Irish, Trojans resume longest intersectional rivalry
Notre Dame and Southern California continue their longtime series tonight in South Bend with the game having meaning for both schools.
The Irish enter at 4-1 and ranked ninth in the nation while USC is 3-2 and unranked. The Irish and Trojans series is the longest intersectional series in the NCAA. ND leads the series 46-37-5 and have won the last two meetings, including 24-17 last year.
Last week, Notre Dame QB Ian Book tied a school record with five touchdown passes in the first half of a 52-0 romp over an undermanned and over-matched Bowling Green team. He needed one more TD pass to tie the school recored set by Brandy Quinn in 2006 of six TD throws in a game. A dropped pass near the end of the second quarter inside the 10 yard line of the Falcons would have had Book tie the mark.
Book had a outstanding game against an admitted subpar opponent and the defense of former ND defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, now with the Falcons.
Book ended his day after playing one series in the third quarter. He was replaced by backup Phil Jurkovec, of Pine-Richland High School near Pittsburgh, who did a creditable job as he played all but the last series of the second half. Jurkovec showed his dual-threat capabilities by completing 5 of 7 passes for 79 yards and rushing for 42 yards on four carries.
The Irish running game averaged 6.85 yards per carry on the way to 233 rushing yards. Senior Tony Jones Jr. led the way with 102 yards on seven carries and sophomore back C’Bo Flemister got a rushing TD from one yard out in the fourth quarter.
ND used its bench in the game with nine players carrying the ball and nine players catching passes.
Wide receiver Javon McKinley had another good game. He led the team with five catches for 104 yards and a TD. He had two TD catches for 85 yards in the New Mexico rout. He’s a big target for Book at 6-2 and 220 pounds.
Defensively, the Irish recorded their first shutout since a 31-0 win over Michigan in 2014.
More on the game later.
This should be a good one tonight as the Irish defense, especially the secondary, gets tested by the passing offense of the Trojans. USC has three of the top receivers in the country in Michael Pittman Jr., Tyler Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Of the three, the best is Pittman, but the other to are very good.
So far this season Pittman has 35 catches for 501 yards and four TDs, Vaughn 414 on 31 and two scores and St. Brown, 238 on 24 and three scores. The three are ranked among the top 60 overall players in their recruiting classes.
QB Kedin Slovis has completed 60 of 77 passes for 732 yards and five TDs so far this season. Vance Malepeal has rushed for 360 yards on 79 carries and four TDs.
USC enters at 3-2 with wins over Fresno State, 31-23, Stanford, 45-20, and Utah, 30-23. The losses have been to BYU, 30-27, and Washington, 28-14.
The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV with a 7:40 p.m. kickoff.
IRISH NOTES ... Since ND has gone to a 12 personnel offense (one running back and two tight ends), the offense has picked up. ND started the grouping in the Virginia game and used it again last week. The two tight end formation appears to work the best as to the running game. It also has pluses in the passing game as it gives Book more options. The return of TE junior Cole Kmet, from a collarbone break, and sophomore Tommy Tremble lining up with Kmet in the two tight end set, has really help. Tremble also has been a good blocker .... Here are some more Bowling Green game stats. Flemister finished with eight carries for 30 yards. Book completed 16 of 20 attempts for 261 yards, no interceptions and the five TDs. Tremble had four catches for 38 yards and a score and Chase Claypool three for 61 and two scores. Defensively Jalen Elliott had six tackles, Alohi Gilman five and eight others with four each. Jamir Jones had two tackles for seven yards lost and Julian Okwara had two for minus 22 yards. Jonathon Doerer had one field goal for 27 yards ... Julian Okwara blocked a 40-yard field goal attempt by Bowling Green. The last time the Irish blocked one was in 2014 when Isaac Rochell did it against LSU in the Music City Bowl ... A total of 14 true freshmen saw action on Saturday ... Freshman Cam Hart, who started as a wide receiver when he joined the Irish this offseason, moved to cornerback and saw his first game action at the position on Saturday. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound is already listed as the No. 2 cornerback behind Troy Pride Jr. on Notre Dame’s depth chart .... According to published reports, USC coach Clay Helton’s job is on the line and a win over the Irish could save it for him ... It looks like running back Jafar Armstrong’s surgically repaired abdominal tear has healed enough and he will play tonight. He is needed by the ND rushing offense. He is the only truly break-away running back for the Irish and has the most speed of any of the ND backs. According to the South Bend Tribune sports staff, Armstrong, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior, is the third of three of ND’s most important offensive players who have missed extended stretches of training camp and/or the season itself to return to an Irish offense. ... Notre Dame is on a modern era, school-record scoring pace (41.0 ppg) ... The Irish have won 14 consecutive games at Notre Dame Stadium, including a 6-0 clean slate last season. It is the third-longest winning streak at home for the Irish since Notre Dame Stadium opened in 1930 ... Notre Dame remains perfect in red zone-scoring percentage, converting on 20-of-20 visits inside the 20 — 17 of those scores were touchdowns (10 rushing, seven passing). Just three other teams boast perfection in the red zone (Tulane, Iowa and LSU), and of those teams, only LSU (26) has totaled more red zone touchdowns than the Irish ... The Notre Dame Stadium sell-out streak stands at 270 consecutive games, the second-longest in NCAA history ... According to the South Bend Tribune, out of 130 teams, USC ranks 122nd in turnover margin, 105th in red zone offense ... The bookies have ND a 10-plus point favorite....In my preseason picks I have the Irish winning tonight. The key for ND is to pressure Slovis to slow down the potent USC passing attack. I’ll stick with the pick but this will be a true test for ND. The Irish are off next week before traveling to Michigan on Oct. 26. I’ll be back in then.
