After falling to Louisville on Saturday night, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are now left to pick up the pieces of their shattered title hopes. Doing so will require them to defeat the USC Trojans at Notre Dame in a renewal of their iconic rivalry, with the Irish seeking their sixth straight home victory in the series.
The Trojans narrowly missed joining Notre Dame in the loss column on Saturday night by winning a triple-overtime thriller over the Arizona Wildcats. The razor-thin 43-41 victory did cost them a spot in the weekly AP polls but still keeps this talented squad in the thick of competition for a postseason playoff berth.
Below is a list of the key matchups to watch for on Saturday night:
QB Sam Hartman vs. Southern Cal Defense
Hartman endured his worst game since transferring to Notre Dame during the offseason. He threw his first three interceptions of the season in the 33-20 loss at Louisville and also fumbled twice. He has the potential to have a big night, given the holes that the Trojans are dealing with when it comes to keeping opponents from scoring.
If the Trojans have an Achilles heel in their bid for a national title, it’s the team’s suspect defense that can break down at times. They’ve given up 110 points in their last three games, which is similar to their three losses last year. Then, they allowed just over 45 points per game. USC’s defense has given up a whopping 1,070 yards in its last two games, 674 of that coming through the air.
Notre Dame Defense vs. QB Caleb Williams
Williams has the mobility to get out of the pocket, which should be a major cause of concern for the Irish defense. The reason is became both Duke and Louisville found holes in the Notre Dame run defense. A team with the type of depth that USC possesses means that simply focusing on just one or two of Williams’ targets is a strategy likely to end in failure.
In just six games this season, Williams has already thrown for over 2,000 yards and generally avoids making mistakes, He’s tossed 22 touchdown passes in 2023 and been picked off only once in 166 attempts, all of this AFTER he won last year’s Heisman. Six different Trojan receivers have at least 10 catches this far, but he also has other options available.
CB Benjamin Morrison vs. WR Brenden Rice
Morrison’s numbers aren’t as prolific as during his fantastic freshman season in 2022. Yet, he continues to deliver for the Irish in the secondary with five pass deflections on the year. One indication of his importance is that he’s usually matched up against an opponent’s top receiver. That resulted in him delivering a solid performance against future NFL top pick Marvin Harrison Jr. in the Ohio State loss.
Rice and Tahj Washington are actually listed on the Trojan depth chart as reserves. That’s clearly a misnomer since the duo leads the team’s receiving unit with virtually identical numbers. In Rice’s case, the one-time Colorado wideout is averaging 20.7 yards on his 21 catches, seven of which have resulted in touchdowns.
T Joe Alt/Blake Fisher vs. DE Solomon Byrd
Alt and Fisher will both do battle with Byrd at some point and the duo are hoping for a better performance than what took place at Louisville. A combination of sacks, quarterback hurries and a weak running game was a deadly recipe that led to the Irish loss. Both Alt and Fisher are likely first-round NFL picks in the future, and good games in this instance would certainly add polish to their resumes.
Byrd is in his second season with the Trojans after starting his collegiate career with three years at Wyoming. Playing the strong side, Byrd is USC’s leading pass rusher this season with five sacks after collecting four in 2022. He can also get into the backfield to disrupt running plays, so making sure that his name isn’t called often on Saturday night would go a long way toward an Irish victory.
MLB J.D. Bertrand vs. RB MarShawn Lloyd
Bertrand and the Irish run defense have struggled to contain the opposing running game the past two weeks. Against Duke, a trio of runners led the way toward 189 yards on the ground and against Louisville, Jordan Jawhar gained 143 of the 185 yards for the Cardinals. Bertrand’s leadership will again be tested to stop the 4.7 yards per carry opponents have gained in the last eight quarters.
In his first season at USC after transferring from South Carolina, Lloyd has fit in well in the Trojans’ backfield. He leads the team in rushing with 519 yards and is averaging 7.7 yards on every carry. He’s scored four of touchdowns on the ground, though he hasn’t been much of a passing option with just five receptions this season. He’s only broken the 100-yard threshold once this year, but can obviously pick up chunks of yardage at a time.
