LOS ANGELES -- Clay Helton just might have been run out of town prematurely.
With his back against the wall amid booing fans at the L.A. Coliseum, the USC head coach seemingly is pulling out all the stops as the Trojans held a slim 10-7 halftime lead over undefeated and third-ranked Notre Dame.
Showcasing that the team is far more talented than their record indicates, USC went full death-by-1000-cuts to tell their intersectional rivals that this will indeed be a battle and not a College Football Playoff coronation. Freshman quarterback J.T. Daniels was on fire with the short passing game, throwing for 244 yards while completing 26-of-31. The run game was lacking once again for the cardinal and gold -- 45 total yards on the ground -- but that was more than made up for by all the short and intermediate completions over the field from the young signal-caller.
In fact, had it not been for two fumbles the score would have tilted even more in favor of the home squad.
The Irish did wind up figuring things out as the game went on, as QB Ian Book hit Chris Finke on a beautiful over the shoulder toss a few minutes before halftime for a 24 yard score that seemed to awaken the visitors from South Bend. Book finished with 178 yards to go with that score and really seemed to find a groove given that running the ball was very much optional with nobody in a golden dome over 20 yards.
We’ll see if the Trojans can keep things going or if Notre Dame, who get the ball back to start the second half, can cap off a comeback after trailing by double-digits for the first time all year. The undefeated Irish are just a half away from locking up a College Football Playoff spot but it’s clear they’ve got a battle on their hands in this rivalry game.