Another Signature Loss

I really hope that the two most memorable games of the Weis era do not end up being two losses to USC. This one fell just short of being a classic; what it needed was an ND victory. NBC has to be ecstatic. I had a lousy seat to see all the key plays (row six on the South goal line) but once again was up close to the final heroics. Some thoughts below.

Let's start with campus notes. ND band halftime was in the "classic" arena. To quote my band contacts: "the most gimmicky half time show ever!". Unfortunately NBC did a crappy job of taping it including a lousy camera angle so not very enjoyable to watch again. It was really great. The campus was really buzzing as it always does on USC weekend and of course the sun was out. But this year it felt as if everyone REALLY believed the Irish were going to win. It was a nice vibe. Stadium was loud throughout the game and probably hit fever pitch on that interception play (which was desperately needed at the time).

Bad stuff. Defense gave up 500 yards and once again made a freshman QB look way better than Jimmy. Can we go back to camp and teach tackling fundamentals? USC probably could have scored more but even so it is tough to win when you give up 34 or more points in a game. Our lines were dominated on both sides of the ball and Barkley had ALL DAY to throw the ball. A lot came down to execution on some of the key plays of the game. Our offense could not get 2 yards on 2 carries early in the 3rd quarter and USC immediately marched down to extend its lead. Our defense broke down on several 3rd down plays and lost the battle of field position.

Good stuff. Once again we see the heart of this team. They simply do not quit. Many outstanding plays by our receivers including some incredibly gutsy catches. Jimmy once again shows he is Heisman material. Defense did stop the run fairly well and finally got a key turnover. Finally, we had 3 shots to tie or win the game from inside the 10 yard line against a very good team. Felt pretty good at the time.

In fact that feeling at the end; the one where everyone BELIEVES we are going to score was really something. Somewhere in the middle of the first half I started believing that we could really beat USC this year. I am sorry to say I did not enter the stadium totally committed to that thought. But by the time we fell behind by 3 touchdowns I think I was with the majority of fans and players who completely believed we could finally whip the Trojans. Clearly we showed we could and that feeling of total belief has been missing for some time.

The team can be proud of its overall performance. Hey, we beat the spread! We slipped to what would be #26 in the polls which is pretty fair, though Oklahoma at 3-3 is ahead of us. We will move in again when we beat BC next week. Now the real challenge begins because we have seen how good this team can play. There is no way we should lose any more games if we play up to our potential, so now is the time to do it. Let's start by settling the score with the Jesuits.

Go Irish! Beat Eagles!