Grades: Notre Dame QB, WR, TE vs. USC

Notre Dame earned its third victory in four years over its arch-rival, the USC Trojans. The Irish offense had some strong moments, but it also had erratic moments.

At the end of the day, the offense stepped up and made plays when it mattered.

Grades for the Notre Dame quarterback, wide receivers and tight ends:

QUARTERBACK

#12 IAN BOOK (82 snaps)

Stats: 17-32, 53.1%, 165 yards, 1 TD / 49 rush yards, 1 TD

Book started the game off well, hitting receiver Chase Claypool on an aggressive, well-placed back shoulder throw for 26 yards on the second snap of the game. Book stepped into the pocket for a 17-yard gain on the next snap, but he threw a third-down in cut to Chris Finke into the ground, ending that drive.

That series was indicative of his night. Book mixed making clutch plays with easy misses or mistakes all game long, and at times it stalled the offense. His miss to Finke ended the first drive, he had a high second-down pass and his accuracy wasn’t what we’ve come to expect from Book.

Those miscues combined with a couple of drops from his pass catchers to have the senior quarterback barely over 50-percent completions in the game. Book was also inconsistent with his decision-making in the RPO and read zone game, and some of those mistakes proved costly from a lost yards standpoint.

But Book still played a crucial role in Notre Dame’s victory, and it went beyond the final drive. Book’s poise and pocket presence allowed him to make plays when needed. Notre Dame had a season-high nine third-down conversions, and Book was crucial in making that happen. He converted three with his arm and three more with his legs. Book converted a 3rd-and-7 with his arm and a 3rd-and-10 with his legs during the game-clinching drive in the fourth quarter.

Book had his most effective running performance of the season, and both his running success and third-down success had to do with how poised Book was in the pocket. Instead of rushing early or bailing outside, Book was willing to step into the pocket when it was there, and he did a good job keeping his eyes downfield when he was flushed from the pocket, which resulted in clutch plays.

He made enough miscues to stall the offense at times, and that drags his grade down, but his grittiness and clutch performance late in the game helped lead the Irish to victory. BOOK GRADE: B-

WIDE RECEIVERS

#83 CHASE CLAYPOOL (76 snaps)

Stats: 3 catches, 47 yards, 15.7 YPC

Like Book, Claypool’s night started off well, as he made an impressive 26-yard catch on a back-shoulder throw on the second play of the game. Claypool was a step open later in that drive but a pressure forced Book to scramble instead of throwing it deep.

After that the senior wideout was a bit more inconsistent. He made a crucial third-down reception to convert a first down on Notre Dame’s first scoring drive. The Irish were at their own 6-yard line at the time, so that play was very important for the offense. Claypool did a good job pushing that route beyond the sticks and he made a tough catch on the play.

Book did a good job getting Claypool’s final reception into an open area, and Claypool reacted well to the high and outside throw to make the grab.

His blocking was good at times, but Claypool had a couple of “effort” misses in the run game and his angle got him in trouble a few other times. He was not as effective in the run game as we’ve seen from him for much of the season.

I’ve written multiple times this season that Claypool isn’t sharp enough with his route technique on vertical routes, which is limiting his ability to maximize separation. We saw that hurt him against USC, as a relatively well thrown post route from Book was broken up because Claypool did nothing to gain any additional separation at the top of his route. CLAYPOOL GRADE: C+

#10 CHRIS FINKE (76 snaps)

Stats: 5 catches, 45 yards, 9.0 YPC

Finke was far from perfect, but he looked more like the 2018 version of himself than he did the player that struggled for much of the first five games of the 2019 season.

Finke’s blocking was too inconsistent, but his effort was much better and he competed. His best block was on the long touchdown run by Braden Lenzy, a snap in which Finke worked on his man the entire time Lenzy was racing down the sideline, which helped him get his teammate free for the score.

Finke got open on a third-down on the opening series but Book threw the ball into the ground. Finke had a good over-the-middle catch to help set up a third-quarter field goal, and he showed great hustle getting across the field to get in Book’s line of sight to convert a 3rd-and-9 in the third quarter.

