From the Press Box
Offense
-I felt very good about my call for an Irish blowout at halftime with Notre Dame leading 17-3. They were finally taking advantage of the one on one coverage that USC was employing the entire first half. They went to Chase Claypool in the first series on a nice back shoulder throw and catch but forgot about it the next few series. On the first touchdown drive of the game for Notre Dame they finally went to Braden Lenzy, Chase Claypool and the Cole Kmet for the touchdown. In the second half give credit to USC for adjusting and not leaving their corners on an island. The offensive line imposed their will in the second quarter and were consistently moving the line of scrimmage down field on almost every run play.
-Senior quarterback Ian Book did not light up the scoreboard or the stat sheet tonight completing just 53% of his passes and throwing for just one touchdown after his 5 touchdown strikes last week against Bowling Green. He was not overly impressive in the passing game for most of the night and missed some wide open guys once again. He missed Chris Finke on third down for what should have been an easy pitch and catch first down. With that said, I do think he played well in the RPO game smartly handing off to Tony Jones the majority of the time. One of the most impressive things on the night was the last offensive drive that sealed the win for the Irish. He was in complete control of the offense on that drive and just took with USC was giving him. Too many times the Trojan defenders turned their backs on Book and allowed him to run the ball five times for 28 yards with the final 8 on the touchdown run. He also went 2-2 for 21 yards through the air. He did not get rattled and did not take off too soon. One of the things I really liked from the offense and from Book were throws that were downfield. He showed, at least in this game, that they were willing to take shots. It is a good step forward but they need to see this continued from Book.
-Senior running back Tony Jones, Jr. continues to impress. Once again Jones was over 100 yards in a game for the third straight week. He is seeing things open up better than he was in the first part of the season for sure. He is also playing through contact so much better than he did earlier as well. Initial tacklers were not bringing Jones down tonight and he played with such a good pad level as well. Of course we would have loved for him to break the big play and pull away but that is not his game and never will be. He is a banger and has excelled at that Tony Jones does best. He has earned the trust of the coaching staff and that is evident considering Jafar Armstrong was available coming off injury and still only had one touch for minus 4 yards.
-Sophomore Jahmir Smith came in and spelled Jones on a few occasions and I thought he played well overall. He finished the game with 5 carries for 32 yards which comes out to a 6.4 yard average. When the offense needed a big run they got it from Smith on the final drive in the 4th quarter when he rattled off a 13 yard run for a first down that put the Irish in USC territory. He also did a good job in blitz pickup.
-Senior wide receiver Chase Claypool had a great catch in the first quarter for 26 yards in man to man defense to keep the drive alive and then had another fantastic catch for 9 yards on third down where he stretched out and bailed out Book on a poor throw. He only caught one other ball all night and ended with 3 catches for 47 yards and was only targeted two more times, one that was a great long ball pass break up by USC. He was more of a decoy the rest of the game as the Trojans began to roll coverage over to him.
-No one has given graduate Chris Finke more of a hard time with his play early in the season than I have. I even called for his replacement on punt returns after his muff against Virginia. His play against USC was by far the best he has played all year. He ended up with 5 catches for 45 yards but he was getting open with consistency and was missed a couple times and thrown to poorly on another. In my mind his best play was his down field block ahead of Braden Lenzy’s 51-yard touchdown run. He started his block about 30 yards down field and just continued on until Lenzy was across the goal line. Anyone who has ever tried to block in space for that long knows how hard this is and he did a masterful job against true freshman Chris Steele.
-Sophomore wide receiver Braden Lenzy showed the world what he can bring to the table in the offense. He should have been tackled for a loss on his reverse but his speed just made that impossible. He out ran the entire USC defense enroute to a 51-yard touchdown. I would love to see them get him even more involved in the offense and I think he proved today why that is the case. He was in on offense and after that big run was getting even more attention which opened up his teammates for plays later on.
-Junior tight end Cole Kmet had a good night in the passing game catching a touchdown early in the game and had the only two receptions on the final drive of the game. He is as reliable as they come from the tight end position and is a true source of comfort for Ian Book. He was instrumental in the run game as well throughout the night.
-Sophomore Tommy Tremble had a couple drops in the game today and did not record a catch. He did a good job in the run game and was able to take some attention from the USC secondary because of his play in previous games and sometimes that is enough. The coaching staff did not go away from the two tight end set and that is a testament to what they see when they are in it from a matchup standpoint.
-The offensive line probably had their most complete game of the season as a unit. Especially in the second quarter they really were able to establish the run. They were having success with the double pull game, so much so that it set up the reverse by Lenzy to go up 14-3 in the second quarter. The line was very active outside as well with guard Aaron Banks getting out in front of a few runs and doing well in the open field. The lone did not give up a sack all night and continued to push the line of scrimmage down the field in the run game. They were able to rack up over 300 yards on the ground on 48 carries.
