SOUTH BEND — Having already relinquished a trio of one-touchdown leads on Saturday afternoon, here was Notre Dame football on the verge of blowing yet another.
This latest lead, in fact, had been two touchdowns until Jayden Maiava, the UNLV transfer quarterbacking USC, started to heat up again.
The 6-yard strike he threw to Ja’Kobi Lane in the end zone with 8:43 remaining was the second scoring toss at Christian Gray’s expense. Now, with the clock draining inside four minutes and the Irish on the ropes, Maiava looked Gray’s way again.
Why wouldn’t he?
For one thing, All-America safety Xavier Watts was writhing in pain on the visitors’ sideline, having just landed there after making a hard tackle of Quenten Joyner at the end of a 23-yard run. Watts wouldn’t be out there to help erase another Gray mistake.
For another, this had inarguably been the weakest showing of Gray’s two seasons at Notre Dame. On USC’s 31-second scoring blitz that tied the game just before halftime, 71 of the 78 yards could be traced back to Gray’s mistakes.
That included a 15-yard pass interference penalty in which Gray, spinning faster than a subway turnstile, helplessly tugged on Lane’s jersey at the Irish 5.
As first down from the Irish 21 commenced, Maiava wasn’t in a waiting mood. He spotted fourth-year wideout Kyron Hudson (6-foot-1, 205 pounds) lined up against Gray (6-foot, 189 pounds) in single coverage.
Hudson got a step on Gray as they neared the end zone, but Maiava made a back-shoulder throw that Hudson never seemed to notice.
Gray saw it just in time.
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“It looked like we weren’t quite on the same page,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said after absorbing a 49-35 loss, “and the corner (Gray) got his eyes back and made a nice play on the ball.”
Leading the convoy for Christian Gray
Nice play? Gray cortorted himself like a Marvel superhero, snatched the ball with both hands as it was headed out of bounds, and controlled it through his thudding dismount.
Hudson, merely needing to tag Gray down, was slow to respond.
Gray got up. And then he started running down the far sideline, the USC sideline.
Adon Shuler, his safety-playing classmate, raced out to lead the convoy. When he peeled to make a block, freshman cornerback Leonard Moore sped up to help.
Next into the picture was third-year Vyper end Josh Burnham, stunningly fast at 6-4 and 251 pounds, windmilling his right arm like a third-base coach.
By the time Gray reached end zone, 99 yards later, sixth-year linebacker Kiser and third-year rover Jaylen Sneed were right behind him. Together, they celebrated the longest interception return by a Notre Dame player since the legendary Luther Bradley’s equidistant pick-six at Purdue in 1975.
Just like that, Notre Dame’s lead was back to two touchdowns, and the Irish were on their way to a 10th straight win and a home game in the College Football Playoff.
How did that happen when Gray’s confidence seemed to be at low ebb?
“He had to reload,” Irish coach Marcus Freeman said. “You hear me say that all the time: ‘Reload.’ Get your mind back to the place where it needs to be so you can execute. That was a challenge I had for him specifically (at halftime): ‘Reload. Reload. Don’t let the last play affect the next play.’ “
Freeman cited Gray’s pass interference penalty right before the break, the one immediately preceded by a 35-yard completion in his zone.
“Christian Gray is a great player, but he had to get back into that moment where nothing else matters but doing your job for us to achieve team glory,” Freeman said. “Don’t let anything personal affect that. I’m proud of him. He has faith and he’s a really good player and he showed that the second half.”
Now it was Watts’ turn.
Excluded from the list of Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalists after winning the award last season, Watts willed himself back into the game for the next series. He would finish with a game-high nine tackles.
On fourth and 6 from the Irish 13, Maiava threw for Lane (6-4, 195 pounds) in the end zone. The ball never got there, and Lane never seemed to notice.
Watts saw it the whole way.
The 6-foot, 203-pound team captain grabbed the errant pass 3 yards deep in the end zone. He could have taken a knee and settled for a fresh offensive series at the 20.
Watts didn’t take a knee.
He started to run up the far sideline, the USC sideline. He took a glance – then another — at the now-defeated faces of so many Trojans in cardinal and gold, the same ones he shocked in October 2023 with a multi-takeaway game against Caleb Williams at Notre Dame Stadium.
Williams, 48 hours removed from a clock-management fiasco on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit, was back at the Coliseum to have his No. 13 jersey retired. Williams must have been on that sideline somewhere too, wincing anew at the site of old nemesis going the distance.
Shuler, once again, raced out to lead the convoy. Then, suddenly, freshman defensive end Bryce Young, all 6-7 and 258 pounds of him, raced up to join them.
By the time they reached the end zone to celebrate with Watts, all three were flashing the “Fight On” peace sign that USC prefers. Only it seemed they were flipping it over in a downcast “V.”
Xavier Watts makes more history
What’s the opposite of “Fight On”? The invisible Trojans showed it with their “pursuit” on both of those house calls.
Gray’s stay in the Irish record book lasted 141 seconds in game time.
Officially, because this is college ball and the NCAA is daft, Watts’ 103-yard return goes into the books as a 100-yarder. That tied him with Jack Elder (1929 vs. Army at Yankee Stadium) for the record-long interception return in Notre Dame program history.
“Man, it was incredible,” Irish quarterback Riley Leonard said. “Those guys are amazing. I’m their biggest fan. Every time they step on the field, I have extreme confidence in them.”
That’s because he knows how it feels to have his passes stolen by them.
“I’m the one that had to play against it all fall camp,” he said. “It was just a nightmare.”
Saturday’s outburst made it six defensive touchdowns for Notre Dame this season, including five on interception returns.
The others were by Boubacar Traore (at Purdue), Shuler (at Georgia Tech) and Luke Talich (Florida State). Linebacker Jaylen Sneed also recovered a fumble in the end zone against Navy.
The other Riley, the one who has 14 losses in three seasons at USC, including two against Freeman and Co., chose a different word for Saturday’s experience.
“Just an excruciating loss,” Lincoln Riley said. “Really tough there at the end.”
Gray, Watts and their energetic convoys made sure of that.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Analysis: Notre Dame defensive backs Christian Gray, Xavier Watts stole the show
