Remember a few weeks ago, when I asked after the MSU game about ending a game without any complaints?
Wow.
Notre Dame crushed/creamed/obliterated/smothered/walloped (I could keep up with those for a while) USC Saturday night, 49-14. The Irish never allowed any semblance of doubt to creep in, right from the Trojans’ first play from scrimmage, an all-effort play that saw Te’von Coney steal the ball from Sam Darnold after the latter fumbled a high snap. That quickly erased the bad memories of a sputtering first ND possession, and the Irish set to work making SC pay for it, scoring a touchdown in 3 plays.
They did the same thing a little while later. Up 14-0, the Irish punted, SC muffed the kick and ND recovered. The Irish scored a TD.
As a matter of fact, that’s what ND did every single time SC gave them the ball. The Darnold pick? TD. SC turns it over on downs in the 2nd half? TD.
That’s what this Irish team has done so well. Almost impossibly well. Make other teams pay. And when in the red zone, it’s TDs almost every time (including every time today). It’s why they’re now, beyond all doubt, a College Football Playoff contender.
This is the first time you can indisputably say that, because it’s the first ND team with a win like this in a long, long time. The 2015 team was very good but didn’t have any wins remotely resembling this one. The 2014 team started 6-0 (believe it or not, that actually happened) but didn’t have any wins over ranked teams in that time. You probably have to go back to Lou Holtz to find an ND team thoroughly bludgeon a highly-ranked team like this from start to finish.
Mike Elko can have whatever he wants
I don’t care what it is. Want to be the mayor of South Bend? Want a luxury SUV? Want to be addressed as “Your Highness”? I literally do not care. He needs to be the defensive coordinator forever. This team was shredded to bits by freaking Duke not even 13 months ago, and tonight they held a high-powered USC offense to 336 yards – fewer than ND rushed for. They allowed 2.5 yards per rush – the vaunted Ronald Jones went for 32 yards on 12 carries. Nick Watkins baited Sam Darnold into an INT. Every key tackle was made. Jerry Tillery continued to be an animal, and his buddies Khalid Kareem, Jay Hayes and others were regular presences in the USC backfield.
Welcome to the Heisman discussion, Josh
It’s about freaking time Josh Adams got some Heisman attention. He has nearly 1,000 rushing yards in 7 games. He doesn’t do a lot in the passing game (his drop of the screen pass on 3rd down of the first possession showed why), but he’s averaging NINE FREAKING YARDS PER CARRY! He’s good for at least one 70+ yard TD run every game. You can count the number of guys more dangerous than him with the ball on one hand. The Georgia defense throttling him is likely to keep him from having a real chance to win the award (although that didn’t stop Johnny Manziel when LSU did it), but it’s been long since time to put him in the discussion, and 191 yards and 3 TD will do that.
Numbers might lie (a little) on Wimbush
Wimbush was 9/19 for 120 yards, with 2 TD. Not that impressive, right? Well, in one sense, you are right. Wimbush (barely) missed two throws that could have been TDs and obviously missed a couple of other throws. But he was in command all night. It helped that he ran for 106 yards. (He tied DeShone Kizer’s QB-rushing-TD season record tonight with his 10th. There are 5 games left.) He tucked and ran when it made sense, and he protected the ball. ND’s line and running game are so good that that’s all he needs to do. If he keeps it up, winning out is a real possibility.
(Slight digression: Welcome to the party, KJ Stepherson. Finally playing an actual role on the team, Stepherson ran the ball a few times and actually led ND in receiving yards, with 58. It’s always nice to have another crazy-fast dude available.)1
Special teams: An underrated key
Sometimes your best attribute can be not screwing up. That’s what the special teams has had most of the year. Outside of the poor opening kickoff return, the Irish’s special teams was just fine. Most importantly, they recovered USC’s muffed punt. USC missed a field goal early. The Irish, meanwhile, got decent returns, kept SC from breaking off any big ones of their own, made all their PATs and had good kickoffs. And although it didn’t amount to anything, Tyler Newsome, for the second week in a row, launched a perfect punt inside the one-yard line with less than a minute left in the first half.
