There's only one phrase for Notre Dame this days . . . Eeessshh! They are not competitive anymore against good teams. The USC Trojans made the Irish look like the JV squad once again this year.
Notre Dame was never a threat on offense or defense, and the Trojans were workman-like in their dismantling of the once proud Irish football team.
Let's get to the grades:
Offense
QB - Mark Sanchez had his ups and downs in this game. He was 22 - 31 for 267yards with (2) TDs. But he also had two INTs in which he failed to read the defense properly. The positive was that Sanchez didn't let those two mistakes bother him. He showed good command throughout the game. Backup Mitch Mustain also threw an INT on an underthrown pass. Grade: C
RBs/FB - Another good game for the RBs. Joe McKnight was the difference maker in this game with a scintillating 55 yard TD run for a TD. Gable and Johnson also had short TD runs. The surprise of the night came from Marc Tyler who ran very well in the second half for 59 yards on 7 carries (8+ ypc). Grade: B +
WRs/TE - Another solid game for the WRs. Damian Williams and Pat Turner led the team with 7 and 6 receptions, respectively, and each had a TD catch. TE Anthony McCoy also had a couple of grabs as he slowly gets worked into the offense.
Grade: B
OLine - This unit controlled the Irish front 7 very well. They led the way to 175 yards rushing. QB Sanchez was sacked twice, but the OLine did not really struggle in any area. Grade: B
Defense
DLine - The Trojan DLine gave Notre Dame fits. NT Christian Topou was active early, and DT Fili Moala had 1.5 sacks in the game. True frosh NT Jurrell Casey continues to improve as he forced a fumble on a nice play. This group helped keep the Irish to only 71 yards rushing in the game. Grade: B +
LBs - This unit is clearly the best in the nation. Not just because of the starters like OLB Kaluka Maiava who had an INT and led the team in tackles with 5. But because of the depth, with reserves like OLB Michael Morgan who had a sack and recovered a fumble. Reserve OLB Malcolm Smith also had the hit of the night crushing an Irish ball carrier. Grade: A minus
DBs - CB Cary Harris got things started right with an INT on the ND's first possession, and this unit played very well in run support. Beyond this, this group was not challenged by the Irish downfield. Grade: B
Special Teams - No big plays from the return teams on this night. But there were no mistakes either. Punter Greg Woidneck only had a 32 yard average on his punts, but many of them were kicked from mid-field where you don't want deep ones.
K David Buehler continues his strong season going 1 - 1 on FGs and nailing 4 more touchbacks on kickoffs. Grade: B
Coaching - Offensively, the gameplan was solid. SC had some nice design schemes in the red zone that freed up receivers for a couple of TD catches. SC ran the ball early in possession which is what I like to see. The team scored 24 first half points on the Irish, and ended the game early.
Defensively . . . the beat goes on. The Trojan front 7 harassed ND QB Clausen all night long and sacked him 4 times. SC pretty much played straight up defense with nothing exotic. There were no CB blitzes or DEs dropping into coverage. There was no need. The Trojans held Clausen to 41 yards passing on the night and intercepted him twice. Grade: A
Game Balls:
Offense: RB Joe McKnight
Defense: LB Kaluka Maiava
Special Teams: K David Buehler
Prediction Winner: Payback is in the building!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment