[Eaglesfan27]

ND has over 80,000 fans here today.


On 3rd and 15, their star TE is called for pass interference negating a 18 yard reception. We force a 3 and out.

Bennie does a nice job of connecting on a pair of passes, but Lennox Franklin fumbles the ball on the 2nd reception and ND recovers.

They manage to drive to about the 20, mainly due to one long 30 yard pass. However, we stop them and force them to settle for a 39 yard FG. 3-0 lead ND.


On the second play of the drive, Malcolm hurdles one defender, spins away from another, and gets a 25 yard run before he is tracked down.

Bennie with a nice drive, connects on a 3rd and 12 for 12 yards to keep the drive going.

We go for it on 4th and 1 from the 8, and Wes Nelson runs through a seam for an 8 yard TD! 7-3. Bennie was 5 of 5 for 54 yards on that drive! Maybe, it's a good thing Randy was hurt and the senior gets the start in this hostile environment.


End of 1: 7-3 with ND having a 4th down deep in our territory.

They kick the 25 yard FG. 7-6 USC leads.


They force a 3 and out.


They put together an 84 yard drive in which they mostly move the ball through the air. We stop them just outside the 7 yard line. They kick a 24 yard FG. 9-7 ND.


Lennox Franklin drops a 3rd down pass that would have been a first down. We end up punting.


We exchange several failed drives, before getting the ball on our own 12. Bennie conducts a great drive thanks in part to a 37 yard screen pass to Wes Nelson. Unfortunately, we run out of time just as we drive inside the 20. Bad clock management blows a FG attempt.


Halftime: 9-7 lead for ND. Bennie's half time stats: 12 of 18 for 153 yards, 0 TD 0 INT.

W

On our first drive of the second half., they sack Bennie and drive his shoulder into the ground. He is hurt and won't get back into the game. Walter Liddiard, the true freshman scrambler will come into the game!


Walter connects on 2 passes to convert 3rd and 7's.

We are unable to convert a 3rd and 12, as the pass is only good for 6. We make the 35 yard FG. 10-9 lead for USC.


OLB Pat Davenport with a nice sack for 6 yards on a 3rd and 7, stops them at midfield.

They are stuffing our run game. Walter hits Lennox Franklin in stride on a post route for 17 yards to convert a 3rd and 12.

They stop us at midfield, and we punt. Least we ate up plenty of clock.

We force a 3 and out.




End of 3: 10-9 lead for us.



On a 3rd and 3, Walter throws a post route pass, but Jerry Jones ran a corner, and the ball is picked off.

2 plays later, Jonathan Green crushes the receiver after he catches it, and forces the fumble. We recover!

Walter leads a nice drive in which he scrambled 3 yards for a 1st, and we end it with a 7 yard pass from Liddiard to Chukky! 17-9 with 9 minutes left in the game.


They get a 45 yard kickoff return to start with good field position.

Wayne Cole intercepts the out pass, and returns it 69 yards for a TD!!!! 23-9, as we miss the extra point wide left!


DT Marcus Thompson with a big sack to stop them on 3rd and 5, and force a punt.

We exchange short drives, and then we get off a 50 yard drive dominated by some effective rushing (finally.) We end up kicking a 38 yard FG to make it 26-9 with under a minute left.




Game over. 26-9 win!

Pros: We kicked our rival's butt. The defense bent, but didn't break in the 1st half. They played great in the 2nd half. Walter Liddiard showed a surprisingly good passing touch. Bennie played well.

Cons: Our rushing game was generally ineffective.