Finke has to do a better job knowing where the first down marker is and getting to it when he gets the ball in space, which he didn’t do on a jet sweep in the second quarter.

Overall, the veteran worked the middle of the field effectively, showed good hustle and made clutch plays. FINKE GRADE: B-

#25 BRADEN LENZY (23 snaps)

Stats: 1 catch, 8 yards / 1 carry, 51 yards, 1 TD

The sophomore finally got a chance to make a play, and he certainly made the most of it. With Notre Dame sputtering offensively and up just 7-3 in the second quarter, Lenzy took an end around and out-ran the USC defense for a 51-yard touchdown. Lenzy did a good job quickly juking the backside end to freeze him, and then using his speed to make the play.

It’s not often that an opponent can outrun the USC defense the way Lenzy did, but that’s the kind of home run speed he possesses.

He had a drop later in the game and wasn’t seen again, but Lenzy’s big play was a turning point in the game and his blocking was good. LENZY GRADE: B+

#87 MICHAEL YOUNG (22 snaps)

Stats: 2 catches, 4 yards, 2.0 YPC

It was a rough night for Young, who missed opportunities to make a huge impact in the game. A dropped pass on an unnecessarily high pass from Book forced a third-down that Notre Dame would not convert. Young had a chance to take the opening kickoff of the second half back for a touchdown, but he simply dropped the ball.

Young was not sharp with his routes and didn’t play with the certainty/confidence he is capable of. His blocking was solid. YOUNG GRADE: C-

#88 JAVON McKINLEY (21 snaps)

The senior played 21 snaps, his second highest output of the season. McKinley wasn't targeted in the pass game, but his run blocking in the game was solid. McKINLEY GRADE: C+

TIGHT ENDS

#84 COLE KMET (82 snaps)

Stats: 6 catches, 61 yards, 10.2 YPC, 1 TD

Kmet had solid numbers in the pass game, but at times he had trouble getting separation. Despite that, the junior made clutch plays in the game. His 10-yard touchdown reception kicked off the scoring, although I want to see Kmet do a better job of reacting to the jam on snaps like that. He caught two passes in the screen game and he caught a quick RPO out cut as well.

On the final drive of the game Kmet made his biggest play. USC had just scored a touchdown to make it 23-20, and the Trojans had all the momentum. Notre Dame’s sputtering offense was facing a 3rd-and-7, but Kmet ran his route to the sticks and hauled in the accurate Book pass, moving the chains.

He made two excellent blocks in the run game on that drive, helping set up Notre Dame’s game-clinching touchdown. What made that so impressive is the fact Kmet played 82 snaps in the victory, but when the game was on the line he dug deep and blocked at a high level.

Kmet’s all-around game is why he graded out so high. This was his best blocking performance of the season. He was good on the edge on stretch runs and showed physicality in the run game. At times he stopped his feet at the point of contact and he caught blockers on two snaps, but overall his run game technique and effort were top notch.

Kmet had an especially good down block on a 3rd-and-1 in the first half, opening up the run lane for the first down. My issue with Kmet in the game was when asked to lead block. He kept going low and trying to cut, and when it didn’t work he clogged up the run lane.

Despite those minor nitpicks, Kmet's performance was top-notch and he played a key role in the victory. KMET BLOCK: B+

#24 TOMMY TREMBLE (22 snaps)

Tremble was solid in the run game, especially in space, but he had some costly mistakes in the victory. His one perimeter mistake was being late to react to the defender over him dropping and then being late to see the alley player coming downhill. Beyond that, however, Tremble’s run blocking performance was solid.

His pass game performance wasn’t as good, with Tremble dropping one of his only two targets in the game. Tremble was solid as a route runner, but on a crucial fourth-down he allowed the defender to determine how deep he ran, and the result was a pass break up and a turnover on downs. Tremble needs to push past the defender, get the defender to open his hips and then beak inside. It was a youthful mistake he’ll learn from. TREMBLE GRADE: C

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