“That was too easy. Dawson simply counted the men in the box and ran an RPO to a wide-open receiver. It was a simple pitch and catch,” Brett said.
“USC is hurrying up to the line to prevent Notre Dame from making any personnel changes. Dawson has moved under center.”
“Second and two opens the playbook. I wouldn’t be surprised if they take a shot downfield,” Brett said.
“Collins comes in motion, and on the snap, Dawson fakes a handoff to Diaz and finds his tight end on a flare-out. The Irish defense closes fast, but not before Hammer fights his way to a two-yard gain and a first down,” Tom said.
“That was a nifty misdirection as the USC tight end gave the defensive end a brush block. That gave Dawson just enough time to set his feet, and then Hammer made himself available for the pass,” Brett said.
On the first seven plays of the series, David completed six passes. Notre Dame kept sending one of their defensive backs into the box to prevent him from running. He simply ran his RPO plays and took what the Irish gave him.
“First and ten on the Irish fourteen-yard line. USC has to be looking for the touchdown here in the red zone. They can’t win with just field goals,” Brett said as USC lined up.
“Dawson hands the ball to Diaz … oh my … Diaz had a tremendous hole to run through as he ran over the safety for the score,” Tom said.
“USC’s left tackle just obliterated two players,” Brett said as they showed the replay. “Jerry Barber is a six-eight, 330-pound freshman whose nickname is Bear.”
“I guess you could say he mauled them,” Tom said.
Brett chuckled at the bad joke.
“Coach Thomas told me that Barber figured it out in practice this week. If that’s an example, I agree.”
◊◊◊
USC and Notre Dame exchanged empty possessions.
USC gave theirs up on an uncharacteristic fumble by Bill Callaway. He’d caught a pass, and the defender swiped at the ball to knock it free. USC challenged the play as they saw it as simply good defense and should have been called incomplete. On the field, the back judge said that Bill made a football move, which made it a fumble. The call on the field stood on review, and it was first and ten for the Irish.
“Fumbles are exactly what the Trojans can’t have because Notre Dame has a habit of using those sudden changes to their advantage. Don’t be surprised if they score on this drive,” Brett said.
“Notre Dame is first and ten at their thirty-three-yard line. They hand the ball off inside and pick up a nice five-yard gain.”
“Second and five gives the Irish a lot of options.”
“They hand the ball off to Jessup on a sweep, and Davis makes a heck of a play to tackle the running back in the open field for only a two-yard gain,” Tom said.
“Notre Dame isn’t used to the speed USC has. They’ve been much more successful when they run between the tackles. This is going to be a concern when they play better teams in the playoffs, especially if they run into an SEC
team.”
“Third and three. Conor drops back and can’t seem to find anyone. The clock in his head has gone off, and he spins out of the pocket to run and is met by USC’s Percy Wilkes for a sack,” Tom said.
“USC’s secondary should get part of that sack. They had that play figured out from the beginning. Honestly, Conor should have thrown the ball away,” Brett said.
Notre Dame had to punt, and USC got the ball on their thirty-eight.
“This is a big drive for the Trojans. Neither offense has done much since USC’s first drive,” Brett said.
“Dawson lines up in the shotgun. Marcus Eshete is in at running back. Dawson has protection and throws a strike to pick up a thirteen-yard gain.”
“He’s looking awfully comfortable back there. If I were Notre Dame, I might put some pressure on him to see what he does. You have to remember that Dawson is only a freshman,” Brett said.
“I get that, but it’s my understanding that the Irish are worried about him running the ball.”
“The problem is he has rhythm now and is seeing the field well. If they continue to lie back, he’ll pick the Irish apart,” Brett predicted.
“Dawson drops back, and the Irish must have been listening to you because there’s a safety blitz right up the middle. Eshete picks it up, but the pocket’s collapsing.
Dawson steps up and finds a hole. He slides for a first down to keep the drive alive,” Tom said.
“If I were Notre Dame, I would be frustrated because they’re guessing wrong. USC is starting to roll,” Brett said.
“Dawson gets the call from the sideline. It looks like there’s a mix-up because he’s directing his receivers to get into position. The play clock is about to reach zero, and they get the ball snapped just in time. Dawson looks to find a receiver.
“A defensive back has come on a delayed blitz. Dawson steps up and decides to run. He makes one man miss, but it looks like he’s about to be … no, wait … HE PITCHED THE
BALL TO ESHETE! He has one man to beat! Touchdown, USC!” Tom yelled.
The crowd noise was deafening.
“That was either an act of genius or simply blind luck because the Irish had him dead to rights. Tossing the football to your running back as Dawson did while he was going down is utter insanity in my book. But somehow, he did it without turning the ball over,” Brett said.
“I wonder if because he’s a freshman, he didn’t know he was supposed to hold on to the ball there. That looked like something you’d see on a playground, not a college football game,” Tom said.
“Bottom line, he got away with it this time,” Brett said.
At the end of the first quarter, USC had taken a 14–0
lead.
◊◊◊
The Irish came back and closed the gap to 14–10. USC
got the ball back and began to put together a drive.
David sometimes found connections between unrelated subject areas, where a process or rule from one applied to something in a completely different arena. In this case, it was from his management class, but it applied to football.
Last week, they were exploring decision-making strategies, and the one that applied was called an OODA Loop.
OODA was an acronym for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act.
It was designed by a military strategist, John Boyd, who created it for air combat. As a fighter pilot, the ability to change speed and direction faster than your opponent was critical to winning. David saw how that could be applied to his current situation.
In this case, USC was fourth and one on the Notre Dame thirty-nine-yard line. This was basically a no-win situation.
It would be a fifty-six-yard field-goal try, a short punt, or they would go for it and give their opponent decent field position if they didn’t make it. Coach Thomas made the decision to go for it because there were only forty-eight seconds left in the half.
He sent in the play, which was for David to do a quarterback sneak. On a first down, the clock would stop for a moment so they could get set for the next play.
David used his new management technique and
‘observed’ how his opponent was aligned. Notre Dame had brought in six linemen, with two lined up on either side of Willie at center. They also had three linebackers crowding the line, one of them right over center, where David was supposed to run.
Doing simple math, they had three defenders lined up for Willie to block and David to run into. That made the odds of him running for the first down about a ten percent chance.