Oct 17, 2009 - USC Trojans Survive their Eighth Straight Victory over Notre Dame
Oct 17, 2009
It took all sixty seconds of the game clock, but the USCTrojans held onto what once was a commanding lead to beat the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
Norte Dame’s quarterback Jimmy Clausen had three chances to pull the Irish to within one (an extra point would have evened things up) in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter but could not connect due to the tough Trojan defense, a pass that sailed wide, and errant footing in the end zone. What would have been a colossal collapse by the Trojans ended up being maybe a little luck of the Irish of their own for USC.
The red-hot rojans Matt Barkley sported a 20-yard per completion average accompanied by two touchdowns to torch the Irish secondary. With a rocky start to the 2009 campaign, Barkley looked poised, sharp, and very controlled in the pocket in Saturday’s contest in South Bend. He performed to even the highest standard USC has for their field generals. Barkley has a very impressive talent and knack to view the field and football-smarts.
USC TE Anthony McCoy proved to be not only a huge target for Barkley but a massive presence for the Trojan nation against the Irish. He hauled in five catches for 153 yards against a porous Notre Dame defense. With an average of over thirty yards per catch, McCoy was the go-to guy for USC to keep the chains moving.
Damian Williams, USC’s powerful star receiver, had four catches for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. His speed, hands, and agility cost the Notre Dame secondary dearly. Between McCoy and Williams, they accounted for over half of USC’s offensive output, quite a performance for these two.
The USC Trojans defense, while allowing Notre Dame back in the game late, punished the Irish all day long. Jimmy Clausen received high praise from the sports world during the week leading up to this contest but he was basically shut down the first forty-nine minutes. The Trojan defense just proved to be entirely too tough. Even against a pretty potent Notre Dame running game did USC play extremely well only giving up eighty-two yards on the ground.
Now Charlie Weis is 0-5 against their fiercest rival in the Pete Carroll-led USC Trojans. There are many who believe Weis will not get a chance to go 0-6. Weis and his coaches made many bad play calls during the USC game. While none of the teams on Notre Dame’s remaining schedule mean as much as this one did to the Irish fans, these remaining games will determine big Chuck’s future employment. Only time, coupled with a long string of victories, will tell.
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