Players Of The Game: Notre Dame vs. USC

Top players from Notre Dame's victory over USC

Quinn Harris, USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame improved to 5-1 on the season with a gritty 30-27 victory over USC. It was a four-quarter battle, but Notre Dame made enough plays in all three phases of the game to pull out the win.

Here are the top performers from the victory:

OFFENSE

RB Tony Jones Jr. - 25 carries, 176 yards, 7.0 YPC

To win games against your rival - especially an extremely talented rival - you need players to step up and be at their best, and that was Tony Jones Jr. The senior had a career-night, and Notre Dame needed every bit of it.

USC came into the game with an early plan to limit the effectiveness of the Irish wideouts, and Jones made them pay.

The offense sputtered in the first quarter but exploded for 17 in the second half, and Jones helped spark that. Notre Dame’s first scoring drive went 97 yards, and Jones helped fuel that scoring drive. With the Irish backed up at their own 15-yard line, Jones went for 12 yards to give the offense room to work, and then broke a tackle in the backfield before racing 43 yards to get the Irish in USC territory on the very next carry.

And what got us going?

A 43-yard scamper from @TonnJoness. #GoIrish ☘️ #USCvsND pic.twitter.com/5INWDO0ldL

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) October 13, 2019

Jones had run for 73 yards on two possessions, and OC Chip Long used USC starting to turn its attention to Jones to spring Braden Lenzy free for a 51-yard touchdown on a reverse. Go back and watch the play, you’ll see the USC defense running towards Jones on the toss fake.

Notre Dame won this game because of its ground attack’s ability to overcome sloppy play in the pass game, and Jones was the heart of that rushing attack.

Runners Up - LT Liam Eichenberg, TE Cole Kmet

DEFENSE

LB Asmar Bilal - 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss

It seems like fifth-year senior linebacker Asmar Bilal is making it his life mission to make my summer prediction about him look incredibly foolish. I banged on the “you can’t win with Bilal at linebacker” drum hard this summer and during fall camp, but the fact is Bilal has been one of Notre Dame’s best players in the last five games.

That continued in the win over USC, with the veteran racking up 11 tackles and two tackles for loss.

His speed, range and coverage skills were a big part of Notre Dame’s ability to shut USC down for the first two quarters. Bilal had an impressive tackle for loss on the second drive of the game, which put USC in a bind it could not overcome, forcing a punt. On that snap he was decisive, played with a good angle, got off a block with ease and then used his speed to shut down the play.

Bilal had a 2nd-and-1 pressure that helped force a fumble, but USC converted the 3rd-and-1 a play later. Bilal then shut that drive down with another tackle for loss on an outside zone play that was actually run away from him.

All night we saw Bilal using his speed in pursuit, and it helped limit some potentially bigger players from doing any damage. His ability to jump backs and look up routes over the middle played a role in limiting the pass game damage, especially in the first half.

Runners Up - DE Khalid Kareem, ROV Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK Jonathan Doerer - 3-3 Field Goals / 3-3 Extra Points

Place kicker Jonathan Doerer was considered one of the major question marks on the team coming into the 2019 season, but he’s been solid all season, and he was tasked with replacing the school’s all-time leading scorer, Justin Yoon.

Against USC, the junior was brilliant and had a career-best performance.

Doerer made all three of his extra points and all three of his field goal attempts, but none of his field goals were easy, although he made them look that way. Doerer drilled a 45-yard field goal to end the first half, and the kick would have been good from much further back.

Notre Dame’s opening drive of the first half sputtered, forcing Doerer into a 52-yard field goal attempt, which he nailed right down the middle. It tied for the third longest field goal in Notre Dame history.

When USC cut the game to 20-13 in the third quarter, Doerer drilled his third and final field goal, this time from 43 yards, to put the Irish back on top by two scores.

Doerer did all this during a night in which the wind was gusty and strong, further adding to his good he was in this game.

Runner Up - Chase Claypool

Great performances from all three sides of the ball.

Our offense was physical.
Our defense played fast and free.

However, we had to get the game ball to Jon Doerer for his record-setting performance on special teams.#GraduatingChampions pic.twitter.com/nATujVI30a

— Brian Kelly (@CoachBrianKelly) October 13, 2019