USC was able to defeat Notre Dame fairly easily on Saturday night in a game many expected to be an exciting one. While the score never really got away from the Irish, there were times in the second half where they appeared to be sleep walking. With the Trojans leading by only a touchdown in the fourth quarter and about eight minutes remaining, Notre Dame turned it over by fumbling on what should have been a routine swing pass.
In many ways, Notre Dame beat themselves. In case they needed to add insult to injury after the game, USC linebacker Chris Galippo decided to kick the Irish while they were down.
“They just quit,” Galippo said according to the Orange County Register. “That’s what Notre Dame football is all about. They’re not anything like ‘SC.”
Running back Marc Tyler also added that Notre Dame “didn’t want to play anymore.” Burn. Brian Kelly’s program has enough questions surrounding it to begin with. Between last night’s shaky prime-time performance and Kelly complaining about scheduling, the Irish seem to be headed in the wrong direction. At 4-3 and with Stanford remaining on the schedule, they will have to fight just to become bowl eligible. After watching Notre Dame turtle in the fourth quarter Saturday night, I’m not convinced they have what it takes to turn their disappointing season around.
