Notre Dame 22 – USC 13
At first glance: ND
got themselves to the National Title game by slowly squeezing the air out of
USC with a pummelling ground game and solid defense. Once again the game wasn’t
a pretty win, but it was a win nonetheless and a very important one at that.
Turning point: Lane
Kiffin has a lot to answer for, calling a timeout pre-snap to nullify a scoring play
for the Trojans (how was he to know they would get in the
endzone), but more crucially he turned down a three point opportunity to make
it a one score game in favour of going for it on 4th down and had
his offence stuffed!
Key Stat: 7.3 – Theo
Riddicks average/run, he really tore up the Trojans defence.
Point of Interest: There’s
a lot to take away from this game, so here’s a few to think about. This Irish
team is the first to get to the title game since 1988, three years before Theo
Riddick was born. The Irish were unranked in the AP poll to start the season and
finish number 1 after beating the team that was ranked number 1 in the AP poll
before the season. And here’s my biggest question, can this team stop whichever
SEC giant they meet in the title game?
Player of the Game: No
contest, Theo Riddick. Completely dominanted the USC defence in every facet of
the game. He made big runs, big catches as well as some key blitz pickups and
really lead the Irish offence.
My prediction: Almost
got it spot on, ND ran out winners, both teams were just a few points shy of
how many I predicted them to score.
Highlights:
Notre Dame
What this win means: National
Championship berth and a memorable undefeated regular season.
Up next: Almost
definitely the winner of the SEC Championship game, either Georgia or Alabama.
USC
What this loss means: Tough
to gauge, they fall to 7-5 in a season in which they started as the number 1
ranked team in the nation. Disappointing to say the least.
Up next: Sorry to say
guys, but I don’t know, a very average bowl game that doesn’t befit the Trojans
of USC.
No comments:
Post a Comment