Tag: Nd Football

5 stars: The best and worst of Notre Dame’s win over USC

Not much went bad in the Irish’s win over the Trojans

It may have seemed like [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] was on a bit of a downward spiral, but USC quickly helped turned that around.

The Irish found a way to win, defeating the Trojans at home 48-20. It was a game where the vaunted USC offense had trouble moving the ball consistently all game, while Notre Dame used big play after big play to secure the win.

It wasn’t all roses for the Irish, there was some good and bad during the game. Here are the best performances, 5-stars, and worst, 1-star, and everything in between from Notre Dame’s rousing home win over USC.

All hands on deck for Notre Dame football against USC

Good news for the Irish ahead of their tilt with USC

Even before [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag]’s matchup against USC, they are hearing good news.

The Irish are completely healthy heading into their prime-time versus the Trojans, which can only be seen as a positive. Notre Dame needs everyone to contribute everything they can to get back into the win column.

Notre Dame football’s PR team’s social media post claimed that “all student-athletes listed on the two-deep for this week’s game are available tonight vs. Southern Cal.”

As for USC, it looks like they will be getting freshman wide receiver Zachariah Branch back, but they look to be without starting cornerback [autotag]Jacobe Covington[/autotag].

Let’s go Irish!

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Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Questions Notre Dame has to answer to defeat USC

Which questions do you have for the Irish on Saturday night?

Notre Dame football has the end of their top-25 gauntlet this weekend, as they host USC.

The Trojans enter the game undefeated, touting the reigning Heisman Trophy winner along with an offense that has been one of the best in the country. Their defense, on the other hand, has had it struggles and isn’t playing to the same capacity as the offense.

For the Irish, they have their own set of questions that they will have to answer to get back to the win column. Here are five questions that I view are the most impart and if Notre Dame answers them correctly, will be celebrating late Saturday night.

Know your foe USC: Which Trojans can give Notre Dame problems

The Irish will have their hands full this weekend

We are not going to state the obvious here, [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] needs to somewhat contain USC  quarterback[autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag].

It’s a tough task that not many have been able to do, but he’s not the only weapon that the Trojans will bring to South Bend on Saturday evening. As one of the top ranked teams in the country and one of the few remaining unbeaten teams, USC has talent all over the field. Even if it does seem like they have underperformed.

Let’s take a look at some of the other Trojans that could give Notre Dame problems this weekend.

Watch: USC is preparing for Notre Dame by spraying water at players

Do this make sense to you?

The weather might not be ideal in South Bend this weekend as [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] is hosting USC in a top 25 matchup.

It might rain, it might not, but the Trojans want to be prepared either way. In a video shared on X, the the website formerly known as Twitter, USC was practicing fielding punts while a staff member was showering them with some water.

It’s kind of silly, if you ask me, typically teams just soak the balls with water before they’re used. If you think about what the Trojans are doing, it just doesn’t make sense. Take a look for yourself.

At this point, after seeing how they handled the punts in the rain, we should hope it pours.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame vs USC: Winning Is The Best Medicine

Winning is the only thing that will cure these Notre Dame blues…

Notre Dame nation is in an odd place this week. Questioning this team. The coach. Themselves. Trust was broken with this Louisville performance and it’s hard for fans to tell where exactly this team is at. And why it’s there? And how will it be moving forward? Simply put, there is doubt. Justifiable doubt. There’s only one way out of this mess in the short term. Beat USC.

Winning cures all. At least in the short term. If Notre Dame can somehow knock off the Trojans they’d be able to at least enter the bye with one elite-level win feather in their cap trending up into a week to regroup. If things go poorly against USC however, the bottom will have completely fallen out and the bye will be filled with nothing but negativity.

Let’s examine just how critical a win over the Trojans would be.

Notre Dame Football: Picking Up The Pieces

Notre Dame looks to pick up the pieces and make something of what’s left in 2023.

Notre Dame is in a tough spot right now, both big picture and small. Look at their current stretch of games. An emotion-draining last-second loss to Ohio State, followed up by a physical last-second escape against a rock-solid undefeated Duke team, then a trip to the hornet nest that was unblemished Louisville’s home turf. The Irish have dropped 2 of these games eliminating them from the playoff this year and have the reigning Heisman winner heading to town this week yet to come.

Given the Louisville result, it’s obvious that there are now big-picture concerns regarding this program overall and not just week-to-week ones of improved execution. Before any of these big-picture concerns can be addressed, Notre Dame has a handful of games left to play. They must find ways to improve now. There isn’t a minute to be wasted with your nemesis heading to town.

Let’s examine some quick fixes the Irish can implore to try and knock off Caleb Williams and the rest of his Hollywood Hotshot teammates.

The day after: Lasting thoughts on Notre Dame’s loss to Louisville

What is still haunting you from yesterday’s loss Irish fans?

[autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] fell for the second time this season, but for the first time this year, it felt much worse.

The Irish weren’t competitive, it wasn’t a game that went to the wire, Louisville took it to Notre Dame, wearing them out into making mistakes which ultimately cost them the game.

It was another tough pill to swallow, as the Irish just didn’t bring their A-game on the road. There were plenty of Notre Dame thoughts that have been in my mind since the loss last night and here they are, starting with the fact that the other sideline looked very similar.

Notre Dame tumbles in latest US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 6

The Irish fall hard

Unfortunately, we all knew this was coming after Saturday night’s debacle, but [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] fell significantly in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 6’s action.

The Irish weren’t the only teams that dropped, as Texas, USC, and Washington State all had the same fate as the Irish. Oklahoma made a big jump due to their win against the Longhorns, as did Louisville and Washington.

Another wild weekend of college football sees plenty of movement inside the top 25 of the coaches poll. Find out below how far the Irish fell along with the rest of the ranked teams.

Notre Dame Bullied By Louisville: Irish Are In Big Trouble

Just how big of trouble are the Irish in?

Everyone knew that the four-game stretch Notre Dame is in the midst of currently would be tough. It appeared that way before the season and even more so once both Duke and Louisville got off to hot starts this year. But that doesn’t excuse the product Notre Dame put on the field against Louisville Saturday night. It cannot be used as an excuse.

Notre Dame got outcoached, out-schemed, out-efforted, out-executed, out-adjusted, and got sent to the outhouse when it was all said and done. The Irish were not prepared for this moment physically or emotionally. Quite frankly, this is completely unacceptable. For me, the worst part of this game result isn’t even the result itself, it’s the pandora’s box of negativity and questions, legitimate ones, big picture and small that will now loom over the rest of the season. Not ideal circumstances as undefeated USC rolls into South Bend next week.

Let’s examine the biggest areas of alarm.