10/24/2021 football Edit

What they’re saying about Notre Dame football’s 31-16 win over USC

Greg Ladky • InsideNDSports

Managing Editor

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The No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the USC Trojans 31-16 Saturday night in Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame (6-1) has topped USC (3-4, 2-3 Pac-12) in four straight meetings, and five in a row in South Bend.

Here is a collection of scenes from inside Notre Dame Stadium and reaction from the outside world:

Greg Ladky and Tim Hyde, BluandGold.com post game show after the USC game

Patrick Engel, BlueandGold.com — Led by Kyren Williams, Notre Dame’s run game breaks out in a big way

Notre Dame’s run plays aren’t the exercise in futility they were in September, when many of Williams’ highlights were four-yard gains that should’ve been two-yard losses. Defenders rudely greeted him before the line of scrimmage on more than half his carries. Notre Dame’s blocking woes all but stuffed one of its best players into a closet.

A month of impounded energy is finally loose. In beating USC, Notre Dame outrushed its opponent for the second straight game. The Irish have also cleared 170 rushing yards in consecutive outings. Take out kneel-downs and sacks, and they rushed 38 times for 178 yards.

READ ENGEL’S ENTIRE COLUMN HERE

Tyler Horka, BlueandGold.com — Report Card: How Notre Dame graded out in victory over USC

Notre Dame Coaching: A

Notre Dame’s passing offense was impressively efficient and fast, especially in the first half. That was a product of the Irish spending the bye week working on ways to adapt the offense to best suit Coan’s strengths. Head coach Brian Kelly joked that he felt dumb he hadn’t sat down with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to do that earlier in the season. That’s not to say they didn’t touch on that topic at all. Of course they did. But during the bye, they spent a whole week on devising routes, formations and plays that would allow Coan to get the ball out quickly and comfortable. He started the game 10 of 13 for 79 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter. He only took one sack. It was a clean game for Coan outside of the interception. Defensively, Notre Dame let USC get the ball to London quite a bit, but it didn’t matter in the end. Liken that to the Muhammad Ali “rope-a-dope.” Keep going to London, but that’s not going to win the ballgame. And it didn’t. This was a grade A coaching job for Notre Dame.

READ HORKA’S ENTIRE REPORT CARD HERE

Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times — USC hampered by penalties and poor time-management in loss to Notre Dame

If Saturday was any indication, it could be a while before USC (3-4) is able to do the Freudian-level digging necessary to understand what’s gone awry. Again, there were ill-fated penalties and poor time management. Again, there were issues up front on offense and issues at all levels on defense. Again, drives stalled in the red zone.

READ RYAN KARTJE’S FULL ARTICLE HERE

Aidan Thomas, The Observer — At long last, Jack Coan is being utilized correctly

Running a new high-tempo offense we have seen very little of under Tommy Rees, Coan put together a masterclass performance, and the refreshed Notre Dame offense is offering hope that the ceiling for this 2021 team may be higher than just about anyone thought after a shaky start.

READ THOMAS’ FULL ARTICLE IN THE OBSERVER HERE

Dylan Sinn, The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, Ind.) — Irish offense flashes potential in win over USC

No longer was Coan sitting in collapsing pocket after five-step drops, holding the ball and waiting for a receiver to come open. Instead, he was firing from almost exclusively clean pockets and hitting receivers on short and intermediate throws to keep the chains moving. It was the antithesis of what Coan did for most of his career at Wisconsin and it was certainly different than what the Irish had been doing for most of the season. What they had been doing wasn’t working. This did.

READ DYLAN SINN’S FULL ARTICLE HERE