Postgame - #21 ND vs #10 USC (Win 48-20)

[Baldy 1,225]

First off, wow!! What a game! Nothing makes me happier than beating USC, and when it’s a beat down like that…😆🤘🏼

Offense: Did what they needed to, and capitalized on most of the turnovers. It was great seeing Faison in there more, and he made some important plays. Hartman and Tyree were great, and Estime was amazing! Thomas and Greathouse must still be recovering from their injuries, because I didn’t see Thomas on the field, and Greathouse had one target. I’m not going to lie though, I was a bit concerned about the play calling, because at times they did seem to sputter, and they should not have against that USC defense.

Defense: Wow, just wow! Great play calling all game by Golden, because Williams was pressured all night, which threw him off and forced him to make so many mistakes! MVP of course was Watts, because he played like a mad man! So amazing! I also felt Bertrand had a great game. Honorable mentions for Sneed, Jean-Baptiste, and Traore.

Speical Teams: Break out game for them for sure! Kick return TD, so great job by Price, and were close to blocking a punt a couple times. One down side was the kicking/punting game, because you cannot give Branch a chance to return anything, as we saw a couple times. Thank goodness for McFerson and being able to tackle him on that one return, which was very surprising. Coverage just wasn’t great, but overall, much better!

One more thing, I’m so happy Notre Dame was also able embarrass Caleb Williams, and sent him home with a loss. He got his Heisman because of Notre Dame last year, and this year, looks like Notre Dame took it away! 😝🥰😂

Go Irish!!! 🍀🏈 

[TexasDomer 1,286]

3 hours ago, jessemoore97 said:

Nice to see Freeman scolding Watts a bit after that fumble/TD for Watts lollygaging into the EZ and nonchalantly holding the ball.  Good teaching moment and keeping Watts grounding during his career game.

Kind of reminds me of the scene from Major League when Willie Mays Hayes makes the basket catch on the pop up.  Comes back to the dugout and Coach Lou tells him, "nice catch, don't ever f'ing do it again!"  🤣

Wish Lou Brown were roaming our sidelines 

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

4 hours ago, Frankus said:

This was my first game in the stadium this season after watching the Marshall loss last year. 
 

I know they say home field advantage is 3 points, but in the modern era I think it’s 7 easily. I’m probably the oldest poster here (1st game 1965!) and there are a lot of people who don’t like the energy of the music and multimedia, but it pushes the crowd ALL GAME LONG. The energy in the stadium was incredible. ND is once again a very tough place to play, particularly at night. 
 

Kudos to Golden. The D has been solid all year long , but his game plan to contain Williams in the pocket was really executed well and proof that he learned and adjusted from last year. Lots of pressure on Williams, which led to the interceptions. 
 

I was happy to see the offense running game going to it’s strength, which is Joe Alt. Early in the game they ran inside and our right guard(Spindler I think) was totally blown up by the USC D lineman. I thought “here we go again “, but from then on they ran a lot of successfully using off tackle plays behind Alt. 
 

It’s hard to see speed watching TV, but watching it live Tyree is the only receiver who would have a chance to play at USC. He should get at least 10 touches every game. Everyone else, including Flores, are possession receivers relative to USC speed. Freeman has got to upgrade the speed in his receiving corps. I saw Holtz do it throughout the team from 1986-88. If Freeman can do it with his receiving corps and keep recruiting Morrison type speed in the secondary he has a chance to do something special. 
 

Kudos to Price, who isn’t getting a lot of carries, but showed how much lateral quickness and breakaway speed he has on that kickoff return. Totally brought the momentum back in ND’s favor. That’s a guy who could play right now at a lot of places. 
 

I haven’t witnessed and participated in that kind of collective joy at ND stadium in a long time. Let’s hope Freeman can keep it going. He really showed a lot of the strength and resolve of his character in his post game press conference, and I think the team and coaches fed off of it this week. He still has a lot to learn, but he’s a rock solid motivator. 

 

Just to illustrate @Frankus's point. USC has this play wide open. The run fake froze Marist. Tight ends open.  It's Baptiste beating the tackle to his inside that forces Williams off his throw spot, which causes the overthrow. Watts will get the credit for this interception  but Bapstiste who disrupted the play. Watts does a good job with his cover 1 rotation and the return. But the pass rush made this play..