So here we are. Notre Dame, actual Playoff contender. The schedule from here lines up almost exactly the way you’d want it to if you need quality wins: ND plays a bunch of highly-ranked teams that also haven’t done anything that would scare you. Miami is ranked in the top 10, but seems to be living on borrowed time. NC State’s signature achievement so far is beating Florida State, which everyone is doing now. Stanford is probably the best team left on ND’s schedule, but the same SC team ND just crushed won big against them. There is no reason to fear anyone left on the slate. And with the Pac-12 essentially out of the race already (only the Washington/WSU winner can finish with 1 loss, and I doubt either will win out until then), only one more conference needs to cannibalize itself for ND to be 5 wins from a playoff berth.
This is a real discussion. We’re actually having it. We’ll continue to have it at the very least until a week from now. What could be better?
(Photo credit: USA Today)
This game was like a fine meal. I will savor it for a long, long time.
One thing not mentioned by Tirico is that it looks like Wimbush has gotten the message about avoiding taking a big hit.
If only it wasn’t a night game and you could get back to civilization/Chicago in time for an actual fine meal.
Of course, there are some better restaurants in Chicago than you will find anywhere in South Bend, but South Bend has its share of nice places. Next time you’re in town, you might give Sunny Italy Cafe on Niles Ave. a try, if you can get in.
Upvote for Sunny Italy
(It’s a running joke, but nice recommendation)
Uh, no…Josh Adams has 967 yards in 7 games. 776 was after North Carolina. 🙂
Well GD it all. Stupid ESPN page had USC stats on it so I just assumed they’d updated. Will fix.
Never trust ESPN.
What a win, what a team!
@Re-sign Swarbrick and Kelly@
Yeah, a 10-year, $19 million extension sounds about right.
Flutie still has me worried, up by 35 with no time left? Darnold has us right where he wants us.
Ok, all doubts set aside. I’m on the train. Choo choo!
Welcome to Brendanland you bunch of doubters.
Haha, my metaphorical borders are open. All are welcome!
This might be the best win in the Brian Kelly era. Simply put, a phenomenal team win. Both on the field and off with so many recruits watching. Wimbush and Adams both had monster nights but I would give the game ball to Elko. What a game plan he put together. If he doesn’t win assistant coach of the year something is wrong. He has came in and gave this team a idenity on defense. Great night for Notre Dame. Now let’s hope tonight’s game helps to land us a elite recruit.
Added bonus: Skunkbears smoked on National TV.
Smoked Skunkbear is the latest hipster delicacy
/pushes glasses up nose
I enjoyed Smoked Skunkbear before it became popular in Happy Valley.
I hear they smoke a lot of skunky unkey in Ann Arbor.
Looks like MGoBlog broke containment.
So someone in our commentariat either has really bad aim or is a hipster.
Based on the urinal splash damage in the restroom at my local gastropub, it’s probably both.
I love watching those a-clowns trashed any day of the week, but I did want them to win that game. Maybe O$U can beat the Child Molesters and knock them out of the way for us. Then go on to lose the Integer champ game.
The most direct path to the B1G eating itself is Wisconsin getting upset by one of the chump teams they play (maybe Michigan?) and winning the B1G title game. An 11-1 ND has to be above a 12-1 Wisconsin team with only 1 good win. Unfortunately the B1G West is so pathetic no one will even challenge them.
I don’t think Wisconsin will be able to hang with Michigan, although of course I could be wrong.
Even more, let’s hope for five more great nights like Saturday.
What a great win, maybe the best (between opponent, rank, and level of dominance) in a two decades. The first six games of the season were great but the results were still about as expected at the beginning of the year. This felt like the first real test of something special. The defense was fantastic, Adams should be a Heisman finalist, Wimbush missed some throws but otherwise gave the offense exactly what it needed. This team could be special with five more chances to shine.
