21-0, USC
USC is up 21-0 with 4:38 to play in the first half, but the greater story is that the Irish still are yet to gain a first down tonight. Difficult to fault the Irish defense when their offense is simply not showing up.
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Oh, do the Trojans have athletes. On ND's last series, Yourmando Allen cut a run outside. Against any other team it would have been at least a 7-yard gain. But any other team does not have Taylor Mays playing free safety. The 6-4, future NFL first-rounder has sizzling closing speed, and stopped AA for a gain of 2 yards.
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After Clausen threw a pass over the middle into double coverage that was picked off, Joe McKnight took the next play 55 yards to the barn. It was the longest USC rush from scrimmage this season.
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Then there was the swing pass to Stanley Havili, who ran up the right sideline, then cut it back against the grain to the opposite hash before being dragged down. And Havili plays fullback. No coach emphasizes cutting back against the field to its players better than Pete Carroll. Honestly, if they ever did a Smear-The-Queer national championship, USC, Oklahoma and Florida would be my top three-ranked teams.
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USC just picked up a 3rd-and-15. The Irish are totally outclassed, as the Trojans are about to make it 28-0 at the half. For your records, the worst defeat in Notre Dame history was 59-0 to Army in 1944. But that was during World War II, when rosters were not representative of the schools--and the service academies were loaded. The worst Irish loss in peacetime? 58-7 to Miami in '85.
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Most representative, or at least iconic, play of the first half: USC is flagged for excessive celebration on a punt return for a TD that was called back for a Trojan clipping penalty. So they were flagged for excessive celebration on a play in which they did not even score.
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Pat Forde, seated next to me, reminds me, "Shades of 34 years ago...Notre Dame went up 24-0 just before halftime." Do the Irish have an Anthony Davis on the roster?
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Mock away but Frank doesn't sound like the cool one to me.
And for the record, not that it's surprising, the creator of the Hardy Boys was Canadian.
Right now, Notre Dame could use the Hardy Boys to help solve the "Invasion of Apathy." They could also use them at running back and wide receiver. In fact, any regular Joe would help.
This is painful.