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Notre Dame Football: 5 overreactions from blowout win over USC

By Connor Muldowney

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 21: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish shakes hands with head coach Clay Helton of the USC Trojans after a game at Notre Dame Stadium on October 21, 2017 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame won 49-14. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 21: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish shakes hands with head coach Clay Helton of the USC Trojans after a game at Notre Dame Stadium on October 21, 2017 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame won 49-14. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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We are now heading into the ninth week of the season, but it’s time to completely overreact to Notre Dame football’s win over USC.

Who would have thought Notre Dame football would be 6-1 at this point in the season? Just a year ago, the Fighting Irish were 4-8 and looking at potentially firing Brian Kelly, but it’s wild how things can change in such a short time.

With so much parity in college football, teams and coaches can go from bragged about and adored to loathed and disrespected within weeks. Kelly and the Fighting Irish have changed the outsiders’ tunes in a short matter of time and the winning has returned to South Bend.

That was never more evident than on Saturday evening when the Fighting Irish demolished No. 11 USC to jump into the top-10 and basically everyone’s College Football Playoff debate.

Here are the five biggest overreactions from Notre Dame’s win over USC.

5. Defense should be feared by opponents

After holding Sam Darnold to just 229 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while also keeping Ronald Jones II below 35 yards, the Notre Dame defense should be feared by just about everyone, right? Not so fast.

While Notre Dame took advantage of some USC turnovers, the Fighting Irish rank just 42nd in the country in total defense, which is far from “fear” status. The Fighting Irish are getting stronger on that side of the ball, but there needs to be more consistency if teams are going to take them seriously.

Keeping Darnold under 250 yards is a good start, though. The Fighting Irish likely gained some momentum on that side of the ball for their performance against USC’s usually-potent aerial attack and Jones II was only able to muster 32 yards on 12 carries. They also sacked Darnold and Matt Fink five times on Saturday.

This defense is improving, but to say opponents should fear the Irish is a tad too over-reactionary.

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