Ian Book, Notre Dame Beat USC 24-17 to Stay in CFP Playoff Hunt

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish all but assured themselves of a College Football Playoff semifinal berth after beating the USC Trojans 24-17 on Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Ian Book finished 22-of-39 for 352 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Fighting Irish. Dexter Williams was the game’s leading rusher, going for 97 yards and a touchdown on the ground against USC.

Trojans quarterback JT Daniels capped off his freshman season for USC with 349 yards and a touchdown through the air.

Notre Dame Does Itself Few Favors for Playoff Seeding with Close Win

The Fighting Irish are basically into the playoff. There’s little chance the selection committee overlooks an unbeaten Notre Dame when only two other Power Five teams are undefeated.

The bad news for the Irish is that this game did little to silence the critics who question whether Notre Dame can hold its own against the Alabama Crimson Tide or Clemson Tigers.

Notre Dame allowed 443 yards to a USC offense that averaged 377.1 yards per game heading into Saturday, and the Irish didn’t take the lead until Dexter Williams’ 52-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes, 55 seconds left in the third quarter.

Avoiding a conference championship game can be a double-edged sword for the Fighting Irish.

They can sit back and watch everybody else fight for their playoff lives next week knowing full well they’re into the semifinals, which is good.

However, Notre Dame risks seeing the Ohio State Buckeyes or Oklahoma Sooners end their seasons in emphatic fashion. Meanwhile, the selection committee’s last impression of the Fighting Irish will be an uneven victory over a seven-loss USC squad.

Nothing Notre Dame could’ve done Saturday would’ve put the team ahead of an undefeated Alabama or Clemson in the final playoff rankings. Having said that, the Fighting Irish have potentially given the committee some justification for dropping them down to No. 4 in the event Ohio State or Oklahoma delivers an outstanding performance in their respective conference title games.

What’s Next?

Notre Dame’s regular season is over, so the Fighting Irish await the results of the conference championship games. Regardless of those results, they’ll likely finish in the top four of the final playoff rankings. The Trojans fall to 5-7 with Saturday’s loss, so they’ll miss going to a bowl game for the first time since 2011.