Trojans whip Irish
LOS ANGELES – Too much speed, too much defense, and too much Dwayne Jarrett.
With all that, Southern California didn’t need last-second heroics to beat Notre Dame this year.
John David Booty passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns to Jarrett as USC overpowered the sixth-ranked Fighting Irish 44-24 Saturday night and likely leapfrogged Michigan in the race for the national championship.
No. 3 USC contained Brady Quinn, the Irish’s Heisman Trophy contender, and put together a performance that should boost its Bowl Championship Series standing. The Trojans were a close third behind the Wolverines last week.
“I think we’re a pretty good team right now,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “We’ll play anybody, anywhere.”
Should the Trojans (10-1) beat UCLA (6-5) at the Rose Bowl next weekend, they’ll probably face top-ranked Ohio State in the BCS title game Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz. USC has beaten its crosstown rivals seven straight times. And now the Trojans have won five straight against Notre Dame (10-2).
The Trojans played in the BCS title game the past two years – winning one and losing one – and earned a piece of the national championship three years ago after being bypassed for the title game.
“It was really a fun night of football,” Carroll said. “For the most part, we felt in command in the game. The offense was ripping, it was just an extraordinary night for Dwayne Jarrett. He made the plays great players make.”
Booty, who completed 17 of 28 passes and was intercepted twice, watched from the sideline when the Trojans beat the Irish 34-31 at Notre Dame last year on Matt Leinart’s 1-yard sneak with three seconds remaining.
Jarrett, whose 61-yard reception on a fourth-and-9 play kept that final drive in South Bend alive, caught scoring passes of 9, 5 and 43 yards from Booty, who succeeded Leinart as USC’s quarterback. The 43-yarder came with 8:21 left and gave the Trojans a 37-17 lead.
Jarrett finished with seven receptions for 132 yards and USC freshman C.J. Gable rushed for 107 yards on 20 carries.
Quinn threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Jeff Samardzija with 3:39 left, but Brian Cushing returned the ensuing onside kickoff 42 yards to cap the victory.
Quinn, playing his final regular-season game, completed 22 of 45 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. He also rushed for 74 yards.
Rhema McKnight caught six passes for 109 yards and one TD and Jeff Samardzija had six receptions for 79 yards and one TD.
“This team plays off one another. The offense just didn’t do our part tonight,” Quinn said. “We didn’t make big plays when we needed to. It was frustrating at times. I’d try to find someone open, and there wasn’t anyone there.”
The win before a crowd of 91,800 at the Los Angeles Coliseum was the Trojans 55th in their last 58 games. They’re 20-0 in November games under Carroll, and have won 33 straight home games.
The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for Notre Dame, but the Irish still figure to play in a big-money bowl game.
“We didn’t win on special teams. We didn’t win on offense. We didn’t win on defense,” Irish coach Charlie Weis said. “We’re fighting an uphill battle most of the night. It wasn’t very productive.”