The tape performed on loop all week in Notre Dame’s facility, a sobering reminder for the Irish two years later of what USC, underneath Lincoln Riley, might be when the whole lot was working in live performance. A superhero at quarterback. A rolling run sport. A ferocious entrance. That dominant win over Notre Dame, within the last week of the 2022 season, had in some ways been the high-water mark of the coach’s Trojan tenure, the kind of main second that will seemingly propel a program to new heights.
The two years since have been spent chasing that feeling to no avail, with one irritating season bled into one other. The star quarterback left, his backup was benched. The run sport was uncared for. The entrance was by no means fairly as fearsome once more. But Riley continued reassuring the second and its magic would return, pointing to this system’s progress and defending its path in any respect prices.
Any hope for this season had lengthy expired nicely earlier than USC misplaced 49-35 to No. 6 Notre Dame in its regular-season finale on Saturday. But in its last breaths had been each transient glimpses of what USC might be and in addition painful reminders of how far it had fallen since that evening two Novembers in the past.
The juxtaposition solely made the Trojans’ 6-6 season harder to swallow. In every of these six losses, USC had fallen brief in some kind or vogue. Saturday, a defeat Riley known as “excruciating,” was no totally different.
Notre Dame operating again Jeremiyah Love (4) dives into the top zone to attain as USC security Akili Arnold (0) and his teammates attempt to cease him Saturday on the Coliseum.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Jayden Maiava had carried out all he might to sidestep that heartbreaking destiny, prepared the Trojans down the sphere in ways in which reminded — no less than in spurts — of his predecessor, Caleb Williams. Williams was within the stadium to have his No. 13 jersey retired Saturday, and till the top, it appeared the Trojans’ new quarterback was placing collectively a convincing tribute.
Maiava threw for 3 touchdowns and added two on the bottom whereas accounting for 360 passing yards, way over Williams had in his first assembly with the Irish. But in a season of skinny margins, one throw was sufficient to sink any hope of Maiava making the identical magic and USC enjoying spoiler.
He’d already introduced USC inside placing distance the earlier drive, hitting two moonshots downfield earlier than discovering wideout Ja’Kobi Lane for his third rating of the afternoon.
On a day when USC’s protection gave up 436 yards, the second-most the Trojans allowed all season, the unit truly managed to clamp down on the following drive, setting Maiava as much as play hero.
USC receiver Makai Lemon (6) leaps over his teammate whereas pushing for extra yards towards Notre Dame Saturday on the Coliseum.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
He tried, main the Trojans to the doorstep of the pink zone. But as Maiava fired a move towards Kyron Hudson on the pylon, Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray grabbed it as a substitute. Gray ran till he reached the opposite finish zone, a 99-yard choose six that will derail any likelihood of a comeback. The subsequent drive, Maiava threw one other pick-six ultimately zone.
“Can’t flip the ball over in large moments,” Maiava stated. “I let the group down.”
In truth, Maiava was one of many few causes USC was nonetheless inside attain by the fourth quarter, whereas the Trojans’ protection did him few favors. Its 49 factors given up had been 16 greater than USC had given up all season.
USC was steamrolled by an Irish speeding assault that entered the sport ranked among the many finest in faculty soccer. Notre Dame racked up 258 yards on the bottom, the second-most yielded by USC this season, even after USC emphasised all of it week.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) leaps to the highest of a pile of Notre Dame gamers and scores in the course of the second half of the Trojans’ loss Saturday on the Coliseum.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“We simply didn’t do sufficient towards the run,” Riley stated. “Period.”
USC didn’t have its personal full complement of backs, both, after Woody Marks was injured late within the first quarter and by no means returned. Quinten Joyner impressed in his place, speeding for 83 yards in 10 carries, essentially the most essential of which was a 23-yard scamper proper earlier than Maiava’s decisive choose.
“Woody has been our greatest offensive participant this 12 months, so to sit down right here and say shedding him didn’t have an effect on it, it affected it some,” Riley stated.
Other missteps helped derail the Trojans. There was a Notre Dame pretend punt, ill-timed penalties, stalled drives and the same old play-calling questions, any variety of which might have turned the tides.
But as a substitute, Riley stood within the tunnel emotional as he watched one Trojan go away the Coliseum for the final time, then one other. In the postgame information convention, he brimmed with delight at how laborious USC had fought by a irritating season.
“You can’t query this soccer group,” Riley stated. “There’s instances we might’ve performed higher, positive. There’s instances we might’ve coached higher, yeah. Did we miss some alternatives? Yes we did. We laid it on the road each single week. My message to the blokes was you proceed to do this by your life, you proceed to do this with this soccer program, and the stuff you need will come.”
Two years after Williams whipped up expectations of USC followers by choosing aside rival Notre Dame within the Coliseum, the Trojans are nonetheless ready for an encore and Riley continues to be pointing towards the long run.
