Those College Football Playoff hopes for Notre Dame?
They’re doing just fine.
The 15th-ranked Fighting Irish ensured their bid to get back to the national championship title game is far from over with their running game leading a 34-24 defeat of No. 21 Southern California in the 96th Battle of the Jeweled Shillelagh.
It was only the seventh game of the season for Notre Dame, but it was the one that would decide the fate of the rest of the campaign. It couldn’t afford another loss after opening with close defeats to Miami and Texas A&M.
The Fighting Irish played with the necessary urgency, running for 306 yards, led by a career day by Jeremiyah Love. The junior running back piled up a career-high 228 yards and one touchdown on the ground on just 24 carries for an average 9.5 yards per carry. It was the most rushing yards for a Notre Dame player in Notre Dame Stadium history.
‘We just played our butts off, and when the opportunity presented itself, we executed,’ Love said.
Love was complimented by 87 rushing yards from fellow back Jadarian Price, but his impact went beyond the running game.
After USC rallied in the second half to take a 24-21 lead in the third quarter, Price took the ensuing kickoff 100-yards to the house and sent the Notre Dame faithful into a frenzy. Between Love and Price, the dynamic duo combined for 436 total yards.
‘It’s not very common in life to see two guys that are so talented that deserve the ball in their hand every snap, but choose to put the team in front of themselves and then make the most of their opportunities,’ Freeman said.
The strong performance from the running backs delivered what Freeman wanted in the rivalry matchup: a physical, ‘bloody’ performance. He believed which ever team proved its toughness at the line of scrimmage would emerge on top, and the steady rain in South Bend forced both teams to focus on the ground game.
On both sides, it all pointed to a Fighting Irish win. Not only did Notre Dame dominate on the ground, but it limited the Trojan rushing attack to 68 yards.
‘It was going to be one in the trenches,’ Freeman said. ‘We weren’t going to be able to throw up the ball a lot in the second half because of the moisture and the weather. That’s what we want.
‘That’s our edge. We got to be we got to play the game in a physical matter,’ he added.
Notre Dame has now won five consecutive games, but most importantly got its first ranked win of the season. Even if the Trojans fall out of the US LBM coaches poll, it’s a big resume booster that the Fighting Irish need to secure a spot in the playoff if they can win the rest of the games.
Costly mistakes dooms USC
The Trojans had a chance to reclaim the lead several times in the second half but were undone by too many mistakes. Quarterback Jayden Maiava threw an interception, but it was a failed trick play in the fourth quarter that really killed any momentum the Trojans had.
They attempted a reverse-pass play with receiver Makai Lemon, but he fumbled while looking to throw the ball. Notre Dame recovered for a key turning point in the game. It was one of three turnovers committed by USC. Notre Dame had just one.
It’s the failed trick play that was haunting Riley after the loss.
‘Stupid call, stupid call,’ he said.
Notre Dame was able to add another touchdown to make it a 10-point game and USC couldn’t cut the deficit, shut out in the final frame.
It’s a difficult loss for USC and Riley after showing signs of life in a win over Michigan last week. Although it wasn’t a conference win, the Trojans are 5-2 and the path to its first playoff appearance gets more difficult, especially with a road trip to Oregon later in the season.