6:14 pm CT – I hear from my Uncle Ted and Aunt Judy, who are at the Colisseum for the Notre Dame/USC football game, which I humbly call the Annual Battle of Good Vs. Evil. On our visit to LA last month, Ted foolishly bet me a six-pack of a good regional beer on the outcome. I expect to be tasting the sweet nectar of Henry Weinhardt’s Dark in the coming weeks. At any rate, they’re sitting up in the nosebleed section, and they tell me that it’s overcast, cold (for LA), and the field will likely be slippery. Sounds like great Notre Dame weather to me …
7:01 – Keith Jackson, Dan Fouts, and Todd Harris will be working the game for ABC’s broadcast. It’s a great team for a great game …
7:05 – You may ask why I’m allowed to be home on a Saturday night, watching football. Well, for one thing, we did a good chunk of our Christmas shopping between the Northern Alliance show and the start of the game, so I got a few “good-boy” points for that. Plus, the First Mate knows that the Irish-USC game is the one must-see game on which I insist all year, outside of the Super Bowl. I’ve been wearing the green jersey all day, my Notre Dame watch and hat from my mom, and I’m pumped up and ready to see them upset the #1-ranked Trojans.
In other words, I’m a geek. As if you didn’t know that already …
7:09 – Notre Dame kicks off first — and SC fair-catches it? O-kaaaayyy…
7:13 – SC gains a couple of first downs but stalls at midfield. Great punt from SC will make the Irish fight across a long field to score. The rain seems to be making the passing game a little difficult for Matt Leinart, or at least his receivers …
7:19 – The Irish are mixing it up well and really moving the ball …
7:25 – Going for it on 4th and goal — TOUCHDOWN!! What a great opening drive, and what a way to deliver a message to USC. They went 93 yards and only got stopped twice, once on an incompletion and once on a off-tackle run. The Irish came to play ….
7:28 – King Banaian takes his laser focus off Ukraine and onto what’s really important. Welcome aboard! …
7:30 – Hate to say it, but that was a great catch on the ricochet …
7:36 – Irish hold SC to a field goal, but that was a shaky drive for SC. 7-3 Irish …
7:42 – End of the first quarter, after another big play for the Irish. Great job so far — moving the ball at will and defense rising to the occasion …
7:50 – Good drive for the Irish, but they had to settle for a field goal after Brady Quinn threw the third-down pass behind the receiver. I agree with King; it looks like the Irish outweigh the Trojans on both sides of the line…
7:56 – Another great defensive series for the Irish. Not only do they get a three-and-out, but the punt was partially blocked and only went 20-odd yards. So far, the Irish look like they’re on fire for this game, and SC looks like they’re burnt out …
8:00 – An excellent defensive series for the Trojans, too. Still 10-3 Irish…
8:03 – Hey, don’t interview Anthony Davis! He’s the Golden Domers’ worst nightmare! Seriously, though, good to see him out there. The interview saved him from seeing the Trojans fumble, but they got it back …
8:07 – Whatever ailed the Trojans seems to have disappeared, dammit. SC tied it up on the strength of three big plays. We’ll have to see if the Irish can adjust. One big problem seems to be Freddie Parrish, who got moved to corner for this game. They burned him twice on the drive, including the TD…
8:15 – The Irish need to stick to the run on offense, I think; the Trojans are starting to blitz a little too much. A few draw plays would cure that. On defense, King’s right, they need to be blitzing more themselves…
8:18 – It didn’t take long for the momentum to shift to the Trojans, did it? Yikes. That was a beautiful pass for the 57-yard TD. 17-10 Irish …
8:27 – Halftime. The Irish started out pretty well, but SC seems to have taken control of the game in the second quarter. Pete Carroll thinks the wet weather may have something to do with it, which sounds plausible to me. The Irish have made comebacks this year in the second half, including the game I watched at South Bend against Stanford. We’ll have to see.
8:31 – Folsom James has joined us, complete with California triumphalism. [sigh] You may want to hold off on that until the game’s over, James …
8:43 – James is tormenting me with my own words, cruel man that he is. If you’re not keeping up with the comments, you’re missing half of the fun. James, I notice that they skipped Paige Laurie, too. You suppose that Daddy forgot to pay for the commercial? …
Second half in the extended entry …
Continue reading “Fighting Irish Take On The Trojans — Live Blog!”