The good?, the bad and the ugly.

The good; the helmets were very nice.  That’s about it.  I guess I could throw in George Atkinson’s 96 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

The bad and ugly consumed the rest of the Irish night.  It just looked bad - bad tackling, bad timing, bad play calling, bad execution, bad, bad, bad.  The first quarter set the tone and was a prelude to the rest of the evening.  For crying out loud, I swear I saw Tommy Rees trying to run the option. 

Defensively, we appeared outmatched in talent, speed, power and coaching.  Receivers were wide open with defenders yards away, allowing significant yards after the catch.  The defensive line looked as though they were the offensive line; they would engage the Trojans’ offensive line and fight for the line of scrimmage, not trying to shed the blockers to make tackles, let alone putting any pressure on the quarterback (which was needed for a chance at a win).   By not stopping the run (not even close), it obviously opened the passing game.

Brain Kelly has got to be going out of his mind, although I don’t think he will be out of a job.  I know he is frustrated, apparently primarily with Tommy Rees.  He made it very clear after the game that the blame belongs on the players’ shoulders.  I don’t disagree, however, after what I saw last night there is more than enough blame to go around.  When Rees came out of the game due to injury I did expect Crist to come in, but at the goal line (which if Notre Dame punched it in it would have been tied at 17), I expected Hendrix.  Kelly went with Dayne who fumbled the snap, resulting in six points the other way, making the USC lead 24-10.

Like most games, the numbers don’t lie, and here are some that tell the tale.  29 rushing and 16 passing first downs for the Trojans compared to 17 and 5 for the Irish (and two USC  first downs were courtesy of Notre Dame penalties).  219 net rushing yards for USC compared to 41 for Notre Dame (averages of 5.0 to 2.9 per carry).  Time of possession favored USC 39.41 to 20:19, including a mismatch of 12:36 to 2:24 in the fourth quarter).  The one-two punch running combo was closer to a one-two dance step. Wood had 5 net yards and Gray had 38 (25 on one run).  Two other bad numbers – two lost fumbles and zero passing touchdowns.

So where are we?  We knew we were not as talented as the likes of LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma State, but now there is no doubt we don’t even belong in the top 25.  So what is the silver lining? We could end the year with four losses (best mathematical scenario assuming we are no match for Stanford), which is an improvement from five last season, and with four loses what kind of bowl are we looking at?  Last year’s match up with Miami was as good as it gets due to the history and rivalry with the Hurricanes.  

By the way, I’m sure the recruits in South Bend Saturday night were not impressed.

In closing, because I can’t continue to think about this game any longer, let’s say something positive.  Sunday morning I ran into a fellow Notre Dame fan who is happy with the direction of the Irish and Kelly.  To put things in perspective, the fan’s last name is Pitts, so he probably should think positive things.