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Notre Dame defeated USC 49-35 on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
It was a close game for much of the night, but Notre Dame was able to separate from the Trojans thanks to a couple of pick-6s in the 4th quarter.
The win moves Notre Dame to 11-1 on the season, which will almost certainly be enough for the Fighting Irish to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff. Notre Dame slotted in at No. 5 in the pre-Week 14 CFP rankings, so the Irish are also in position to host a first-round Playoff game.
Here are 3 takeaways from Notre Dame’s rivalry-game win over USC:
Notre Dame’s running game remains dominant
Notre Dame’s rushing offense has been a strength of the team all season, but that was especially true on Saturday vs. the Trojans.
Jadarian Price led the way with 112 yards and 1 touchdown on 12 carries. Jeremiyah Love was also extremely productive, rushing for 99 yards and 1 score on 13 carries. Quarterback Riley Leonard also chipped in 50 yards and a score on the ground.
As a team, Notre Dame averaged 6.8 yards per rush in the win over USC. If the Fighting Irish are going to make a run in the Playoff this season, they will need their running game to be a big reason why.
Timely takeaways
Notre Dame looked like it was in big trouble with just a few minutes remaining in this game.
USC found itself trailing 35-28 with under 4 minutes to go. The Trojans were driving in for a potential game-tying touchdown when Notre Dame’s Christian Gray picked off Jayden Maiava for a 99-yard pick-6 to make it 42-28.
The game still wasn’t over, though, until a few minutes later when Maiava threw another pick-6. The second back-breaking mistake was picked off by safety Xavier Watts and returned 100 yards for a touchdown to put the Fighting Irish up by 3 scores. USC tacked on a touchdown in the final minute to make it a 2-score game, but Notre Dame’s defense had already done the damage.
CFP bound
Barring any surprises from the College Football Playoff selection committee, Notre Dame clinched an at-large berth in the CFP with this win over the Trojans.
Notre Dame is also in position to potentially host a first-round game, which it would earn the right to do if it finishes with a No. 5, No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the final rankings. The Irish were ranked No. 5 entering Week 14.
Since losing to Northern Illinois in Week 2, Notre Dame has rattled off 11 consecutive wins. Perhaps even more impressively, all but 1 of those victories has come by double digits.
Notre Dame will learn its final placement in the College Football Playoff rankings on Sunday, Dec. 8, following conference championship weekend.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
