Irish Intercept Southern Cal Upset Bid, Win 10th Game In A Row

The University of Notre Dame football team (11-1) outlasted Southern Cal (6-6) 49-35 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to win its 10th game in a row and put the program in strong position to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. A back-and-forth battle in the Greatest Intersectional Rivalry in college football was punctuated by two huge plays by the Notre Dame defense late in the game. 

Sophomore cornerback Christian Gray, who battled with the talented Trojan receiver group all afternoon, picked off a pass at the one-yard line and returned it 99 yards to put his team ahead 42-28 with 3:39 remaining. Southern Cal drove down the field again, but the Irish defense stepped up yet again with a perfectly timed blitz that forced a desperation heave into the end zone that Xavier Watts picked off and returned 100 yards for another score. 

That was 199 yards worth of interception returns in less than two minutes to seal a victory for Notre Dame and a perfect way to end the game for the Irish defense, which uncharacteristically gave up 557 yards and 360 passing yards to the Trojans. 

On the offensive side of the ball, Notre Dame punted the ball only twice and put up over 400 yards of offense. Riley Leonard completed 17-of-22 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns while adding 50 yards rushing along with Jadarian Price (112 yards) and Jeremiyah Love (99 yards). The 259 rushing yards for Notre Dame are the most against Southern Cal since the team rushed for 308 in 2019 and the most in the Coliseum since 1996 (the Irish ran for 260 yards in a 27-20 loss). 

Irish tight ends Mitchell Evans and Eli Raridon both caught touchdown passes from Leonard who connected with eight different receivers. 

The 84 points scored by both teams mark the most in the history of the Jeweled Shillelagh rivalry that dates back to 1926. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Southern Cal drove into Notre Dame territory, earning two first downs on its first drive before the Irish defense earned a stop. On second down, Christian Gray broke up a slant pass, then buried an SC pass receiver on a fourth down attempt for a single yard to give the offense the ball at their own 28-yard line. 

Jeremiyah Love set the tone for the Irish on the opening drive. Running hard and through Trojan tacklers, Love would end up with 36 yards rushing on four carries during the opening stanza. He started the drive with 19 yards, then Leonard found Kris Mitchell for a first down on third and four. Another tough run from Love earned the Irish a first down inside the 10. Leonard kept up the middle to the one-yard line and Love finished off the drive with a one-yard plunge. 

Leonard Moore keyed the next defensive stop for the Irish on pass break up on third down. Notre Dame picked up eight yards on the first play to Jayden Thomas and went back to him on the next play but he was hit from behind, fumbled straight up into the air and Southern Cal recovered at the Notre Dame 37. 

The Trojans seized the momentum and scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak which looked close to a stop by the Irish defense but ended up as a delayed touchdown call by the officials. 

Notre Dame looked to be stalled on their next drive, but a perfectly executed fake punt saw Tyler Buchner connect with Mitchell Evans for 18 yards to keep the drive alive. On third and long Leonard then found Evan again for nine yards, then Faison for an easy fourth-down conversion. 

Love then burst off the left side for 19 yards to get into the red zone, but the drive stalled there with a dropped pass and a quarterback draw that set up a short field goal attempt. Mitch Jeter pushed the kick to the right and the game remained tied at 7-7. 

The Irish defense quickly earned a three-and-out. Gabriel Rubio sacked the quarterback on the first play, then Leonard broke up another second down pass and made the tackle on a screen pass well short of the marker on third down. 

Notre Dame moved the ball over midfield and faced a fourth-and-one just outside the SC 40-yard line. Leonard fought for the first down, making the Irish three-for-three on fourth down in the first half. A tripping call on SC provided more yardage, then Love put up another show on a screen pass, leaping over a Trojan defender for a 20-yard gain down to the 12-yard line. 

Leonard then found Eli Raridon wide open in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to give the Irish a 14-7 lead. 

The lead did not last long as the Trojans drove down the field in just 31 seconds to tie the game on a 12-yard touchdown toss just before halftime. 

Notre Dame received the ball to start the second half and did not waste time to recapture the lead. Love gained 10 on the first play, then on third and four Leonard found Mitchell for 19 yards. After Love gained four and took a rest, Jadarian Price came in and burst through the right side middle behind blocks from Billy Schrauth and Anthonie Knapp and out-legged the Trojan defenders for a 36-yard touchdown run. 

The game of back -and- forth continued as SC answered with a scoring drive of their own. The Trojans marched 77 yards in eight plays, capped by another quarterback sneak for the touchdown. 

It was time for the Irish to answer and they did empathically. Love took a short pass and made 17 yards out of it, making two SC defenders miss. On the play, however, the spectacular Irish running back was injured and did not return to the game. Price then got four yards and added 15 on a personal foul penalty on the Trojans. On the next play, Leonard scrambled for 24 yards down to the four-yard line. Price got two yards, then Leonard the final two on a quarterback power run behind Raridon’s block to put the Irish up 28-21. 

The defense earned their first stop of the second half on the next Trojan drive. After one first down, Drayk Bowen sniffed out a run play on third and long to stuff the SC runner and force a punt. 

Notre Dame looked to be on pace on the first play of the drive when Price broke through the middle for 18 yards. On the next play, Leonard looked deep and under-threw his intended target for an interception which was returned to the Notre Dame 45-yard line. 

The Irish needed another stop and earned one on the next Trojan drive. It was another fourth down attempt when Jack Kiser and Joshua Burnham put pressure on the quarterback. A heave downfield looked to be caught by the SC receiver but All-American safety Xavier Watts was there for a huge pass break up. The red-hot Notre Dame offense had the ball back. 

Price gained four on the first play, then found a huge hole behind Pat Coogan and Billy Schrauth for 35 yards to the SC 23-yard line. Leonard then stepped up in the pocket and threw a perfect pass to Mitchell Evans at the pylon. The senior tight end pulled in the pass for a great leaping catch and a touchdown to put the Irish up 35-21. 

Go up and get it big fella ☘️#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/YWWCBpmKQ9

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 30, 2024

A big pass break up on a third and long play by Gray, with pressure in the quarterback’s face by freshman defensive end Bryce Young, gave the Irish the ball back. Unfortunately, the Irish could not move down the field and punted back to the Trojans. 

Southern Cal moved the ball into the red zone behind two big pass plays, including a 50-50 ball won by the Trojan receiver inside the five-yard line. Three plays later, SC connected on a six-yard touchdown pass to cut the Irish lead to seven points. 

Notre Dame failed to move the ball on their next drive and was forced to punt the ball away with just under six minutes remaining. The Irish did get a great punt from James Rendell as a 60-yard effort pushed SC back to their own 16-yard line. 

The Trojans quickly drove the ball into the red zone, helped by another 50-50 ball on third down. Southern Cal tried another such pass toward the end zone a few plays later, but Christian Gray played the ball perfectly, intercepted the pass and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown to put the Irish ahead 42-28. The incredible play matched Luther Bradley’s 99-yard interception return against Purdue in 1975 as the longest in program history. 

That record did not last long. Desperate to get back into the game the Trojans drove to the Notre Dame 12-yard line but the Irish held them to a fourth down attempt. Notre Dame blitzed and forced an errant throw, intercepted by Xavier Watts in the end zone and he easily returned the ball down the same sidelines as Gray just minutes earlier for a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. 

Southern Cal tacked on a meaningless touchdown in the game’s final seconds but the Irish walked off the field triumphant with a 49-35 victory.