Notre Dame vs. Southern Cal

Well, I'm a day late but I was way too excited last night to sit down & post. Notre Dame beat Southern Cal 22-13, thus maintaining their perfect 12-0 season & securing their spot in the National Championship game! ND becomes the only eligible team in college football to go undefeated this year. ND hasn't been in the championship game in 24 years. So, you know, no big deal or anything.

Beauty & the Beast gif post!

USC is ND's biggest rival, so the past decade or so has been pretty rough on the Irish side of the rivalry. Under their former HC, Pete Carroll, USC maintained a decade dominance. They attracted all the bandwagon fans in the country. USC was basically thought of as LA's pro team since the city doesn't have an NFL team, therefore the Trojan circus has become ridiculous throughout the years, celebrity endorsements include. It all came crashing down a few years ago when Carroll bolted from the team in order to avoid being punished. You see, USC was cheating all those years. They were paying players to play, via cars & million dollar condos. The NCAA punished them by taking away the half of the National Championship they won during the time & stripping former USC RB Reggie Bush of his Heisman award. The team was hit with sanctions that barred them from playing in post-season game & limited their allotted football scholarships for a few years. This year was the first year that they would be allowed to play in bowl games again. This was supposed to be their comeback year. Preseason USC was the favored team to win the National Championship & their QB Matt Barkley was the favorite to win the Heisman. That didn't happen.

The Beast obviously being the of Trojan variety.

Instead, Notre Dame is now the #1 team in the country with a stamped ticket to the championship game. ND's LB Manti Te'o is now one of the leaders in the Heisman race. It's funny how things work out, aye? I never thought this season would happen. If you read my previous posts, you can definitely see that I had no idea my team would be in the position they are in right now. Preseason, I was convinced ND would go 6-6 or 7-5 in season & Brian Kelly would be fired. I was ready for it. I was gathering my torch & pitchfork ready for it. I was so so so damn wrong & thank the heavens for it.

I've finally learned to love Kelly.

Back to the game. I was so nervous all day long yesterday & it all came to a head once ND marched out onto the Colosseum's field at USC. I breathed a sigh of relief when ND's offense was able to move down the field with relative ease. Golson looked good & Riddick looked good. However, they ran into redzone problems & couldn't punch the ball into the endzone, so they were forced to kick a FG instead. Little did I know, but that first drive basically encapsulated the entire game. Barring a couple of exceptions, ND had little to no trouble marching down the field vs. USC, but they had a hell of a time getting touchdowns. Instead, they only scored one TD all game & had to settle for 6 FG attempts instead, making 5/6. This kept USC in the game. I have to give them credit, USC's defense didn't let up & they played a tough game against ND.

Just pushing you aside, Boys of Troy.

 USC's starting QB Barkley was out with an injury, so freshman backup Wittek made his first start last night. He performed surprisingly well with a few long balls that were right on target. Their RBs also enjoyed a few good runs that frustrated me to no end. Initially ND's defense didn't really look like the D they had been all year. USC's o-line stood very firm & protected their QB well, which stifled ND's vaunted front 7 from getting to & shaking up Wittek. A few passes caught ND's secondary by surprise too. Luckily, the D kept churning away & eventually they were able to wear down USC. A couple INTs later, including one by Te'o, Wittek's coming out party became not so much of a party.

So sad about your party, Wittek.

 The game all came down to USC's second to last drive. Notre Dame was only up by 9 points with a few minutes left in the 4th. USC, helped by a good kick return, was able to easily drive down to the 10 yard line & they were threatening.  ND nation collectively held their breath after 2 back to back passes in the endzone pulled up pass interference calls on ND's defense. USC tried with all their might to run it into the endzone, but failed against ND's extremely strong redzone defense. This drive also included a failed pass play that was stopped because USC's HC Kiffin was able to call a time out before the ball snapped. 4th down & inexplicably, even though they were down by 9 points, Kiffin went for it instead of going for the FG. USC lined up, pass play into the endzone & the receiver dropped the ball, pass incomplete. The Irish's vaunted defense put up yet another game winning goal line stand. 7 plays & no points for USC in the redzone on that drive. ND got the ball back with 2 minutes left in the game on the 1 yard line. A first down a few plays later cemented the game for ND as they took a knee on the next 3 plays since USC only had one timeout left. The Trojans got the ball back with about 30 seconds on the clock, but it wasn't enough time & a few plays later the game was over. ND beat USC.

Bye, USC. You tried it.

 A few ND players really stood out in that game. RB Riddick had the game of his life. He was on fire all night & at times seemed to be our only productive player on offense. Golson also had a good game, as he continues to improve with each passing game. I am so happily surprised with his progression throughout this season & I'm really looking forward to see how much greater he'll become in the coming years. You also have to give the game to the kicker Brindza, who, like I stated prior, made 5/6 FGs. Without those, ND would have lost the game. On defense, I'm going to have to say that CB Farley was our best player. He played lights out & garnered the most tackles on the team. He was also responsible for a few giant tackles at key moments that kept ND in the lead. Nix had the best game out of the d-line, as he once again caused USC's o-line fits all game long. Te'o again had a great game, as always. It's looking like he may not win the Heisman, which is a shame. I really hope that ND can come up with a great media plan to hype him up in the next couple weeks. Hopefully the allure of ND going into the championship game will rub off on his Heisman race too. 

Cheers to the Irish!

I was elated after the game. I really can't believe this season happened. I have watched every second of every ND game since I was 10 (besides a couple games that weren't televised & I had to listen to the game in it's entirety on the radio). Notre Dame football is who I am. There's really no words (or gifs, haha) to describe how happy this makes me. It's everything.

It's a celebration.

 So, now we wait to see who ND will play. Bama or Georgia, we don't really care. ND isn't scared of anyone. They say that ND has an easy schedule, yet Sagarin says otherwise listing ND as having the hardest schedule in the country. ND has played 9 bowl eligible teams this year (10, if PITT wins next week), in comparison, Bama has only beat 5 & Georgia 4. They said we wouldn't beat MSU, then they said Denard from Michigan would run all over us, then they said we couldn't get passed Stanford, then they said we would never beat Oklahoma at Oklahoma, then they said USC would kill our dreams. Go & look at them now. 

ND's defense is coming for you, whoever you are.

Go Irish!