USC
3-3
Notre Dame
5-1
Team Stats
USC 3, ND 0
USC - McGrath, Chase 40 yd field goal 8 plays, 28 yards, TOP 2:56
USC 3, ND 7
ND - C. KMET 10 yd pass from I. BOOK (J. DOERER kick) 9 plays, 97 yards, TOP 2:32
USC 3, ND 14
ND - B. LENZY 51 yd run (J. DOERER kick), 4 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:23
USC 3, ND 17
ND - J. DOERER 45 yd field goal 9 plays, 29 yards, TOP 2:49
USC 3, ND 20
ND - J. DOERER 52 yd field goal 9 plays, 30 yards, TOP 2:26
USC 6, ND 20
USC - McGrath, Chase 27 yd field goal 11 plays, 66 yards, TOP 3:41
USC 13, ND 20
USC - St. Brown, Amon 38 yd pass from Slovis, Kedon (McGrath, Chase kick) 5 plays, 62 yards, TOP 1:54
USC 13, ND 23
ND - J. DOERER 43 yd field goal 10 plays, 45 yards, TOP 3:47
USC 20, ND 23
USC - Vaughns, Tyler 5 yd pass from Slovis, Kedon (McGrath, Chase kick) 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:20
USC 20, ND 30
ND - I. BOOK 8 yd run (J. DOERER kick), 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 6:54
USC 27, ND 30
USC - Stepp, Markese 2 yd run (McGrath, Chase kick), 9 plays, 77 yards, TOP 2:29
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
USC Football's Comeback Bid Falls Short at No. 9 Notre Dame, 30-27
October 12, 2019 | Football, Features
Tony Jones Jr. rushed for a career-high 176 yards, Ian Book scored on an 8-yard run with 3:33 left and Jonathan Doerer kicked three long field goals as the Irish won 30-27 in the 91st meeting of the longtime rivals.
"An exciting football game," coach Brian Kelly said. "Our guys prepared so well for this game. They (USC) were coming off a bye week and we knew there were some things we'd have to adjust to. We took USC's best shot."
It was the third straight victory for the Fighting Irish (5-1) over the Trojans (3-3) and it wasn't easy after USC had drawn within 23-20 behind true freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis.
Book's touchdown ended a 14-play, 75-yard drive that took 6:54 off the clock. The Irish quarterback, who rushed for 49 yards and added 165 yards through the air on 17-of-32 passing, credited offensive coordinator Chip Long's play-calling.
"They were bringing pressure off the edge," Book said, "so I just wanted to bring it up the middle. The line did a good job."
The Trojans' Markese Stepp, who ran for 82 yards, scored from the 2 with 1:04 left to make it 30-27. Notre Dame's Brock Wright recovered the onside kick, and the Irish ran out the clock.
"Notre Dame is a good football team and we are, too, and I can't wait to watch the next six games," said USC coach Clay Helton, who fell to 1-4 against Notre Dame.USC RB @markese_stepp's high school mascot was the Fighting Irish.
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) October 13, 2019
Tonight, he's got a career-high 80 yards and counting against Notre Dame.#FightOn | #BeatTheIrish pic.twitter.com/Rnh8VbF04l
Jones' fourth 100-yard game of the season came on 25 carries. He had 12 runs for 120 yards in the first half.
The Irish led 17-3 at half after Book threw a 10-yard TD pass to Cole Kmet, wide receiver Braden Lenzy ran 51 yards on a reverse and Doerer kicked a 43-yard field goal.
Doerer added field goals of 52 and 43 yards in the second half to keep the Irish ahead.
Slovis completed 24 of 35 passes for 255 yards in his first game back from a concussion three weeks ago. He threw touchdown passes of 38 yards to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the third quarter and 5 yards to Tyler Vaughns in the fourth.
See ball, catch ball.#FightOn | @amonra_stbrown pic.twitter.com/7yj4SmOiYE
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) October 13, 2019
THE TAKEAWAY
USC: Slovis completed 10 of 17 passes for 74 yards in the first half but was sacked three times and hurried on four other occasions by Notre Dame's defense, which switched between three- and four-man fronts. After intermission, Slovis was 14 of 18 for 181 yards and two touchdowns."We came away from the first half feeling like we left points on the board that we should have scored," Slovis said. "The second half we were kind of hungry to do what we knew we could accomplish."
Notre Dame: The Irish punted on their first three series but finished the half with 196 yards on the ground. Jones carried the load, bursting up the middle for 43 yards on a nine-play, 97-yard scoring drive that gave his team a 7-3 lead. And when they had to in the fourth quarter, the Irish did their damage running the football.
"They were playing a two-deep zone, and it was important that we ran the football in that situation," Kelly said of his team's last touchdown drive. "Our offensive line and tight ends did a great job blocking. Tony Jones was outstanding again in the fourth quarter."
THIS AND THAT
Notre Dame has won its last 15 games at Notre Dame Stadium. … Notre Dame, which had given up just three touchdown passes in five games, surrendered two more to Slovis. . Neither team committed a turnover. … Notre Dame running backs have not fumbled in 1,247 rushing attempts since Nov. 21, 2015, the longest active streak in FBS.UP NEXT
USC plays Arizona at home on Oct. 19.Click Here to purchase tickets to the Trojans' Homecoming/Reunion Weekend game against the Wildcats.
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