USC vs. Notre Dame score, summary: Trojans suffer embarrassing loss

The USC vs. Notre Dame score was shockingly one-sided as the Irish stomped the mistake-prone Trojans in a 49-14 loss.

The lowdown: USC could hardly have starting the game worse. Sam Darnold bobbled a bad snap on the Trojans first possession, with the Irish recovering the ball. Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush took advantage when he tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Equanimeous St. Brown to open the scoring.

As USC’s offense stalled, Notre Dame’s ran roughshod over the Trojans before Wimbush hit Pat Stepherson for another score to make it 14-0 early.

The Trojans might have had a chance to keep it close but Jack Jones muffed a punt at the goal line and the Irish’s Josh Adams punched in a score, 21-0. A Darnold interception set up another Notre Dame touchdown, this time a Wimbush run to the pylon.

USC went into the half trailing 28-0.

Coming out of halftime, the Trojans put together a scoring drive capped by a five-yard Steven Mitchell touchdown.

However, the Irish didn’t take long to answer as Wimbush once again used his legs to find the endzone.

Again, when USC generated a scoring drive, with a 16-yard touchdown to Deontay Burnett, Notre Dame hit right back as Adams broke free for an 84-yard touchdown.

As the fourth quarter began, it was once again Adams who plunged the knife into USC’s heart, scoring from 14 yards out and extending Notre Dame’s lead to 49-14.

The takeaway: Coming into the weekend, the big question hovering over USC was whether or not they could play a mistake-free game. They answered that question right away with a first-play fumble which set the tone for a mistake-filled night.

Mistakes have been a feature for the Trojans all season, but they managed to overcome them in six games, digging out of first half holes. Against Notre Dame, the comeback was never realistic because the hole got too deep too quickly.

From a poor gameplan, to poor execution, to more bad injuries and more bad tackles, everything that could go wrong for USC did go wrong.

The question going forward now becomes: How do the Trojans respond?

With tougher-than-expected matchups with Arizona State and Arizona looming, and no bye week to rest and heal, USC’s goal to win the Pac-12 title is now hanging in the balance.

Stat of the game: USC committed three turnovers in the first half. The Trojans have not committed less than two turnovers in a game this season.

Next on tap: The Trojans will stay on the road, traveling to Tempe to battle Arizona State. The Sun Devils are 4-3 with upset wins over Oregon, Washington and Utah this season.