Rapid Review: Notre Dame 52, South Florida 0

BOX SCORE

One week after a sputtering start in the opener versus Duke, No. 7 Notre Dame (2-0) exploded out of the gates with touchdown drives on each of its first four possessions, built a 35-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 52-0 victory versus South Florida (1-1).

The Fighting Irish totaled 430 yards total offense — 281 rushing and 149 passing — while the Bulls managed 231, but only 65 in the decisive first half. Each of the six touchdowns on offense came via the ground game, with quarterback Ian Book tallying three times on short runs, complemented by 12 of 19 passing for 143 yards.

In a true backfield-by-committee which saw Notre Dame rotate its running backs virtually every series, freshman Chris Tyree scored his first career touchdown on a one-yard toss sweep, while junior C'Bo Flemister, sidelined last week with a collarbone injury per head coach Brian Kelly, raced for a 26-yard tally on an outside zone scamper to the right side.

Flemister finished as the leading rusher with 13 carries for 127 yards, while Tyree (65 yards) and sophomore Kyren Williams (62) combined for that same 127-yard total.

• About 90 minutes before kickoff, Notre Dame announced eight players would be unavailable either because of previous injury or health issues. Four were starters or co-starters on defense: junior cornerback TaRiq Bracy, sophomore safety Kyle Hamilton, and a pair of Buck linebackers with junior Shayne Simon and sophomore Marist Liufau. Also sidelined was reserve junior vyper end Ovie Oghoufo.

On offense they included sophomore No. 2 quarterback Brendon Clark, junior reserve running back Jahmir Smith, and junior No. 2 slot Lawrence Keys III.

Ruled out earlier in the week was graduate transfer wideout Ben Skowronek, who injured a hamstring in the opener.

• Notre Dame had excellent field position throughout the first half, with its five touchdown drives covering 54, 43, 58, 53 and 25 yards, due in part to poor special teams play by the Bulls. Poor long-snapping by the Bulls led to the first Irish touchdown in the second half when another snap that went over the punter's head led to an eventual blocked punt by sophomore linebacker Osita Ekwonu and the touchdown recovery by freshman defensive end Jordan Botelho.

• In the second half, Notre Dame pretty much cleared the bench near the end of the third quarter. The first score occurred first on a 22-yard field goal by senior kicker Jonathan Doerer. Then, after a poor punt snap by USF, Botelho recovered the loose ball past the goal line. The final touchdown came with 2:15 left in the contest on a five-yard jaunt by senior Jafar Armstrong on fourth-and-goal.

This is difficult to say because the Irish were so dominant from the outset. Trailing 14-0, USF's lone first down in the first half came on a 42-yard run by running back Johnny Ford into Notre Dame territory, which provided a brief glimmer of momentum for the Bulls.

However, on fourth-and-three from the Irish 33-yard line, a makeshift fake punt run by receiver Jah'Quez Evans did not fool sophomore defensive end Isaiah Foskey, who did not bite on the play and ran down Evans for a nine-yard loss. That set up a 58-yard touchdown march that expanded the lead to 21-0 and pretty much deflated the Bulls.

The game was decided in the first half — just as Kelly and his staff wanted it — while scoring touchdowns on five of their six series and missing a 38-yard field goal on the other.

Notre Dame had 15 first downs in the first half to USF's one, and was 7 of 8 on third-down conversions while the Bulls were 0 of 6.

On offense, junior tight end Tommy Tremble caught a 25-yard pass to open the game, but his excellent blocking on the edge on the outside zone plays were repeatedly highlighted, especially while lining up frequently like an old-fashioned fullback leading the tailback into the line on an isolation call. Tremble even added a four-yard run on one third-and-one situation. He finished with three catches for 60 yards, which paced the team.

Defensively, we have two. Sophomore Jack Kiser made his first career start because both Simon and Liufau unavailable at Buck linebacker. He responded with an active, aggressive performance, finishing with a team high eight tackles, seven of them solo, two for loss, and a quarterback hurry.

Freshman cornerback Clarence Lewis started in place of Bracy and showcased his ball skills and sound fundamentals, highlighted by three pass breakups, two on deep balls, while a third came on fourth down that he nearly intercepted. He also had five tackles, one behind the line of scrimmage.

This victory was the 20th straight at home, which is now second-longest streak at Notre Dame Stadium in the facility's 90-year history. The Irish entered the game tied for second with the 19 straight from 1987-90. The record is 28 from 1942-50.

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