Yes. But who actually did get the game ball?
Kareem I believe.
Yep, Kelly said he made two huge sacks and earned the game ball. Seems like the guys really responded.
!!!!!1!!
Love it.
This was the first game where it seemed like Wimbush was really throwing the ball well. His line wasn’t helped by some drops. I am finally on the Wimbush wagon. (I always liked him just wasn’t sure of his abilities)
Can one of you rules gurus please explain the defensive holding call? Did they screw that up was it a correct non-automatic 1st?
Circumstantially defensive holding almost always includes an automatic first down, but there are requirements that have to be included for that to occur (they just usually happen if there’s a defensive hold). For the automatic first all of the following have to occur:
1. Team A player being held is an eligible receiver and
2. the hold occurs beyond the neutral zone, and
3. a subsequent forward pass goes beyond the neutral zone (which also implies there must be a forward pass)
Tenn. v Bama also had a non automatic-first defensive holding in there game this weekend. Though that was not the most unusual call of their game: http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2017/10/sec_explains_why_alabama_got_b.html
Thanks
Good job. I will add that the mechanic for calling this is the official who sees the holding will then look into the backfield to see where the QB is. If he is still in the pocket, flag will come out. If he is scrambling, we will hold that flag until a pass comes in the direction of the held receiver. If none comes, there is no foul because the hold would not be at the point of attack. If the ball is thrown, then you have held an eligible receiver on a passing play
Per Doug Farmer – The NCAA rule is defensive holding results in an automatic first down only on passing plays. By the letter of the law, a sack is not a passing play. So half the distance.
Thanks
There’s no more satisfying detail of last night’s win than the fact that we absolutely dominated USC at the line of scrimmage. We were by far the more physical football team and bullied the Trojans from start to finish. 47 carries for 377 yards says it all. I really get the sense that this team won’t be denied.
That morning after 35-point rivalry win feeling >>>>>
It’s called a hangover
I definitely had one of those…some poor schlub’s guest toilet was ruined by me on Saturday night
[clears throat]
I told you spicy chili wasnt a good idea. 😉
There will be those who point to SC’s injuries and suspensions, our bye, the moon being in Jupiter, and anything else they can think of.
Bollocks.
Had USC fallen short by a FG, then maybe that matters. Maybe you can make an excuse. They were dominated start to finish and never had a shot. They got two easy drives in the 3rd quarter that didn’t matter because we answered right back. They had major players who just quit–made “business decisions” as it was put last night. Darnold was not hurt, but they took him out of the game with TEN FREAKING MINUTES LEFT so he didn’t break in a non-conference game. Marshall “tweaked” something. Ronald Jones “tweaked something.” Had they felt they had a shot, they’d have played. They didn’t. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what it looks like to crush an opponent’s will.
We’re a contender to get in to the playoff–I’d hold off on discussing our chances of winning it until we get to that point. But we belong in the conversation. I said before the game that I needed to see us beat a good team, that the guys needed to show me. They showed the world. USC isn’t a bad team. It just wasn’t the better team, and there is no doubt about that.
I think we’re better (if we play like that) than anyone remaining on our schedule. The concern is going to be A: letdown, especially this week; B: fatigue, as even though we had our bye, the cumulative effect of the second half of the schedule is going to be a lot more difficult than that of the first half. We’ve seen this on the season-long level before, where we don’t get credit because we don’t play a Top 5 opponent, but instead have a bunch of 15-25 opponents that are all tough games even if we win them.
The difference is that this team is built to dominate, impose its will, and build a lead that allows starters to rest and be fresh and backups to come in and build depth. This is something we haven’t seen at ND in a long time. CFB fortunes are fickle, but we BELONG in the discussion. Years like 2015, heck possibly even 2012, our records put us in the discussion, but it was questionable (and the bowl games bore it out) whether we really were that good. This win showed we ARE that good. We may not win every game moving forward (objectively I think we’ll be favored, even against Miami, but things happen) but this game showed what this team is capable of. And it’s the first time in a long time I’m not afraid of getting to a NY6 bowl or the playoff, because (except maybe by Bama) this team isn’t going to get embarrassed.
