bad decision by Pyne
—TD
While a better offensive performance would have helped, the defense was the primary problem. The craziest thing about this game was that USC clearly respected what we could do and changed up its entire MO to grinding out the clock to shorten the game once it got a lead which isn’t something USC does this year. USC seemed wary the entire game. Had those two first drives ended differently, we could have seen a vastly different game,
After seeing how their pull counter runs could get big yardage, they changed up their game and milked the clock knowing that they were having a difficult time stopping us.
USC 1st Run: 7 yards
2nd run: 1 yard in short distance
3rd run: 13 yards
4th run: 7 yards
5th run: 2 yards in short distance
6th run: 3 yards in short distance
7th run: 5 yards
8th run: -3 yards (on 1st and goal from the 2—saved the TD)
9th run: 12 yards on long distance draw play
10th run: 4 yards on first down
11th run: 9 yards
12th run: -2 yards on first down [first actual run stop that disrupted USC came with 4 minutes left in the half]
If you had told me before the game that Pine would have the type of game that he did in that we would not punt after the first possession, I’d be pretty sure that we would win but I’m unfortunately our strength the entire year didn’t come through.