If you remember last year’s Notre Dame-USC game, Caleb Williams often scrambled out of trouble against the Irish’s defensive line. Notre Dame had a very good defensive front, but Irish linemen simply couldn’t bring down Caleb Williams. His pocket presence and agility denied Notre Dame several sacks. Williams made great plays with his legs and frustrated the Fighting Irish defense.
Notre Dame probably won’t stop Caleb Williams, but it will try to limit those broken plays and scrambles. How many points must Notre Dame allow to USC in order to feel reasonably good about its chances?
Fighting Irish Wire’s Nick Shepkowski says: nothing more than 31 points. He thinks the Irish can score in the 30s against Alex Grinch’s USC defense. If Notre Dame limits USC and Caleb to 31, the Irish will probably win.
Our view: 23 points.
Notre Dame’s offense isn’t special, but against USC’s defense, scoring 24 points seems like a reasonable number to achieve for the Irish. If they allow 30 to USC, we’re not sure their offense will score 31, but if they allow 23, they can score 24. Obviously, the uglier this game is, the more the Irish stand to benefit.
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