Last night, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish handled the 20th-ranked USC Trojans at home in a game that had a little bit of everything you want from a classic college football rivalry. There were big plays, hard hits and turnovers from both sides. Offensively, Notre Dame posted 27 total points, 442 yards of offense and 306 rushing yards. The big players for Mike Denbrock's unit shined under the lights despite some wet conditions. Once again, the Irish put points on the board in every single quarter and overcame some kicking game mishaps to down the Trojans 34-24. Here are some of my key takeaways from the Irish offense against Southern California.
Jeremiyah Love And Jadarian Price Are Special
It seems like every week, we talk about how special No. 4 and No. 24 are and how meaningful they are to Notre Dame. Running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price lit the world on fire last night combining for 361 total yards of offense and two rushing touchdowns; Price also added a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown in the third quarter to retake the lead following a USC touchdown drive. Love was unstoppable, and the Trojan's defense wanted nothing to do with him. The St. Louis native finished the night with 24 attempts, 228 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. He also added five receptions for 37 receiving yards as well.
Love set the single-game Notre Dame rushing record in the history of the rivalry surpassing former Irish back Julius Jones. He averaged 9.5 yards per carry and recorded multiple explosive runs throughout the night. Price, as he always does, made the most of his opportunities rushing for 87 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. This is also the second time in three years he's returned a kickoff for a touchdown against USC. Head coach Marcus Freeman said it best in his post game press conference, "It's not very common in life to see two guys that are so talented that deserve the ball in their hand every snap, but choose to put the team in front of themselves and then make the most of their opportunities. They're not pouting; they're each other's biggest supporter."
Interior Offensive Line Dominated
Despite losing center Ashton Craig for the season after last week's game against NC State, the interior of Notre Dame's offense line absolutely dominated the USC defensive front for the 32 minutes and 39 seconds of offensive possession. If last night was your first night watching this offensive line, you wouldn't think center Joe Otting was making his first career start, right guard Guerby Lambert was a redshirt freshman and left guard and captain Billy Schrauth was playing hurt. Notre Dame didn't rush for 306 yards and average 7.0 yards a carry as a team by accident. The interior of the offense line played like men possessed and physically dominated USC's defensive line routinely throughout the night.
CJ Carr Struggled At Times But Battles Through
Last night was the first time, arguably all season, that quarterback CJ Carr looked like a redshirt freshman. He struggled keeping his eyes down field and looked for pressure too early in his read progression. Carr threw a head-scratching interception in the red zone in the first half which kept points off the board, assuming the field goal would have been made. He missed some throws and was late on some others. With that being said, he still finished the night completing 16 passes on 26 attempts, threw for 136 yards, one touchdown and rushed for another. In a game where things weren't necessarily going the Michigan native's way, Carr pushed through the adversity and put together a scoring drive in the fourth quarter to seal their third straight victory over USC.
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