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Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General overall view as Southern California Trojans players enter the field during a NCAA football game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
USC football avenged last year’s rivalry loss, dropping Notre Dame in a game featuring Heisman poses, ugly weather and more.
The Clay Helton era got off on the wrong foot the last time USC and Notre Dame met. Last year’s contest ended with the Trojans giving up a second-half lead and Helton dropping his first game as USC’s head coach.
Twenty games later, Helton’s Trojans have come full circle, besting the Irish at the Coliseum, 45-27, to complete an eight-game winning streak.
Here’s five things we learned from the win against Notre Dame:
Seniors Sweep The Sendoff
USC’s senior class has had an extraordinarily unique college experience, facing sanctions and a revolving door at head coach, not to mention the chaos on the football field on any given Saturday throughout their time in cardinal and gold.
On Senior Day at the Coliseum, this senior class made sure their final campaign capped off a trio of accomplishments worthy of their struggle.
For one, the seniors walked away with the Jewelled Shillelagh for besting Notre Dame, completing the season sweep of USC’s rivals after last week’s win over UCLA to claim the Victory Bell.
Secondly, the Trojans completed a perfect 6-0 record at home in 2016, extending Clay Helton’s home record to 9-0 since taking over as the interim head coach in 2015.
Though the season certainly didn’t start the way they may have hoped, the special run USC has gone on since September has ensured that they’ve been able send the seniors off in style.
Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans defensive back Adoree Jackson (2) conducts whte Spirit of Troy marching band after a NCAA football game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irishat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Notre Dame 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Adoree’ Jackson Deserves Heisman Hype
Anyone who has watched USC this season knows what a special player he has been for the Trojans. While the rest of the team took until October to really come into their own, Jackson was putting on top level performances from Day 1.
And he saved his best for last.
Jackson had a performance for the ages against Notre Dame, generating 291 yards of total offense on nine touches — three of those going for touchdowns.
His 55-yard punt return was straight out of the Adoree’ Jackson textbook, running onto a bouncing punt with a head of steam and quickly leaving the coverage team in the dust.
His 52-yard touchdown reception was a show of pure speed, flying down the sideline like a corvette racing a fleet of corollas.
And then, the pièce de résistance on a 97-yard kick off return, complete with an acrobatic hurdle over the last line in Notre Dame’s defense. The stillshot of that leap will go down as one of the iconic images in USC lore, right next to Reggie Bush’s own leap at the goal line.
After a performance like that, in a rivalry game no-less, the Paul Hornung Award should already have Jackson’s name etched into its base.
As for the Heisman Trophy, it feels far too late in the game for Jackson to make a true push at winning it, but anyone who watched the performance could tell you it was Heisman caliber.
Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General overall view of the line of scrimmage during a NCAA football game between the Southern California Trojans and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Notre Dame 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Defensive Front Passes Another Test
In terms of sheer size, USC hadn’t faced an offense line on the level of Notre Dame’s since the opening game against Alabama. In some ways, the match up was set up to serve as a marker of the Trojans progress. They’d had success against smaller line in the Pac-12, could they handle a bunch of midwest big men?
Six sacks later, the answer was yes.
The Irish did have success running the ball, averaging better than five yards per carry on rushes excluding DeShone Kizer’s sacks and Josh Adams’ 74-yard run to start the game. Still, they more than made up for it, terrorizing the quarterback to stifle Notre Dame’s attack throughout the game.
Kizer completed just 53.1 percent of his passes with a passer rating of 125.26 on the day while seven different Trojans played roles in sacking the quarterback.
Though Ajene Harris contributed one sack to the bunch, the remainder came courtesy of the front seven, who overwhelmed the Notre Dame line.
After generating three sacks in a dominating display against Washington, this was proof that that showing was no fluke.
Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans running back Ronald Jones II (25) is pursued by Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Elijah Taylor (58), defensive lineman Isaac Rochell (90) and Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Te
Winning Ugly In Ugly Conditions
Beautiful as a win over Notre Dame always is, there was something ugly about the victory on Saturday.
The weather — it does indeed rain in Southern California — made for a sloppy affair on both sides.
Receivers dropped balls, Sam Darnold was not at his best and the Trojan defense lapsed on several occasions.
Despite all that, USC came out on top because they never lost their cool. Darnold did not throw an interception for the first time in four outings. Defenders shook off their mistakes and came back with even bigger plays in response.
Most importantly, the Trojans never let the Irish grab a foothold in the game. Notre Dame did not score an unanswered point in the game, not technically at least. Before the Irish’s garbage time final touchdown, USC had responded to every score on the very next possession.
It was also important where the Trojans didn’t respond. The ugliest part of the day were the actions of Notre Dame’s Jerry Tillery, who should have been ejected at one time or another for kicking Aca’Cedric Ware’s helmet after a targeting hit, which got his Irish teammate thrown out, then stomping on Zach Banner’s ankle in a later incident.
Even then, USC’s players kept their emotions in check and avoided the kind of retaliation which would have resulted in suspensions or worse.
Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Clay Helton (left) and Southern California Trojans defensive back Marvell Tell III (7) embrace during a NCAA football game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Notre Dame 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Pac-12 South Is Gone, But Postseason Glory Awaits
When the final whistle blew on USC’s win over Notre Dame, their hopes of capturing the Pac-12 South title were still alive.
A few hours later, those hopes were dashed as Colorado survived a late push from Utah and completed their unlikely run to the Pac-12 Championship Game.
Despite that unfortunate outcome, the Trojans performance against the Irish was just further proof of the momentum they’ll carry into the bowl season.
No, USC doesn’t have an outside shot of playing dark horse in the College Football Playoff, but they are the team that no one wants to face in their bowl game.
After all, who would want the headache of trying to scheme against Adoree’ Jackson after that three-touchdown display?
More from Reign of Troy
What defensive coordinator is eager to face a Ronald Jones after watching him average 8.4 yards per carry and break a 51-yard touchdown with a cut that would make Reggie Bush’s jaw hit the floor?
What offensive coordinator would relish going head to head with Clancy Pendergast? What quarterback would look forward to facing a Trojan defense which just sacked DeShone Kizer six times?
Things didn’t break USC’s way in the end, but the Trojans have delivered on every element in their control since the start of October. They’ll be in control of their destiny once more when they take the field next.
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