Perfection! Notre Dame earns spot in title game with win at USC
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
Notre Dame did what no one thought it could.
It finished the football season undefeated thanks to a 22-13 win at USC Saturday night.
Yes, the top-ranked Irish, who began the season unranked and ended it 12-0 for the first time since 1988, are relevant once again. So relevant in fact that they’ll play in the BCS National Championship Game Jan. 7 in Miami likely against the winner of the SEC Championship Game, which pits Alabama against Georgia.
It’s been a long wait for Notre Dame fans to see their beloved Irish reach the summit of college football, better known these days as the BCS National Championship Game.
In fact, Notre Dame has never appeared in the BCS title event. The last time the Irish played for it all was the 1988 season when the BCS didn’t exist. Lou Holtz’s Irish beat West Virginia to claim the ’88 title. The Notre Dame faithful have been waiting for a return trip ever since.
Well, their wish finally came true, as Notre Dame will have an opportunity to add another national championship trophy to its collection of 13 recognized national titles (second to Alabama out of all FBS schools in the post-1900 era).
It put the finishing touches on a perfect season with yet another workmanlike effort, this time against the Trojans in the Coliseum.
Notre Dame’s defense, the best in the nation, sealed the outcome with another goal-line stand for the ages.
The Irish D, which is the main reason this team is where it is, stuffed USC four times from the 1-yard line with 2:33 left in the game, making sure the Blue and Gold wasn’t going to be denied.
“We’re going to fight,” said linebacker Manti Te’o, who helped his Heisman Trophy cause with another stellar showing which included his seventh interception of the season. “That’s our name. It doesn’t matter where we are.”
Irish coach Brian Kelly, who surely will be named National Coach-of-the-Year, couldn’t have been prouder of Te’o and his defensive teammates.
“We come up big defensively at some time during the game,” said Kelly, who gave Te’o a big bear hug while walking up the Coliseum tunnel after the game. “We did that again. We minimized the big plays.”
Minimizing those big plays was not an easy task considering the Trojans boast one of the best receiving corps in the country.
USC, which fell to a disappointing 7-5 on the season, were undermanned as they had to start freshman quarterback Max Wittek in place of preseason All-American Matt Barkley, who injured his right throwing shoulder in the loss to UCLA the week prior.
Wittek was somewhat impressive, throwing for 186 yards and a touchdown to talented wideout Robert Woods, but his inexperience showed. He threw a pair of interceptions and fumbled a snap, which he recovered on a critical third-down play.
Wittek and his receivers just didn’t seem to be on the same page all night. On SC’s first series of the game, he threw a 60-yard pass that hit Marqise Lee’s arm before falling incomplete in the end zone. Lee got slight separation from the Irish secondary, but appeared to turn the wrong way, throwing the whole play’s timing off.
The Irish defense wasn’t the only reason why Notre Dame was victorious on the night.
Running back Theo Riddick really showcased his talents once again, rushing for 146 yards and a touchdown.
Place-kicker Kyle Brindza was big, too, as he nailed five field goals, a few of which kept the Trojans at bay by making it a two-possession game.
Quarterback Everett Golson was equally as efficient. Per usual, he didn’t throw an interception and passed for 217 yards.
Golson led the Irish on two scoring drives the first two times they touched the ball.
They took the opening kickoff and marched 66 yards before settling for a 27-yard field goal by Brindza. Then they went 87 yards in 12 plays and took a 10-0 lead when Riddick scored on a 9-yard scamper.
To the Trojans’ credit, they didn’t fold like they easily could have.
Wittek’s lone TD pass of the night made it 10-7 just five seconds into the second quarter.
Three field goals followed, two by Brindza, one of which was a 52-yarder as time expired to make it 16-10 at halftime.
The lone score of the third quarter was another Brindza field goal.
USC got to within 19-13 with a 21-yard field goal with 9:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, before Brindza added another three-pointer with just under six minutes to go to finish the scoring.
With Notre Dame leading 22-13, the Trojans’ last gasp came late at the Irish 1.
Three straight USC runs resulted in nothing. Then following a time-out, Wittek underthrew fullback Soma Vainuku, who was open in the end zone to turn the ball over on downs.
As expected, the Irish sideline and thousands of fans in attendance went wild, not to mention the tens of thousands of fans worldwide.
“Well, that’s who we are,” Kelly said. “It’s been our defense all year. Our offense is able to manage enough points.”
As the remaining seconds ticked off the clock, Kelly got the traditional Gatorade shower from his players and the celebration began.
The Irish will take a little time off now before beginning preparation for the BCS National Championship Game, which isn’t for another 43 days. They’ll watch the SEC Championship Game Dec. 1, begin practicing for the big game, take final exams and then head down to Miami over the Christmas holiday to begin final preparations for the game.
“It’s definitely a relief to be able to look at the big picture now, but it’s a short window,” said Te’o, who has over 100 tackles this season, becoming the second Irish defender with three 100-tackle seasons. “We can enjoy this, but then we’re going to have to get prepared for one more game.”
Riddick added, “We’ve got super confidence as a team now.”
No matter who the Irish face in the BCS National Championship Game they’ll be decided underdogs, but the way this season has gone, anything is possible. Just ask Purdue, Michigan, Stanford, BYU and Pitt.
Notre Dame Nuggets
– The Irish dominated in nearly every statistical category. They outgained their hosts 439-281, including 222-95 yards rushing.
Notre Dame had the ball nine more minutes than USC (34:38-25:22).
The Irish didn’t commit a single turnover, while the Trojans had two.
– According to ESPN, USC had 30 yards after the catch against Notre Dame. It’s the fewest in any game in the last four seasons for the Trojans, who entered the contest averaging 156.8 yards after the catch per game, most in the Pac-12.
– Also according to ESPN, the Irish outrushed the Trojans 143-19 inside the tackles. It was the second fewest such rushing yards to USC in a game this season. Stanford held the Trojans to 18 such yards.
Riddick gained 121 of his 146 yards inside the tackles.
– Notre Dame did not allow a touchdown in the first quarter of any of its regular-season games.
