Eight And Counting

The Irish beat the Trojans for the eighth straight time, thanks to an emerging defense

By Brian McMahon

1990 Scholastic Football Review

Larry Smith has enjoyed phenomenal success as head football coach at the University of Southern California. In his first three years, he guided the Trojans to three Rose Bowls, a 21-1-1 record against the PAC 10, and a .766 winning percentage overall.

But don’t for a minute think that the fact he hasn’t beaten Notre Dame in that time doesn’t bother him. Although he did beat the Irish in 1982 while at Arizona, he has had no luck against Notre Dame during the Lou Holtz era; and it’s hurt, too.

In 1988, Smith’s team was ranked number one going into the last game of the season against the Irish. Southern Cal’s hopes for a national championship were blown away in their own back yard when the Irish ran off with a 27-10 victory. Last year, Smith came to South Bend hoping to return the favor against the top-ranked Irish, but they lost a heartbreaker, 28-24.

This year, things looked good for Smith and the Trojans as kickoff approached. His quarterback, Todd Marinovich, was one year wiser after throwing three interceptions in South Bend thirteen months previous. The sophomore threatened to light up a less experienced Irish secondary than the one he exploited for 33 completions and 333 yards on a cold, rainy October day last season at Notre Dame.

Smith’s tailback, Mazio Royster, was averaging 132 yards per game since taking over the starting role after the Trojans’ fifth game. His club had just beaten crosstown rival UCLA the week before. Clearly, Larry Smith’s house was in order.

The same couldn’t be said for Lou Holtz. The Irish had slipped from the nation’s top spot seven days prior when they lost in the closing minutes to Penn State at home. His top player, Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, was questionable with a thigh bruise that had kept him from the second half of the Penn State loss. The prospect of playing without Ismail was upsetting, considering the Irish had lost both games he missed due to injury.

There was also concern that the Irish might not yet have recovered from that last-second loss to Penn State. Rookie quarterback Rick Mirer had a bad day against the Nittany Lions and USC is not exactly an ideal place to regain one’s confidence.

Then there was the question of how the Irish would react now that the national title was out of reach.

“How will we respond? I really don’t know,” Holtz said before the game. “When you play USC, its a very special game. So we’ll find out something about ourselves.”

All of Holtz’s questions were answered after Notre Dame grinded out a 10-6 victory over the Trojans. Mirer was unspectacular, but poised and mistake-free, and Ismail showed no signs of injury. But it’s what Holtz found out about his defense that proved to be the key to the game.

The Irish defense had been highly criticized all season and for good reason. The Penn State loss marked the seventh straight game the Irish had given up 20 or more points~ the first time in Notre Dame history that has happened. Their points allowed average of 24.3 was-the school’s highest since 1956. But on the last day of the regular season, when anything less would have meant a loss, the defense came up big.

“Our defense was excellent,” said a weary Holtz after the game. “We gave up no big plays and played against the run very well.” Indeed. The Irish kept the Trojans out of the endzone, allowing them just two field goals.

“They were moving the ball,” said Notre Dame cornerback Todd Lyght afterward. “But they weren’t putting points on the board, which is the key thing.” USC’s 302 total yards produced little. While Marinovich threw for 273 yards, his longest completion was for only 23. The Irish pressured last season’s collegiate freshman of the year all night, sacking him five times, twice on third down.

Royster was held to 51 yards rushing and the Trojans as Mari Okuda a team crawled to only 81 yards on the ground.

“I didn’t want it to end up like last week,” said nose tackle Chris Zorich, voicing the sentiments of his teammates. For his part, the All-American had eight tackles on the night and provided a fitting close to the game by sacking Marinovich as time ran out.

The biggest play of the day for the defense came a bit earlier, though. Southern Cal was driving and faced fourth and eleven on their own 44 yard line. Marinovich hit Gary Wellman out of the shotgun on the left sideline for a gain of ten. Wellman tried desperately to get the necessary yardage for the first down but was stuffed by Notre Dame’s Lyght. “A big key for us was to tackle them after they caught the ball,” said Lyght. “I dropped back to the first down marker and kept [Wellman] in front of me.”