Offense
-I felt very good about my call for an Irish blowout at halftime with Notre Dame leading 17-3. They were finally taking advantage of the one on one coverage that USC was employing the entire first half. They went to Chase Claypool in the first series on a nice back shoulder throw and catch but forgot about it the next few series. On the first touchdown drive of the game for Notre Dame they finally went to Braden Lenzy, Chase Claypool and the Cole Kmet for the touchdown. In the second half give credit to USC for adjusting and not leaving their corners on an island. The offensive line imposed their will in the second quarter and were consistently moving the line of scrimmage down field on almost every run play.
-Senior quarterback Ian Book did not light up the scoreboard or the stat sheet tonight completing just 53% of his passes and throwing for just one touchdown after his 5 touchdown strikes last week against Bowling Green. He was not overly impressive in the passing game for most of the night and missed some wide open guys once again. He missed Chris Finke on third down for what should have been an easy pitch and catch first down. With that said, I do think he played well in the RPO game smartly handing off to Tony Jones the majority of the time. One of the most impressive things on the night was the last offensive drive that sealed the win for the Irish. He was in complete control of the offense on that drive and just took with USC was giving him. Too many times the Trojan defenders turned their backs on Book and allowed him to run the ball five times for 28 yards with the final 8 on the touchdown run. He also went 2-2 for 21 yards through the air. He did not get rattled and did not take off too soon. One of the things I really liked from the offense and from Book were throws that were downfield. He showed, at least in this game, that they were willing to take shots. It is a good step forward but they need to see this continued from Book.
-Senior running back Tony Jones, Jr. continues to impress. Once again Jones was over 100 yards in a game for the third straight week. He is seeing things open up better than he was in the first part of the season for sure. He is also playing through contact so much better than he did earlier as well. Initial tacklers were not bringing Jones down tonight and he played with such a good pad level as well. Of course we would have loved for him to break the big play and pull away but that is not his game and never will be. He is a banger and has excelled at that Tony Jones does best. He has earned the trust of the coaching staff and that is evident considering Jafar Armstrong was available coming off injury and still only had one touch for minus 4 yards.
-Sophomore Jahmir Smith came in and spelled Jones on a few occasions and I thought he played well overall. He finished the game with 5 carries for 32 yards which comes out to a 6.4 yard average. When the offense needed a big run they got it from Smith on the final drive in the 4th quarter when he rattled off a 13 yard run for a first down that put the Irish in USC territory. He also did a good job in blitz pickup.
-Senior wide receiver Chase Claypool had a great catch in the first quarter for 26 yards in man to man defense to keep the drive alive and then had another fantastic catch for 9 yards on third down where he stretched out and bailed out Book on a poor throw. He only caught one other ball all night and ended with 3 catches for 47 yards and was only targeted two more times, one that was a great long ball pass break up by USC. He was more of a decoy the rest of the game as the Trojans began to roll coverage over to him.
-No one has given graduate Chris Finke more of a hard time with his play early in the season than I have. I even called for his replacement on punt returns after his muff against Virginia. His play against USC was by far the best he has played all year. He ended up with 5 catches for 45 yards but he was getting open with consistency and was missed a couple times and thrown to poorly on another. In my mind his best play was his down field block ahead of Braden Lenzy’s 51-yard touchdown run. He started his block about 30 yards down field and just continued on until Lenzy was across the goal line. Anyone who has ever tried to block in space for that long knows how hard this is and he did a masterful job against true freshman Chris Steele.
-Sophomore wide receiver Braden Lenzy showed the world what he can bring to the table in the offense. He should have been tackled for a loss on his reverse but his speed just made that impossible. He out ran the entire USC defense enroute to a 51-yard touchdown. I would love to see them get him even more involved in the offense and I think he proved today why that is the case. He was in on offense and after that big run was getting even more attention which opened up his teammates for plays later on.
-Junior tight end Cole Kmet had a good night in the passing game catching a touchdown early in the game and had the only two receptions on the final drive of the game. He is as reliable as they come from the tight end position and is a true source of comfort for Ian Book. He was instrumental in the run game as well throughout the night.
-Sophomore Tommy Tremble had a couple drops in the game today and did not record a catch. He did a good job in the run game and was able to take some attention from the USC secondary because of his play in previous games and sometimes that is enough. The coaching staff did not go away from the two tight end set and that is a testament to what they see when they are in it from a matchup standpoint.
-The offensive line probably had their most complete game of the season as a unit. Especially in the second quarter they really were able to establish the run. They were having success with the double pull game, so much so that it set up the reverse by Lenzy to go up 14-3 in the second quarter. The line was very active outside as well with guard Aaron Banks getting out in front of a few runs and doing well in the open field. The lone did not give up a sack all night and continued to push the line of scrimmage down the field in the run game. They were able to rack up over 300 yards on the ground on 48 carries.