Amen, KG. I noted your “Show Me” prior comment, and I was there myself. This group of players showed us all. I like their spirit and attitude. I saw a comment aboiut Josh Adams being really excited over a great block he threw on a BW TD run. Cited as proof of team spirit. (Note: anyone have a clip of that?)
I have to say, to you and all our esteemed co-posters on this excellent site — this was one of the very best wins over SC ever – and I’ve been at a ton since we whipped them in ’57 after the blizzard and they chicken-sh__ted out of playing at ND at the end of the year for ever more. But now I am happy, because the weather was no excuse for them last night either.
In fact.. I have never been happier to have flown across the ocean, for a game or anything else.
What a joy, what a moment to savor.
Incidentally, OK, I am now convinced I have to have seats in the North end zone up high (like I had for our past four Natties; which was the reason I got those tickets this time…darn, this is going to get expensive.)
Incidentally… the jury is in on the impact of the “Tron. Purely positive. The way Mike Bonner is playing it, our crowd is suddenly optimized in ways that I was giving up hope it could be.
OK… no letdown for NC State. Remember the damn hurricane. Revenge!
Adams doesn’t get a full hit on the USC player, but does chip him in such a way to knock him off his feet so that Wimbush has an easy stroll to the corner: https://youtu.be/v0OFLtu8czk?t=98
Tony Jones has an even better block on Wimbush’s other rushing TD (next highlight on the video), between him and the O-line, Adams can’t even find someone to block!
Thanks very much!
Both those plays were right in front of me, but I was focused on the O-Line. Very good blocks, both. I can see why Josh was happy.
Cest vrai mom am i!
I was not quite a believer before the game, but how can you argue with that?! And our opponents are doing pretty well. MSU and BC are also looking like decent wins.
Yeah. It seems the “garbage teams” we were beating up on might not be so garbage.
Merci, mon vieux!
Here you go, MN:
Ronald Jones didn’t tweak something, he appeared to get concussed on a hit by Morgan.
“Nick Watkins baited Sam Darnold into an INT.”
I’mma just going to sit here and savor this sentence for the next hour, in all of its glory.
Also–anyone notice a trend here? Elkos scouting and prep has purposefully generated non-luck turnovers via picks virtually week in and out. I can think of the MSU love pick and the Miami(oh) martini pick in addition to the Watkins pick. If you can generate one or two of those a week, score off of them, shut down the run, and rush the qb, it almost doesn’t matter what else the secondary is doing back there.
Exactly: “Mike Elko can have whatever he wants.” Think that we are not really any more talented than last year on defense (maybe even slightly less) and yet the defense is actually amazing while last year….
One thing no one has mentioned: Wimbush’s two AMAZING throws (I think they were both TD’s). If he even stays inconsistent (though partly as some have mentioned the wr drops didn’t help) but makes those downfield throws a couple times a game. The offense will be unstoppable against anybody.
It just might seem that last year’s 4-8 season was the best thing that could have happened to us. Hit rock bottom, shake ourselves out of mediocrity (“ourselves”=BK, players, the whole system), and come back doing what is necessary to DOMINATE!
Elko and even Chip Long get a ton of credit. But let’s not forget Balis in all this as well. He deserves a serious shout out for his role in the line of scrimmage victories on both sides of the ball!
Great observations. I still have tons of admiration for how BK took the all-in retool approach. I like it when times are desperate but you don’t hold back in undertaking critical reforms.
But as KG says, the test on s&c is going to come in the next five games. I liked it that BK said last night that the players are still getting stronger in the weight room, even halfway through the season.
I have never seen us beat USC like this, anywhere near like this. I hate them. This is amazing.
