#5 USC puts another nail in Charlie Weis’ Coffin with 38-3 win over Notre Dame

For USC, it was business as usual with the Trojans mopping the field with Notre Dame led by a dominating defense and potent offense.  For Notre Dame, it may have been the coaching swansong for embattled head coach Charlie Weis.  In any case, the Trojans pounded the Irish 38-3 at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday.

Notre Dame is definitely in a “down year”, but that shouldn’t detract from what was a smothering performance by the USC defense.  The Trojans held Notre Dame to less than 100 yards of total offense as they outgained the Irish 449 yards to 91.  USC held a passing yardage edge of 274 to 41 and a rushing yardage advantage of 175-50.  USC had 22 first downs to 4 for Notre Dame.  Neither team was particularly impressive on third down conversions, with the Irish 2-14 and the Trojans 5-11.  Perhaps the most embarrassing component of the Notre Dame performance was their failure to gain a first down until the final play of the third quarter.  The Irish was also limited to 9 yards of total offense in the first half as USC built a 24-0 halftime lead.

If you’re going to beat USC, you’ve got to catch them early in the season.  With the victory, Pete Carroll improved his record in November to 27-0 since taking over the Trojan program.   The win also represented the Trojans seventh straight over the Irish, which is their longest run of futility against any opponent since they lost eight straight to Michigan State from 1955 to 1963.  Charlie Weis, on the other hand, lost his eighth straight and tenth of last 11 against a top 25 team.  The Irish have lost a total of 15 games in the past two years—the worst two year stretch in Notre Dame football history. 

Despite the speculation over his future, Weis maintained that he was the head coach at Notre Dame until further notice:

"I'm the head coach at Notre Dame. When the time comes sometime in my career, either by my choice or their choice, they're going to tell me I'm not the head coach at Notre Dame. But right now, my intent is to finish this press conference, be cordial, worry about my players, get them off to the airport and go on this recruiting trip tomorrow."

Though the Trojans remain a longshot to get a BCS championship game berth, Coach Pete Carroll said that his team remains focused on the things they can control:

"This was a terrific way to send the seniors out. We're not done yet. We just keep playing. We're going to the Rose Bowl, one way or another."

Assuming that USC can beat their crosstown rivals UCLA, they’ll win their seventh consecutive Pac 10 title and head to the Rose Bowl on New Years’ Day against Big 10 champ Penn State.