THE PLAYOFF’S THE THING
Down 10-0, Irish rally to stay perfect, likely secure berth
LOS ANGELES — Ian Book passed for 352 yards, Dexter Williams went 52 yards on a go-ahead touchdown run and No. 3 Notre Dame completed an unbeaten regular season and likely secured a spot in the College Football Playoff with a 24-17 victory over longtime rival USC on Saturday night.
Chris Finke caught an early touchdown pass for the Fighting Irish (12-0), who showed playoff-level tenacity in rallying from an early 10-point deficit, their largest of the season. Tony Jones Jr. then took a short pass 51 yards for a touchdown with 3:09 to play to finish off Notre Dame’s 10th perfect regular season since 1945 and the first since 2012.
“It brings tears to your eyes,” Notre Dame cornerback Julian Love said. “So much is put into this, and it was very tough at times. It just feels so good to get here. Nothing has been handed to us. USC was struggling this year, but they weren’t just going to hand it to us. We had to go out there and seize it.”
Notre Dame is all but certain to be chosen for the four-team playoff, and this win could keep the Irish away from powerhouse Alabama in the first postseason game.
Williams rushed for 97 yards as the Irish overcame a slow start in the 90th edition in this famed intersectional rivalry. Notre Dame didn’t score until Finke’s touchdown catch shortly before halftime, but the Irish ran off 24 consecutive points and shut out USC in the second half until Tyler Vaughns’ touchdown catch with 48 seconds to play.
“It’s something I dreamed about, so to have it really be like that, it’s a surreal moment,” said Book, the Californian who improved to 9-0 as Notre Dame’s starter, including 8-0 this year. “This whole team, we’re just so fortunate to be here. USC, they played great. We knew they had a great defense, and to be able to finish the season off undefeated in a rivalry game, you can’t ask for anything better than that.”
J.T. Daniels passed for 349 yards for the Trojans (5-7), who will stay home for the bowl season after their first losing season since 2000. Vaughns caught 12 passes for 120 yards in what might have been the final game for coach Clay Helton, who is under pressure after the Trojans lost five of their final six games in a dismaying collapse.
After USC won eight straight over Notre Dame in the 2000s, the Irish have claimed the Jeweled Shillelagh in six of the last nine meetings. Notre Dame is the first road team to win in the series since 2012, when the Irish also completed an unbeaten regular season.
Only four USC teams have finished with losing records since 1961, but this clearly talented group gave a tough game to the powerhouse Irish, who faced their first doubledigit deficit of the year when USC went up 10-0 in the second quarter. The Trojans’ 289 yards in the first half were 64 more than the Irish had allowed before halftime all season.
Notre Dame had only trailed twice at any point this season, but Williams bounced his 52-yard goahead run down the USC sideline shortly after halftime.
Justin Yoon set a Notre Dame record with his 58th career field goal late in the third.