The story of the 2nd half

Really, there are two stories. 

One, USC defense.  They came out on fire.  They dominated the 3rd quarter.  They boosted the energy in the coliseum and invigorated their offense.  And they held the Irish back for the 3rd... then they held the Irish back for 10 minutes in the 4th.  Interceptions were the highlight, but only a small part of the story.  The defense just plain shined.

Two, play calling.  But this is hardly a story.  It is rather a theme for the entire season.  Kiffin continues to make questionable and strange play calls.  I mean, come on... he called the exact same play 4 downs in a row, and it took all 4 downs to punch it into the end zone from the 9-yard line.  Granted, the calls had some improvement in the 4th.  But, as good as the defense was playing, the USC points should have been much higher than 16 when the Irish finally scored with less than 3 minutes remaining on the clock. 

Should have been, but they weren't.

So when the Irish finally got things together, they didn't have far to go.  And one interception for the Irish defense was all they needed.