[AnTostal 763]

3 hours ago, Baldy said:

First off, wow!! What a game! Nothing makes me happier than beating USC, and when it’s a beat down like that…😆🤘🏼

Offense: Did what they needed to, and capitalized on most of the turnovers. It was great seeing Faison in there more, and he made some important plays. Hartman and Tyree were great, and Estime was amazing! Thomas and Greathouse must still be recovering from their injuries, because I didn’t see Thomas on the field, and Greathouse had one target. I’m not going to lie though, I was a bit concerned about the play calling, because at times they did seem to sputter, and they should not have against that USC defense.

Defense: Wow, just wow! Great play calling all game by Golden, because Williams was pressured all night, which threw him off and forced him to make so many mistakes! MVP of course was Watts, because he played like a mad man! So amazing! I also felt Bertrand had a great game. Honorable mentions for Sneed, Jean-Baptiste, and Traore.

Speical Teams: Break out game for them for sure! Kick return TD, so great job by Price, and were close to blocking a punt a couple times. One down side was the kicking/punting game, because you cannot give Branch a chance to return anything, as we saw a couple times. Thank goodness for McFerson and being able to tackle him on that one return, which was very surprising. Coverage just wasn’t my great, but overall, much better!

One more thing, I’m so happy Notre Dame was also able embarrass Caleb Williams, and sent him home with a loss. He got his Heisman because of Notre Dame last year, and this year, looks like Notre Dame took this one away! 😝🥰😂

Go Irish!!! 🍀🏈 

That ‘glub glub’ sounds you hear are Williams’ Heisman chances sinking into the abyss. 
That guy looks like one of the most smug, cocky dudes ever. Maybe he deserves to be cocky, but it sure was sweet watching him losing it on the sideline. 

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

 

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

 

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

 

[Baldy 1,225]

 

[mcgov12 1,235]

2 hours ago, FaithInIrish Forever said:

 

Just to illustrate @Frankus's point. USC has this play wide open. The run fake froze Marist. Tight ends open.  It's Baptiste beating the tackle to his inside that forces Williams off his throw spot, which causes the overthrow. Watts will get the credit for this interception  but Bapstiste who disrupted the play. Watts does a good job with his cover 1 rotation and the return. But the pass rush made this play..

Nice breakdown. Watts and Baptiste have both been absolute studs this year

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

Just now, mcgov12 said:

Nice breakdown. Watts and Baptiste have both been absolute studs this year

Thanks. Happy Birthday.

[mcgov12 1,235]

Just now, FaithInIrish Forever said:

Thanks. Happy Birthday.

Hey, I still have until tomorrow before I can say I’m 40, let’s not get too far ahead

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

 

One weakness of a dual threat QB like Williams is they hold the ball longer. Josh Allen does it. Mahomes does it. So you can blitz them. Here Golden has a very short distance between the boundary corner and the QB. In College these hash marks are wider so you get the very short boundary throws sometimes. Boundary blitzes like above are very common and can be very effective if you know the QB is unlikely to throw the ball quickly. USC wants a deep crossing pattern here so Golden caught them in the PERFECT play CALL! So Morrison comes Causes Williams to step up into internal pressure from Mills. Williams ignores his wide open H-back because as he is forced to step up into pressure he loses his angle to get the short throw off. He forces the ball late over the middle, leading to an interception.

[Morgandonor 30]

Now thats how you play football!!!

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

What I call front reduction defense here. Looks like alot of movement but has only 4 people coming. With our secondary. Spread teams will struggle with this.

[Morgandonor 30]

Can we talk alittle bit about Jordan Faison, I love stuff like this. He is going to do special things in the future. Thoughts?

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

45 minutes ago, Morgandonor said:

Can we talk alittle bit about Jordan Faison, I love stuff like this. He is going to do special things in the future. Thoughts?

Think Avery Davis or Braden Lenzy. Perfect timing because they both just graduated. He fits nicely it jet sweep role and he can run by a linebacker, a nickel back or a safety

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

 

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

 

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,702]

 

[NYGoldenDomer 2,046]

On 10/15/2023 at 6:46 PM, FaithInIrish Forever said:

Lincoln Riley will forever remind me of this creep from Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia