ND vs. USC: One Play Away

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I hadn’t been this excited about a football game that I wasn’t attending since the ’93 Florida State game. My feelings before the game were that we had a chance to win if we didn’t turn the ball over and contained Bush somewhat. We did neither of these things and still had a chance to win it.

The Good:

  • Quinn: 19/35, 264 yd, 2 TD (1 pass, 1 run), 1 INT and led the last scoring drive.
  • Samardzija: 6 rec for 99 yd, TD.
  • Picking on smaller, outmatched USC corners led to a couple of PI flags.
  • Defense shut down White, and picked off Leinart twice.
  • Special teams: Coverage teams contained Bush, and the punt return for TD by Zbikowski.

    • The Bad:

  • Giving up the big play: Bush runs of 35 (TD), 45 (TD), and 22 yd; Smith, Jarrett, and Byrd had catches of 40+ yd.
  • Fasano’s fumble.
  • Quinn overthrowing Scwapp on 3rd and 8 from the USC 17.
  • The subsequent missed FG.

    • The Ugly:

  • The officiating at the end of the game seemed to be a circus.

    • There are no moral victories, but a fan has to be happy with how our team played. There’s a reason USC has won 28 (and counting) in a row, and to take them within one play (take your pick of three) tells us something about how far we’ve come. To paraphrase the message saved on our answering machine for the past 10 months, the chickens are home, and boy are they roosting.

    In other news, there’s a reason his name is Ayoob and not Booya.

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