USC interesting maybe

[ftnfan62]

Saw this on a YouTube.

USC had the ball at the ND 20, 13, 38 and 40 yard line on different drives and came away with negative 14 points (nd two pick 6’s).

while watching you feel like they are not stoppable. You see that and realize that’s a possible 42 points swing.

If I step back. ND with the super easy FG puts up 51. ND gave them the halftime score and the end of game. Neither of those should happen. That game honestly should have ended 51-21.

 

[christophero]

USC was definitely moving the ball on us. They probably played their best game, other than the 2 INT's, which was the ballgame.

 

[ftnfan62]

Agree, but they didn’t break.

 

[HDK]

Saw this on a YouTube.

USC had the ball at the ND 20, 13, 38 and 40 yard line on different drives and came away with negative 14 points (nd two pick 6’s).

while watching you feel like they are not stoppable. You see that and realize that’s a possible 42 points swing.

If I step back. ND with the super easy FG puts up 51. ND gave them the halftime score and the end of game. Neither of those should happen. That game honestly should have ended 51-21.

USC's scoring drive at the end of the first half was legitimately impressive.

 

[savvyandsassier]

I'm totally lost on that. So we should have won 51-21? Well that sounds good, I'll take that. How come it was so much closer? I just remember them giving up two length of the field pick sixes to suddenly put the game into almost the blowout category, both of them coming with less than five minutes to go, and they still drove down the field one final time to make the score more respectable.

But you're saying we really should have won by thirty. Hopefully the committee sees it that way.

 

[mrwigglesby21]

They put up almost 600yds of offense, won time of possession, won 3rd conversions. We were somewhat lucky to get the W. Neither defense played all that well considering it's the highest combined score in the series history. However, it could turn out beneficial for us, similarly to the NIU loss, regarding renewed sense of focus and humility.

 

[BGI User 756]

They put up almost 600yds of offense, won time of possession, won 3rd conversions. We were somewhat lucky to get the W. Neither defense played all that well considering it's the highest combined score in the series history. However, it could turn out beneficial for us, similarly to the NIU loss, regarding renewed sense of focus and humility.

200 yards of offense came in those 3 last SC drives in 4Q that ended up as pick 6’s and and the late TD.

 

[Get Nasty]

Saw this on a YouTube.

USC had the ball at the ND 20, 13, 38 and 40 yard line on different drives and came away with negative 14 points (nd two pick 6’s).

while watching you feel like they are not stoppable. You see that and realize that’s a possible 42 points swing.

If I step back. ND with the super easy FG puts up 51. ND gave them the halftime score and the end of game. Neither of those should happen. That game honestly should have ended 51-21.

They were far from "non stoppable". USC punted 4 times before ND ever punted.

USC also had half of their total yards and 2 of 5 tds in the fourth quarter. ND offense had a shot to put the game away end of third/early fourth and didn't do it. 2 straight possessions with punts where we got about 2 yards total.

It felt like ND tried to hang on like Gtech did, except luckily we had 2 people in the secondary that made huge pick 6's.

USC had late turnovers but ND had 2 early turnovers and a missed FG. You take away all the turnovers for both teams and ND is probably up 20+ going into the fourth, and the game is over. Defense did ok the first 3 quarters but just had some bad moments in the secondary, the fourth quarter was atrocious in every facet of D other than 100yd pick 6's.

 

[Irish_inPSU]

The defense, IMO, struggled a little in that game. Which, tbh, was bound to happen as they've dominated for weeks now. I'm not overly concerned, except for maybe playing teams that get the ball in space on the edges, which USC did pretty well.

That said, lets all be honest. The offense played well and put it in the end zone when they needed to. USC never really got any kind of momentum as we always answered right back.

I'm just thrilled to close out the season with a solid win against a rival. USC worried me.

 

[tkirish]

SC definitely wanted this game. They were dialed in. ND equally wanted that game. With the offensive talent SC has along with Lincoln Riley’s play calling, the Trojans definitely had ND on their heels. With that said , do not dismiss the times the defense made key stops in big moments. Obviously you don’t want to give up lots of yards. However , this was one of those games where both offenses were rolling. In the end , when it mattered most , the defense held just enough to help secure the win.

 

[savvyandsassier]

SC definitely wanted this game. They were dialed in. ND equally wanted that game. With the offensive talent SC has along with Lincoln Riley’s play calling, the Trojans definitely had ND on their heels. With that said , do not dismiss the times the defense made key stops in big moments. Obviously you don’t want to give up lots of yards. However , this was one of those games where both offenses were rolling. In the end , when it mattered most , the defense held just enough to help secure the win.

I know, I consider it a classic game in the series, and one of the best ever, even though it didn't have quite the drama of the Bush Push game. The two pick sixes was something extraordinary. And there was a lot on the line for ND, and USC kept driving and driving, they were just relentless, as advertised, meaning forget their record they're still totally dangerous and could destroy our season, and possibly were on the verge of doing that, and then we step up and get the win by virtue of the two INTs, and the upshot is that's just an epic win for us, and we're hosting a playoff game, and what a way to master that final challenge on the schedule and reach the goal.

 

[Quest4Twelve]

My take. USC's season was already lost and once the RB Woody Marks went and they saw they wouldn't be able to stop ND's run they said "F IT" and chucked it all over the place. They were definitely trying to live by the sword.

Why this won't be the case in the playoffs? Teams have more to lose and a coach is not going to be that aggressive especially in a cold weather environment (game 1).

 

[stu4don]

I'm totally lost on that. So we should have won 51-21? Well that sounds good, I'll take that. How come it was so much closer? I just remember them giving up two length of the field pick sixes to suddenly put the game into almost the blowout category, both of them coming with less than five minutes to go, and they still drove down the field one final time to make the score more respectable.

But you're saying we really should have won by thirty. Hopefully the committee sees it that way.

Two turnovers and a missed chip shot field goal. We could have put them away earlier. But we're up by two TDs going into the 4th. Still, I was there -- a very tense afternoon until the 99 yard pick six.

 

[tkirish]

Two turnovers and a missed chip shot field goal. We could have put them away earlier. But we're up by two TDs going into the 4th. Still, I was there -- a very tense afternoon until the 99 yard pick six.

Stu just curious, how many Irish fans were there? I have seen games where it look like a good portion This game didn’t seem to have as many ND fans as in past years. Just my impression watching on TV

 

[Get Nasty]

Two turnovers and a missed chip shot field goal. We could have put them away earlier. But we're up by two TDs going into the 4th. Still, I was there -- a very tense afternoon until the 99 yard pick six.

Yes it was, i wasn't comfortable until the Watts pick 6. I thought we would win after the Gray one, but was still uncomfortable.