Marinovich, the child prodigy turned problem child, did little to improve his rapidly deteriorating reputation after the game. When asked what he thought of the spot, which replays clearly showed to be short of the first down, Marinovich was indignant. “I couldn’t believe the last call,” he said. “I expect to get homered in South Bend, but not in the Coliseum. It’s disappointing to end on that note, I don’t know where he spot it. It was just a bad spot. It’s shocking.”

Marinovich’s shock and subsequent verbal analysis of the call to an official earned him a 15 yard, non-contact penalty after the play. “It was well-deserved, too,” he said.

“Anytime you score six points against Notre Dame,” said Smith afterwards, “you don’t have a very good chance of winning. We moved the ball offensively but didn’t score. We had the opportunities but we didn’tcapitaIize. We got in the red zone, but we didn’t get enough points. Instead of two touchdowns or a touchdown and two field goals, we got only the two field goals.”

On Southern Cal’s first possession, the Trojans had first and goal from the nine but had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Quin Rodriguez because, on third down from the five, Marinovich threw incomplete under heavy pressure from Notre Dame defensive tackle Bob Dahl.

The Irish proved to be their own worst enemies on their first sustained drive of the night. On first and ten from the twelve, Notre Dame was whistled for a 15-yard personal foul. Mirer made up the penalty on the next play, an 18-yard completion over the middle to tight end Derek Brown. His third down toss missed Ismail at the five and Craig Hentrich was called on for a 30-yard field goal to tie the score.

The half ended in a tie and, after Notre Dame ran three plays and punted to start the half, USC marched inside the Irish 20, where the defense once again held strong. From the 17, Marinovich threw one incomplete pass and completed two for a total gain of four yards, and the Trojans had to settle for another field goal.

The Irish offense provided the winning margin the next time they had the ball. Mirer had two key plays that helped sustain the drive that ended with Tony Brooks taking an option pitch in from the one. On third and seven from the Irish 46, as he was hit by USC linebacker Kurt Barber, Mirer found tight end Brown over the middle for a gain of 15. Later, on third and one from the Trojan four, he squeaked out two yards for first and goal, setting up Brooks’ score for a 10-6 Irish lead.

Southern Cal’s next drive was snuffed when Zorich sacked Marinovich on third and eight on the Trojan 34. USC’s Ron Dale punted and the Irish took over on their own 30. On first down from their 41, Ismail galloped 31 yards on a reverse. A 15-yard personal foul penalty after the play, however, left the Irish facing first down and 25. That problem was quickly and seemingly easily solved by you-know-who. Mirer hit Ismail with a dump pass over the middle and Rocket darted through would-be blockers and the Trojan secondary all the way to the two-yard line for first and goal.

The Irish made three tries for the end zone on the ground without success and went to the air on fourth down. Mirer lobbed an alley-oop incomplete over the middle to Brown, who appeared to be held by Barber and strong safety Marcus Hopkins.

“It was short yardage and there was a lot of bumping and shoving going on,” Brown said. “I went up, but my arms were completely pulled down.”

Southern Cal took over on downs and made it to their 37 before Michael Stonebreaker forced a fumble that USC recovered for a loss of 11. On the next play Scott Kowalkowski sacked Marinovich for a loss of two. Marinovich’s third and 28 pass was incomplete and the Trojans had to punt. That was the last offensive threat the Trojans mustered until late when Lyght made his play on Wellman short of the first down.

Wellman, whose 101 yard receiving set a USC single-season record, summed up what everyone, or at least the seniors, in the USC camp must have been thinking. “We’ve never beaten Notre Dame since I have been here. It is frustrating.”

“We put everything together this week,” said a triumphant Zorich after the game. “We wanted to prove to the world that we had a good defense.”

The defense rests.