Kyren Williams scored twice and accounted for 180 yards of total offense to lead Notre Dame to a 31-16 victory over the USC Trojans. The Fighting Irish never trailed in this contest, although the Trojans made it interesting with 13 points in the fourth quarter. when the margin was narrowed to 24-16, Williams keyed the ensuing scoring drive with hard runs that secured critical first downs and wore down USC’s defense. Notre Dame rose to 6-1 on the season while the Trojans fell to 3-4.

The Irish opened the game with a fast tempo offense and marched quickly down the field. A dropped third down pass by Kevin Austin killed the drive in the red zone, and Jonathan Doerer missed an easy field goal attempt. Notre Dame’s defense took the field and ran off Kedon Slovis and USC in three plays. The Ademilola brothers put pressure on the Trojan quarterback and gave him no chance to complete a pass. The Irish then took over and this time they found the end zone when Jack Coan hit Avery Davis for a touchdown.

USC responded with a long drive of its own. Slovis began to connect with Drake London, who would have 15 catches for 171 yards before the night was over. It looked as though the Trojans would tie the game, but Bo Bauer picked off a wobbly pass by Slovis, who was hit hard on the attempt. Bauer returned the ball 81 yards to the USC six yard line. Notre Dame was unable to reach paydirt, however, but Doerer made the chip shot for a 10-0 lead. The bigger problem for the Irish during that sequence was the loss of star safety Kyle Hamilton. The junior went down with a leg injury and did not return to the lineup.

Slovis and London connected four times on the next possession. Again, the Trojans stalled in the red zone and Parker Lewis got them on the board with a 33-yard field goal midway through the second quarter. Two passes from Coan to freshman Lorenzo Styles brought the Irish back into scoring territory, and Williams finished the drive with a five yard touchdown run.

The Trojans had a chance to answer as the half drew to a close. Poor clock management and squandered timeouts ended the drive before USC could line up for a field goal. The teams retreated to their respective locker rooms with Notre Dame holding a 17-3 lead.

USC’s woes continued into the third period when Lewis missed a short field goal try on the opening series. The Irish went on the march again later in the quarter. Three Trojan penalties aided the hosts and Williams pushed the lead to 24-3 with his second rushing touchdown at the 2:51 mark.

To their credit, USC did not quit. Keaontay Ingram, who ran for 138 yards on the night, did most of the work on a scoring drive that cut Notre Dame’s margin to 24-10 early in the fourth quarter. Chris Steele then outfought Austin for a contested ball on the next series to stop the Irish deep in Trojan territory. Slovis, who had to run for his life in the early going, benefitted from protection adjustments after halftime and got into rhythm. He promptly led his team on an 86-yard scoring drive with 8:51 still on the clock. A missed extra point left the margin at 24-16.

The Irish turned to Williams, who responded with punishing runs to move the chains while USC committed a pair of costly 15-yard penalties. With five minutes remaining in the game, Tyler Buchner found the end zone for his first career touchdown in Notre Dame Stadium from three yards out.

The last gasp drive by USC fell apart with another pair of penalties. Isaiah Foskey sacked Slovis on a fourth down play and Notre Dame ran out the clock to end it.

The game was typical for a rivalry matchup where both teams played with passion and emotion. In other words, it was not always an artistic success but there was plenty of drama. USC outgained Notre Dame by 428-383, but negative plays and penalties hurt the visitors. Their failure to come away with any points on the last series of the first half and their first possession of the second half were also crucial.

Meanwhile, the Irish defense did not perform as well as the score would indicate. USC ran downhill all night and the tackling by the secondary was even more atrocious than it was during the first half of the season. If not for the heroic performance by Williams and improved protection for Coan by the offensive line, the outcome may have been different. It also didn’t hurt that the Trojans shot themselves in the foot whenever they threatened to get back into the game.

Let’s review the answers to our pregame questions:

Will Notre Dame’s plan to contain London yield the expected results? What plan was that? I didn’t see a plan. The Irish did not deploy Cam Hart, their best corner, to cover London. Clarence Lewis and a variety of safeties not named Hamilton were unable to hold him in check.

Which team will be able to achieve run/pass balance on offense? Both teams ran the ball well. One could argue that USC ran the ball more effectively, but they had to throw it more because they were behind throughout.

Can the Irish pass rushers take advantage of the young Trojan offensive tackles? The Irish did a great job of bringing pressure in the first half. USC went to maximum protection later, which worked well until Foskey’s sack ended their night.

Will another offensive hero emerge for USC if London is blanketed by the Irish secondary? Ingram was outstanding for Troy. His spin moves and yards after contact were almost as impressive as Williams for Notre Dame.

Can Michael Mayer have an impact on the game despite his injury? Mayer was instrumental in the early Irish scoring drives, but they seemed to abandon him in the second half.

Which team will have the fewest penalties and turnovers? Both Slovis and Coan suffered an interception, and the Trojans lost a fumble. Penalties were an even bigger issue for USC though.

Can the Trojans find a way to pressure the Irish quarterbacks? Not really. Coan delivered the ball quickly and usually without pressure. USC had only one sack despite the fact that Drake Jackson played the entire game.

Will the Irish be sluggish in the early going after a bye week? Notre Dame came out with energy on offense and played hard even when they failed to score. They punted only once. Defensively, the three man front was still a strategic disaster and they obviously did not practice tackling fundamentals during the bye week. Oh well.

The next game in this homestand is against North Carolina, who has had a disappointing season to date. Yet the Irish are still very much a work in progress. With Hamilton’s status up in the air right now, it’s too soon to form any judgments about their chances to go 7-1.