Jarrett's last home game at USC?
He looks ready for the NFL right now.
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He looks ready for the NFL right now.
Exactly what USC needed. Now they get the ball back with a chance to go up by 21.
Trojans go up by 14. Not ideal _ Irish are two plays away from tying the game _ but not bad considering the way the defense is going.
Besides, Notre Dame has not shown any inclination of stopping the Trojans offense tonight. At worst, USC will trade points from here on out.
And thats saying a lot, considering all the talent out there.
The good news for the Trojans is they'll likely end the third quarter having traded touchdowns with the Irish, thus taking the same 11 point lead they took into the quarter into the fourth.
They're working on him on the sideline during the time out...
A nice long tochdown drive to start the third quarter to make it 28-10.
Now they need a quick stop and they can put this game away.
Wow, is this guy a great wide receiver or what?
For the Trojans. Big, big play. Trojans at the Irish 25.
The Trojans ended it ugly with three straight turnovers. But the defense stood firm and minimized the damage, giving up just one touchdown.
If I'm USC I'm a bit worried because the offense really lost its way in the second quarter, and as good as the Trojans looked early this game is far from over.
It becomes a moot point if they score a touchdown on the opening drive, but if they don't and the Irish somehow find their way into the end zone this game will get really interesting really quick.
To dodge the bullet. Then Booty threw another inteception, this one to Trevor Lawas at the Trojans' 36.
On an interception by Mike Richardson.
Hmmmmmmm.
A blocked punt inside the end zone gave the Irish the ball at the Trojans' 7-yard line. Brady Quinn hit Marcus Freeman on a 7-yard touchdown pass on the next play, pulling Notre Dame to within 21-10. It'll be interesting to see how USC responds. There is still a lot of game left.
Thanks to a 60-yard run by Brady Quinn they drove to the Trojans 3-yard line. But Darius Walker fumbled the ball to USC, and Notre Dame came away empty handed. Now the Irish defense is back on the field.
I have a feeling it's going to be 28-3 pretty soon.
No matter what the Trojans do _ running passing _ they're doing it well.
They just drove for another touchdown to go up 21-3. They're avering 8 yards per offensive play. They just went over the 20-point mark for the 63rd straight game.
Wow.
Boy, can you imagine what's going through Michigan's mind right now?
It's becoming abundantly clear the Irish simply don't have the type of explosive playmakers to compete with a loaded program like USC. Until the Irish close the gap in that regard, it will be awhile before they can compete on a year-to-year basis.
Right now, Notre Dame has two NFL-type players in terms of offensive skill players: Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardja.
USC has NFL-typle players everywhere you look, especially at wide receiver.
They drove to the Trojans nine, but stalled there and had to settle for a field goal.It's 14-3, but it's pretty obvious USC is having no trouble moving the ball against Notre Dame's defense, which looks sluggish and slow compared to the Trojans offense.
Booty connects with Dwayne Jarrett on a 10-yard scoring pass to cap a 71-yard, 8-play drive to make it 7-0 USC.
The Trojans converted two third down plays and Booty was 4 of 5.
Great start for the Trojans.
Two passes of more than 20 yards to get the Trojans inside the Irish 25.
The Trojans withstood a 38-yard pass on the opening play to ultimately stop the Irish on fourth down at their 28-yard line.
Big surprise. They've won every toss this year. That's got to be some sort of record.
In keeping with their plan they deferred, so Notre Dame gets the ball first.
It's impossible to say how many stars are here tonight, but Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott and Barry Zito have already been spotted in and around the stadium. Man, the atmosphere is impossible to describe right now. I can't see an open seat in the house, it's literally 90,000 fans going crazy.
And the game is still 12 minutes away.
I got here early so I wouldn't get caught in a traffic/parking nightmare. The trade off is I had to spend three hours in the press box waiting around.
I'm dying for this game to get started already.
The good news is I got to catch up with some of by buddies from newspapers around the country. You can tell its a big game when the national media comes out, and that's certainly the case here tonight. Every part of the country is represented.
The local representation is exactly what you'd expect for a game like this. You've got your beat writers and columnists from the big papers to the small. Seems like everyone's got at least four people out there. There will be no shortage of coverage tomorrow morning, I can assure you.
Same goes for TV and radio.
It's crowded up here, but it's also nice to catch up with everyone.
Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardja ran onto to the field for early outs and immediately waved to USC's student section, which was filled with fans waiting for USC to do their team walk.
The fans response was classic: They booed Samardja. He just smiled and and pump faked a pass to them. They booed again and he just laughed.
Classic stuff.
You can have your Baton Rouges and your Happy Valleys and your Ann Arbors. I'll take a gorgeous Saturday in late November in Los Angeles and a USC-Notre Dame football game with National Championship implications any day.
The Coliseum is pretty much empty right now, save for the spattering of security personnel and some diligent Notre Dame and USC team managers setting up their respective sidelines.
Oh, and the definite sense of excitement hovering in the air.
It's everywhere you turn. From the drive to the stadium through downtown Los Angeles to the tailgate scene outside the Coliseum, there's no doubt a big game is looming between two college powerhouses.
I can't wait for kickoff.