Quinn, Brady pass incomplete to Powers-Neal, R.
That’s how a critical fourth and three from the USC thirty-five yard line gets summarized in the play-by-play recap of Notre Dame’s 45-14 thrashing at the hands of the Trojans on Saturday.
It was early in the second quarter, and probably not surprising to most, USC had a lead. What was surprising is that it was a 21-14 lead, meaning the Irish and their often moribund offense seemed to be building on the success they had in beating Pittsburgh the week before.
The Trojans (it’ll be a cold day in SoCal before I refer to them as “Men of Troy”) took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards on eight plays and raced out to a 7-0 lead. But the Irish responded on their first possession, covering 73 yards on ten plays to tie the score.
Back came USC, this time only needing four plays to go those 80 yards and finding the endzone again. Notre Dame’s Julius Jones brought the ensuing kickoff back 51 yards into USC territory to set up a 43 yard Irish touchdown drive. 14-14, and the game started to look like some sort of epic tennis match, each offense trading volleys back and forth.
The Trojans didn’t flinch, again going 80 yards with all-everything wide receiver Mike Williams capping the drive with a seven yard touchdown reception.
The Irish offense looked to be up to keeping that rally going. Brady Quinn found Omar Jenkins for a thirteen yard gain on third and nine. Then Quinn scrambled fifteen yards to the USC forty-two to pick up a first down on a third and fourteen. The next three plays only netted Notre Dame seven yards, and faced with that fourth and short, they called a timeout and then went for it.
The result? Quinn, Brady pass incomplete to Powers-Neal, R., “Powers-Neal, R.” being fullback Rashon Powers-Neal.
Quinn threw the pass high, but it was a catch Powers-Neal should have been able to make. Granted, I don’t know for sure whether he would have had enough room to pick up the three yards he needed to keep the Irish drive alive.
I do know Notre Dame did what they couldn’t afford to in that situation: they blinked first. Their volley came close but got knocked down by the net, and USC would hit uncontested winners for the rest of the match.
No one would be foolish enough to sit here and claim that that play cost Notre Dame the game. Fourth and short plays early in the second quarter in games decided by 31 points seldom do. No, the Irish gaffes were large in scope, from a porous defense that wouldn’t have stopped water from running uphill to an offense that was befuddled the rest of the game. Fact is, there was no way for Notre Dame to stay in a game with USC by trading points. The Trojans are too good, too powerful, and have too much momentum with them right now.
With the exception of the (surprise, surprise) USC game, last year was different. Notre Dame rode its defense to a number of wins, and while relying so heavily on one unit is never a good idea, it did give that team an identity, a strength to hang its proverbial hat on. Even this year when they got bullied by Michigan, you saw a group that was forced to be on the field the entire game and thus hampered by the struggles of their offensive counterparts.
This week, it was the Notre Dame offense that came out, and for a quarter, looked as good as the feared USC attack. The Notre Dame defense, on the other hand, looked scared from the start, while Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart would afterwards say: “It was fun out there today.”
It was fun out there today? That’s what you say after you play Duke or Baylor or maybe even Arizona, not Notre Dame. But how fitting that comment was, considering Leinart completed over 76% of his passes in leading USC to six touchdowns, five of which came after drives of 80 yards.
And after allowing a school worst 610 yards of offense to the Trojans in the final regular season game of 2002 (also a 31 point loss), the Irish gave up another 551 yards Saturday. Only this time, it didn’t take a Heisman-winning quarterback.
That defensive-minded identity, that old standby, has faded considerably. And while the offense improves, right now, there’s nothing that this team consistently does well. Given the demands of their schedule and the expectations the players, coaches, and fans all have, that spells long Saturday afternoons.
The good news for the Irish is that they have now faced the best team they will play all year. Florida State looms as another Top Ten team on the schedule, but if you've seen both FSU and USC play, you know the Trojans are at an altogether different level.
With the schedule relatively easier compared to the first half, Notre Dame must focus on what it can still accomplish. A national title, a BCS birth, a New Year’s Day bowl . . . all those things are out of reach now. A winning season, a win over Florida State, a bowl birth . . . those things are not. A big factor in determining whether they can reach those goals will be how well they can utilize Julius Jones. He didn’t break any school records this week but continues to be Notre Dame’s most dangerous player.
In terms of the Notre Dame-USC rivalry, the Irish have yet another year to mull over an embarrassing loss. But despite two straight dominating wins over their archrival, I do have a couple observations I’d like to share with a select few students from the University of Southern California.
First, to the Trojan band, who played a 25 minute concert after the game was over: your team won. Get over it. And talking trash when YOU’RE IN THE BAND doesn’t work.
Second, to the male cheerleaders of USC: 1955 called, and it wants its sweaters back.
Hey, you didn’t expect to be impartial for an entire column, did you?
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Ted Fox delivered play-by-play of Irish football and men's basketball for three years as a student. He wrote a weekly sports column for the Notre Dame student newspaper for over three years and has been a contributing writer to "The Wolverine", the official publication of University of Michigan athletics. Ted recently finished working in production at ESPN and is currently pursuing an on-air and writing career. 
