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Notre Dame Football: Top 3 graded offensive stars from win over USC

By Oliver Vandervoort

Sep 9, 2023; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish tackle Joe Alt (76) during the first half at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 9, 2023; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish tackle Joe Alt (76) during the first half at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Notre Dame football team beat the USC Trojans on Saturday moslty thanks to a defense that shut down Caleb Williams, but there were some offensive stars.

Perhaps the nicest thing about the offensive stars for the Notre Dame football team on Saturday is that they’re pretty much who you would think. This wasn’t a situation where some bench player had to emerge and carry the team out of nowhere.

Instead, the offensive stars of the game for the Fighting Irish were guys that Marcus Freeman and company are going to need to lean on if they want to finish the final four games undefeated.

Notre Dame football offensive stars against USC

Sam Hartman: The transfer quarterback from Wake Forest didn’t have a spectacular game against USC, but he was plenty efficient. When he was given the ball with a chance to score, he helped the Notre Dame football team do just that.

Hartman scored the Fighting Irish’s top grade according to PFF with an 81.6. That’s his third best score of the season and it comes after completing 13 of 20 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Most importantly, he protected the ball and had no turnovers after a nightmare game against Louisville when he turned it over five times.

Audric Estime: The Notre Dame football running back was bottled up last week against Louisville, but he was able to mostly break out Saturday against USC. He had the second best PFF grade of the team, logging a 76.2 thanks to 95 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. It was the most rushing yards in a game this season since his Week 3 tilt against Central Michigan when he ran for 176 yards.

Joe Alt: The Fighting Irish’s starting left tackle continues to be an absolute stud, even if he didn’t have his best game, grading just a 74.8 overall. Where he really shone was once again, as a pass blocker. In 21 pass block snaps he didn’t allow a sack, hurry or quarterback hit. It was his sixth game of the season to accomplish that.

It does say something about the Notre Dame football offense that only two offensive stars managed an overall grade higher than 75. But that’s a decision for another day.

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