You LOSE again little david
Ha ha ha
Your mom’s calling…..something about a “guy-knee” appointment…??
Once again dopey david picking both sides “ ND wins with late pick six or ND loses and lays an egg”
Pussy libtard little david fears being called out when he’s wrong again and can’t make a real prediction
My prediction SC wins and not even close
See how easy it is
There she is! Shake that oozing vijay-jay, sweetie, let it all pour out!
“I can promise you in Georgia, they bought some pretty good players,”
— Mark Stoops, Kentucky Head Coach
Pretty rich, coming from a guy working at the same instituion as John Calipari, the godfather of stacking teams with all-star kids solely interested in money, not college.
Tickets are alarmingly cheap, so I’ll give it another go. Season on the brink, hopefully the boys can put up a good fight.
God bless Lou Holtz!
God bless the USA!
All time gutsy post!
I am a USC fan. SC has not won back at ND since 2011. Caleb Williams is the best player. SC’s defense is in shambles. They can’t stop the run, they don’t attack, and they look confused in the secondary. There is a player, #10, his name is Mohammad, he will put pressure on the oline. he plays de. If Loyd gets going and Williams has a good game, then I think SC wins. If SC plays like they did against uofa, then they will lose. I love this game. The best game of all time. good luck.
USC will bring pressure as a gamble against a vanilla “simplified “ ND offense. The blocking scheme will be basic and predictable. USC will simply scout off the Louisville game. Coach Freeman has already telegraphed that the coaches are only going to practice basic stuff. So no game planning and no scouting of USC. Meanwhile USC will have diligently scouted ND to expose the weaknesses in the basic blocking scheme.
Pressure will prevent Sam Hartman from getting into a rhythm. Additionally the receiving corps will likely not get much separation. Rico Flores showed talent but a ton of inexperience and that’s not going to change in a week. Chris Tyrie? Will he drop a touchdown pass? Tobias Merryweather? Will he be more than a good blocker? Is the offense going to try straight stuffs on runs and then focus on finding tight ends?
Predictable will sputter the offense for a USC late win.
USC 45 ND 34. I hate that prediction but that’s what I see.
All I see is capitulation and despair….so I’ll bite:
ND plays lights-out defense, and stays in the game until late.
Dream scenario: late 4Q pick six off Williams wins the game, he loses his infantile mind and tanks his draft value, Oregon gets into the playoff and Bo Nix wins the Heisman.
Nervous, sober asessment: they lose…but it’s a competitive, honorable effort.
Nightmare senario: ND lays a 2007-esque egg.
CBS predicts ND to be in the Pop Tarts Bowl vs. Kansas.
Now without any intent of encouraging y’all to step of the ledge….
I still remember how utterly embarrassing Kansas football was. Another Charlie Weis retirement fund tacked on to his ND annuity plan.
I wouldn’t want to see that whole saga regaled on ESPN…but they’d sure enjoy having their cartoon graphics folks do it up real nice.
I don’t think matchups matter at this point as much as a fire to both out hot USC a for the love of Pete, our coach and scheme USC.
Judging by body language, coach Freeman hasn’t gotten over Ohio State, a close Duke game, or the collapse against Louisville. (Watch Louisville drop 3 games by end of season).
With a butt hurt vibe by the head coach, trickling down thru the assistants, the players will practice with that in their heads. I hate to lose but the next game is an opportunity to win and get close to perfection. Close to perfection is an amazing feeling. Use that not, “we gotta fix things”. Even though they certainly do.
Also, simplifying everything is not so necessary. This team can learn the hard stuff. Otherwise the simplification becomes a predictable offense and defense.
Unless Freeman gets positive and also keeps the bar high the Irish have 2 to 4 losses upcoming. USC, Clemson, and even Wake and Pitt. Pitt will get up for ND.