Is Dexter still injured? I thought he was expected to be back, but never saw him play, and the box score doesn’t show him. I missed the start of the game, and watched it at a bar where I couldn’t hear, so not sure if it was mentioned on TV.
Not mentioned, but BK said in his Thursday presser that Dexter isn’t yet back to 100%. It sounded like he had the potential to play in very limited snaps, but with the way the game went there was just no reason to even put him on the field.
What about Crawford? I heard nothing from him which is very strange, because if he’s on the field he’s always around the ball. Good I’m Crawfish. That’s what I’m going to call him because of his name and football pinching/clawing abilities.
Should read good ol crawfish
I just took it as a “You haven’t heard of me?” response:
“You say you play football for ND? Are you any good?”
“Good?! I’m Crawfish.”
He played, he was in on a couple of plays downfield.
It was probably a “break glass in case of” situation, but we went right past that to “Human Victory Cigar Deion McIntosh” territory. I expect we’ll see Dexter soon.
Second biggest win for ND in the history of the series. The biggest? 1966. You know what happened then.
Also, the only other time ND scored 49 or more points on USC was 77.
And you know what happened then, too.
Unreal. That was perhaps the most fun I’ve ever had attending an ND game outside of the student section. 12 hours of tailgating would have made it fun regardless, but that domination from the Darnold fumble onward was incredible.
I’m excited to see the offensive game plan against NC State. I think their front 7 is impressive. If Adams can put up numbers against them, it will be time to put him and the entire O Line near the top of the list for every postseason award.
On the long TD run, I was in the endzone behind the play. You could see the hole open up and then all of a sudden, Adams was gone. It was beautiful.
I was in the opposite end zone. Also beautiful. Very, very beautiful. Especially as he outran all the elite SC 5 star speed…
Welp, just got home from the game. I still think ND is a top 10 team.
If the voting made any sense and if the voters forgot about the inertia of prior rankings, we’d be one spot behind georgia. 6 blowouts and one one-point loss to a top 5 SEC team. Why not put us right behind them.
I think using the CFP’s criteria, which basically would incorporate the above if they’re consistent with past practice, we will be the top-ranked 1-loss team in the first set of rankings if MSU and USC win next week, which would be also after beating NC State. Until Georgia loses or the conference championship games are played, so long as we have one loss the only reason to put another one-loss team ahead of us is the eye test, which has not been a huge part of the CFP rankings criteria with one massive exception (putting in Ohio State the first year over Baylor or TCU).
Er, upon further reflection, one-loss Ohio State killing people all over the place and coming off a win over Penn State may be the top-ranked one-loss team next week.
The good thing though, if O$U knocks off Child Molester U, it removes one of the teams ahead of us. In baseball, you always hear “its not the number of games behind that you are, it’s the number of teams ahead of you” that is a problem. If you have 5 teams ahead of you in the rankings but you’re only 3 GB, thats more of a problem than just being behind 1 team but 7 GB. Because with the one team, you know that you just have to be better and hope that THEY lose for you to move up. With 5 teams, odds are they’ll win some and lose some against each other. Even if one of the teams ahead of you goes on a cold streak, another ahead is likely to get hot and increase separation. So regardless if it’s O$U or PSU, at least one of them is likely to drop behind us with a loss.
So do the AP voters
What a beautiful win. I ran a race this morning and failed to reach my time goal or my overarching goal of running the whole thing, but I can’t even be bummed out because that win 100% made my weekend and everything is awesome.
nd09hls12 pictured:
Guys guys guys!!
I’m listening to the Sunday ESPN CFB podcast with Paul Finebaum on, and he just said Josh Adams is on the Heisman list. What the hell is this world we’re living in?
What has the RT rotation been like for the past two games?
Pretty even between Kraemer and Hainsey, but I think Hainsey might be separating himself just a bit. Definitely bears watching.
Bears are watching? They better be! Pretty sure we had some grizzlies in on the big recruiting weekend, they should be impressed with all that mauling and foraging.
Let this comment serve as a reminder to all of us that we need more Larz in our lives.