The Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy stays in South Bend. Last night, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish took down the 20th-ranked and 5-1 USC Trojans 34-24 in a game that was back and fourth the entire night. The offense did what they had to and the defense stepped up in big moments. Tonight was the defense's third game in a row with at least three turnovers. Running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price most likely played in their final game against the Trojans one way or another and they left their mark; both backs combined for 315 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, Price also had a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown.
The defense held USC's high powered offense to 24 total points, 68 rushing yards and accounted for three turnovers. Head coach Marcus Freeman talked about Notre Dame's big win in his post-game press conference.
You can watch the full press conference here:
Here are some of Freeman's comments from tonight's post-game press conference:
Freeman On The Offensive Line's Dominance
"We had to be," Freeman explained. "We've never strayed away from that. That's our foundation, that's who we have to be. I'm proud of the way Joe [Otting] stepped up. Those guards beside him helped him tremendously and the moment wasn't too big. We will go back and grade it and see how we can get better and all those things, but you're not rushing for those type of yards unless you got offensive linemen blocking."
Freeman On Christian Gray's Resiliency
"Like deja vu," Freeman stated. "I got on him the series that USC scored right before he had that interception. I reminded him, 'nobody feels bad, man.' You've got to do your job and play with the proper technique. Do I believe you can do it? Absolutely, but you've got to go do it. Nobody has sympathy. After that pick he ran over and said a couple words to me, but I like that, right? I like that and he knows I love him and believe in him and he needed challenged a little bit. He has to play with better technique but keep battling. You've got to let the last play go. That's the name of this game of football. You have to let the last play go and win this play, and that's an example of what Christian [Gray] did, and we've got to continue to do that."
Freeman On Jeremiyah Love And Jadarian Price's Unselfishness
"It's not very common in college football," Freeman said about both of his running backs. 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."
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