Notre Dame has little margin for error in the red zone vs USC

Notre Dame will try to keep the ball away from USC but hit enough big plays to score 7s, not 3s. It’s a juggling act.

The Notre Dame offense has to score seven points when it gets into the red zone. That is one of the central plot points of this Saturday’s game against USC.

We asked Fighting Irish Wire editor Nick Shepkowski which was more important on Saturday: time of possession or red zone efficiency?

Shepkowski’s answer: “Red zone efficiency. Time of possession is big, don’t get me wrong, but if you settle for 3 instead of 7 against USC then you’re in for trouble.”

Our view:

If Notre Dame gets a lot of looks in the red zone, scoring seven and not three will matter a ton, but the Irish might need to win this game by hitting the big play and thereby avoiding the red zone altogether. All in all, time of possession is central to the Notre Dame plan. If the Irish can mash against the USC defensive line and hold the ball for 40 minutes, that severely reduces Caleb Williams’ level of impact on the game. The Irish would have to like their chances, because that would go a long way toward preventing USC from scoring 30 points.

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