Notre Dame Football Grades: Offense vs. USC

The Notre Dame offense dominated for four quarters against a talented USC squad. By running for 377 yards, the Irish removed the bad taste in their mouth that remained from the Georgia battle. Although Brandon Wimbush’s numbers fell short of elite Quarterbacks, he managed the game and made the big time throws that are needed to beat a Top 15 team. Here are the offensive grades for the Notre Dame football team:

Again, Wimbush finished under fifty percent passing. He completed only 9 of 19 passes for 120 yards with 2 touchdowns. Despite these numbers, Wimbush actually threw the ball accurately. There were multiple passes that were catchable but fell to the turf. Furthermore, many of the passes thrown by Wimbush are low-percentage throws. A lot of the passes were deep balls designed to stretch the defense.

In the running game, Wimbush showed his true value. He ran for 106 yards with 2 touchdowns. But, the fear of Wimbush running may have impacted the game more than his right arm. On the 84-yard run by Josh Adams, multiple USC players keyed on Wimbush while Adams sprinted to the endzone.

Josh Adams and Tony Jones Jr. paced the Irish offense. Adams kickstarted his Heisman campaign in earnest by running for 191 yards against the Trojans. His 84-yard touchdown run broke the back of the USC team as they tried to rally.

Tony Jones Jr. played his best game of the season. Jones Jr. rushed for 37 yards on 5 rushes. However, his best work does not show up in box scores. Jones threw devastating blocks for Adams and Wimbush. His physicality made a huge difference for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame’s Wide Receiver made the biggest impact on a game to date.

Kevin Stepherson quickly found his stride the passing and running game. His reverses kept the defense off guard and made them think twice about over pursuing on Josh Adams. Stepherson carried the ball twice for 24 yards. He also caught 3 passes for 58 yards and 1 touchdown.

Equanimeous St. Brown totaled 29 receiving yards including a 26-yard touchdown catch. Chase Claypool also caught a pass for 13 yards which moved the chains.

Durham Smythe, Nic Weishar and Alize Mack combined to assist the Offensive Line in the running game. So far this season, Smythe has blocked extremely well. Weishar helped open the hole that Adams sprinted through for an 84-yard touchdown run.

Mack is still struggling to catch the ball cleanly and make big plays. Late in the first half, Mack had an opportunity to make a huge gain on a wheel route. However, he short-armed the ball and failed to make the catch. Until he can have a bigger impact on the game, the Tight Ends cannot be perfect.

Notre Dame’s Offensive Line continued to dominate on Saturday. The Irish completed negated USC’s best players on defense including Linebacker Cam Smith and Defensive End Rasheem Green.

On their way to 377 yards, the Offensive Line mauled the Trojans until they refused to fight any longer.

An A- is a tough grade for a team that scored 49 points against the No. 11 team in the country. However, it demonstrates how good this could be. The Irish left points on the table that could be easily had. They made need these points down the stretch when the Irish play strong defenses like NC State.