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Down 35-0, Notre Dame Benches QB Everett Golson

Nov 29, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Everett Golson (5) is sacked by USC Trojans defensive end J.R. Tavai (58) in the second quarter at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 29, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Everett Golson (5) is sacked by USC Trojans defensive end J.R. Tavai (58) in the second quarter at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The Notre Dame defense couldn’t stop USC and the situation wasn’t helped by quarterback Everett Golson being completely ineffective.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost their fourth game in a row, finishing the regular season 7-5, after being obliterated by USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 49-14.

Senior quarterback Everett Golson wasn’t around for the end—not even the end of the first half.

With the Irish down 35-0 with 5:15 to go in the second quarter, Golson was yanked in favor of sophomore Malik Zaire, who had not thrown a pass for Notre Dame entering the game.

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Allen hit Chris Brown for a 49-yard gain on his first throw and completed the drive one play later with an 11-yard touchdown run.

Golson was just 7-of-18 for 75 yards and had thrown an interception at the time he was benched. He was sacked twice and lost eight yards on a fumble that he later recovered.

Notre Dame couldn’t stop Cody Kessler, who was 32-for-40 for 372 yards and six touchdowns, five of those coming in the first half.

Zaire wound up 9-for-20 for 170 yards, without a touchdown but also without an interception. He ran six times for 18 yards.

The Irish finished the regular season with five losses in their last six games after a 6-0 start. Their lone win in the second half of the schedule was a 49-39 win over Navy at FedExField in Landover, Md., on Nov. 1.

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