The Fighting Irish punched their ticket to Miami. Theo Riddick rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown, Kyle Brindza kicked five field goals, and No. 1
Notre Dame secured a spot in the BCS championship game with a 22-13 victory over
Southern California on Saturday night. Everett Golson passed for 217 yards as the
Irish (12-0) completed their first perfect regular season since 1988, earning a
trip to south Florida on Jan. 7 to play for the storied program's first national
title in 24 years. Although they did little with flash on an electric night at the Coliseum, the
Irish woke up more echoes of past Notre Dame greats with a grinding effort in
this dynamic intersectional rivalry with USC (7-5), which has lost four of
five. Notre Dame's hard-nosed defense appropriately made the decisive stand in the
final minutes, keeping USC out of the end zone on four plays from the Irish 1
with 2:33 to play. ''Well, that's who we are,'' Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. ''It's been
our defense all year. Our offense is able to manage enough points.'' After spending more than a decade looking up at the Trojans, the Irish are
back on top of this rivalry with two straight wins in Los Angeles. The school of
Knute Rockne, the Four Horsemen and Paul Hornung has new heroes now, from
inspirational linebacker Manti Te'o to Kelly, who took the Irish from unranked
to start the season to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the first time in 19
years. Te'o, the Heisman Trophy hopeful, had a key interception against USC and
became the second Irish defender with three 100-tackle seasons - and he took
particular pride in that last defensive stand, which included three straight
Trojans runs resulting in nothing. ''It doesn't matter where the ball is,'' Te'o said. ''We're going to protect
the end zone at all costs.'' After Brindza's school record-tying fifth field goal put the Irish up by nine
points with 5:58 left, Marqise Lee caught a 53-yard pass from USC freshman Max
Wittek at the Notre Dame 2. But after USC failed on three straight runs at a defense that has allowed
just 11 rushing TDs in 30 games, Wittek threw incomplete to fullback Soma
Vainuku, setting off a leaping, chest-bumping celebration on the Notre Dame
sideline and in the Irish sections of the sold-out Coliseum. ''They've had a great goal-line defense all year,'' USC coach Lane Kiffin
said. ''They've done that to everybody down on the goal line. ... It's just so
hard to score touchdowns versus them. When the ball is on the 2-inch line, you'd
think you could score touchdowns.'' The grind-it-out win highlighted an unforgettable season for the Irish, who
began the year with questions about their relevancy and survived some
uninspiring performances and nail-biting finishes with their unbeaten record
intact. Notre Dame is likely to face an Southeastern Conference opponent in Miami,
but won't know for another week which one. Alabama and Georgia play for the SSEC
title in Atlanta. With the Irish offense repeatedly stalling in the red zone against the
Trojans, Brindza went five for six on field goals, even hitting a 52-yarder at
the halftime gun. Wittek passed for 186 yards with two interceptions in his first career start
for the Trojans, who completed their tumble from the preseason No. 1 ranking
with four losses in five games in an enormously disappointing season. Wittek
filled in capably for injured Matt Barkley, but USC is headed to a lower-tier
bowl in the first year after its NCAA-mandated two-year postseason ban
ended. Lee caught five passes for 75 yards, yet still broke the Pac-12 single-season
receptions record established last year by teammate Robert Woods, who had seven
catches for 92 yards. Barkley watched from the sideline in a grey hoodie with a sling on his right
arm after spraining his shoulder in last week's loss at UCLA. The senior and
Pac-12 career passing leader won twice in South Bend during his career, but
never got to face the Irish at the Coliseum, sidelined by injuries for both
visits. Barkley still ran down the Coliseum tunnel with the rest of the USC seniors
for their final home game. He participated in the coin toss, but could only
watch while the Irish opened the game with three clock-consuming drives
resulting in 13 points. USC's much-criticized defensive caution under assistant head coach Monte
Kiffin was exploited by the Irish, with Golson patiently finding the sags in the
Trojans' pass coverage for 181 yards passing in the first half. Riddick went 9
yards for a TD in the first quarter, but USC also stiffened to hold Notre Dame
to field goals twice in the red zone. Notre Dame held its 12th straight opponent without a first-quarter touchdown,
but Wittek found Woods for a 9-yard score on the first play of the second
quarter - just the ninth touchdown allowed by Notre Dame all season long. The
Irish took a 16-10 lead to halftime when Brindza hit the second-longest field
goal in Notre Dame history. Te'o made the seventh interception of his phenomenal season when Wittek threw
directly to him on USC's second play of the second half. Both teams struggled to
move the ball in the third quarter, and USC settled for a field goal with 9:20
to play just a few moments after Kiffin called a timeout right before a play
that ended with Lee appearing to catch a pass on the goal line.
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