Notre Dame wallops USC wire-to-wire

Junior quarterback Caleb Williams threw three first half interceptions in Saturday’s loss.

By THOMAS JOHNSON
Freshman wide receiver Brenden Rice catches a dart from Caleb Williams for a touchdown — the second of the two that USC managed to squeeze in amid Notre Dame’s domination. (Louis Chen / Daily Trojan)

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The Trojans had not won a game in Notre Dame Stadium since 2011 as they prepared to take on the Fighting Irish, a streak which will continue as Notre Dame (6-2) took down USC (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) 48-20.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 24-6 lead by halftime and although USC tried to make the second-half comeback, the 18-point deficit was too much for the Trojans to overcome. USC is now 4-8 in its last 12 games against its intersectional rival.

In a turn of events from the previous six Trojan games, it was the offense which lost the game for USC as junior quarterback Caleb Williams threw three interceptions before the Trojans scored their first touchdown of the game.

The reigning Heisman winner completed 23 of his 37 passing attempts for 199 yards and the three picks. Redshirt junior safety Xavier Watts made two of the three interceptions on Williams.

Williams’ first pick of the game came on the first USC drive and the fourth play of the game, which led to a quick three-play drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass from redshirt senior quarterback Sam Hartman.

Things did not get much better for the Trojans as Williams threw two more interceptions late in the second quarter. Notre Dame quickly capitalized on the late picks with touchdowns, as both of those touchdown drives started at midfield or better.

Since the Fighting Irish had multiple drives start in plus territory, USC’s offense outgained Notre Dame’s squad, with 302 yards to the FIghting Irish’s 251. The Trojans could not gain any momentum despite making 17 plays of 10 yards or more. The Fighting Irish often found themselves in the Trojan backfield, sacking Williams a total of six times.

Williams and the offense finally found some juice in the second half, but there was not enough time to complete the comeback and multiple Notre Dame scores towards the end of the game inflated the final score.

On USC’s second drive of the third quarter, the Trojans benefited from a Notre Dame penalty and three plays of 10 or more yards, as redshirt junior running back MarShawn Lloyd finished off the drive with a 31-yard rushing touchdown.

But the momentum would not swing over to the Trojans as Hartman found senior wide receiver Chris Tyree for a 46-yard touchdown drive the very next drive.

Freshman wide receiver Zachariah Branch helped lead to USC’s second touchdown of the game with a 60-yard punt return to put the Trojans in the red zone, but USC again failed to capitalize on the momentum as the Fighting Irish scored on a 99-yard kick return the next play to put the game out of reach.

USC will try to recoup its losses as it takes on Utah next Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with kickoff set for 5:00 p.m.

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