Things have cooled off a little in South Bend. The third quarter didn’t feature nearly as much action as the entire first half. Still, Notre Dame added onto its lead to take a 45-0 lead over USF going into the final frame, and Drew Pyne will take over for Ian Book during that time.
USF took the ball to begin the second half and looked more like a college football offense. The Bulls converted on third and fourth downs during a drive that got them to the Notre Dame 36-yard line. Despite the improvement, the drive ended when Clarence Lewis broke up a fourth-down pass from Jordan McCloud he probably should have held onto for an interception. The flip side was it gave the Irish better field position for the possession that led to a 22-yard Jonathan Doerer field goal.
The Notre Dame offense continued to look good. A 27-yard pass from Book to Tommy Tremble initially was ruled incomplete, but a replay review gave Tremble the reception and, ultimately, Doerer a chip shot. While it was disappointing not to score a touchdown, it still was something.
Though the offense didn’t reach the end zone in the quarter, special teams did. USF had its second bad long snap on a punt attempt during the game. This time, Trent Schneider didn’t have time to pick the ball up. Osita Ekwonu blocked it towards the USF end zone, where freshman Jordan Botelho recovered it for the score. Botelho, a Honolulu native, weighs in at 6-foot-2 and 248 pounds, so add that play to your “big man scores” playlist.