Tag: USC Notre Dame

Recruits loved watching USC defeat Notre Dame in the Coliseum

#USC football could not have made a better, more positive impression on the many recruits who were inside the Coliseum for the Notre Dame game.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon to realize that by beating Notre Dame 38-27, the USC Trojans made a very positive impression on the many recruits who came to the Los Angeles Coliseum for Saturday night’s big game.

The Trojans were playing the Fighting Irish in one of college football’s best rivalries, also the sport’s greatest intersectional rivalry. This was the first meeting between Lincoln Riley and Marcus Freeman, two coaches under 40 years old with bright futures ahead of them. They will be engaged in turf battles for recruiting. Riley won this round on the field.

He is bound to make significant gains in recruiting as a result of this win. Just look at how various prospects and their families reacted to their weekend in the Coliseum:

Lincoln Riley’s best coaching moves vs Notre Dame had nothing to do with offense

Lincoln Riley had the humility to admit his punting unit was unlikely to solve Brian Mason’s punt-block unit, so he had Caleb Williams punt. #USC

Yes, Lincoln Riley was a superb offensive play-caller against Notre Dame. His opening drive was pure perfection. He gave Caleb Williams a roadmap for success against a good Notre Dame defense which was significantly better than the other defenses the Trojans have faced over the past month (Utah, Arizona, Cal, Colorado, UCLA).

Riley ran the ball against the Irish to keep the USC defense off the field, a clever inversion of the formula Notre Dame needed to win (keeping Caleb Williams off the field).

The one bad moment for Riley in this game was his use of the Philly Special. When an offense is flowing well, gadget plays aren’t necessary. USC got away with that one. Other than that one play, however, Riley delivered the goods.

Let’s focus on his best coaching move from Saturday against Notre Dame. It wasn’t his offensive play selection.

USC report card: grading Trojans after 11th win of 2022 vs Notre Dame

Caleb Williams gets an A+ as a #Heisman QB, a punter, a defensive back (denying a Notre Dame INT), a leader — what can Caleb not do? #USC

Football games are fundamentally pass-fail tests, not term papers graded on an A-B-C-D-F scale. What matters most is that USC defeated Notre Dame, 38-27, to move to 11-1 on the season, one win away from a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The Trojans are not an airtight team, and they’re not an imposing, overwhelming two-way juggernaut on both offense and defense. However, their offense is definitely for real, and the simple fact that they have Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley has been more than enough to lift them to 11 wins, the Pac-12 Championship Game, and a New Year’s Six bowl bid.

Let’s hand out the grades to the Trojans after another imperfect but winning effort, as this magnificent, overachieving season heads into December with big prizes on the table:

Instant analysis of USC win over Notre Dame: Austin Jones, 3rd downs are huge keys

With help from @IrishWireND, we present a tag-team edition of big-game takeaways after #USC beat #NotreDame, 38-27.

The simplest analysis of USC’s win over Notre Dame is that the Trojans have Caleb Williams and the Irish did not, but there are obviously more components to this story.

Before the game, it was uncertain if USC was going to meet the physical challenge presented by Notre Dame. Playing Arizona, Cal, Colorado, and even a tissue-soft UCLA defense offered no real preparation for facing Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish defense. Notre Dame is definitely a few notches better on defense than USC’s recent 2022 opponents.

The last really good defense USC faced: Washington State on Oct. 8. Before that: Oregon State on Sept. 24. Those are the two really solid defenses on USC’s 2022 schedule. Utah has a defense-first reputation but has not played great on defense this year — not against good offenses with fully healthy quarterbacks. (Oregon’s Bo Nix was nowhere close to 100% for last week’s game versus the Utes.)

USC’s offense wasn’t perfect against Notre Dame’s defense, but the offensive line fundamentally met the challenge against the Irish’s front four. Caleb Williams did the rest, avoiding sacks other QBs would not have avoided.

Let’s analyze this game with help from our friends at Fighting Irish Wire:

USC defense wobbled vs Notre Dame, but allowing only 27 points was enough

When Caleb Williams is your QB, allowing 27 points — even with a bad second half — will be enough. Two more takeaways didn’t hurt. #USC

The USC Trojans made Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne look good on Saturday night, much as they enabled Cal quarterback Jack Plummer to look good.

Credit to Pyne for playing what was generally a very good game against USC. The much-maligned quarterback didn’t throw an incomplete pass until the fourth quarter. He looked comfortable in the pocket. He put together a solid performance, and he deserves credit for that.

Yet, we can also say — because we saw it happen on Saturday night — that USC’s defensive line couldn’t get home for sacks and huge negative plays which could have made its night a lot easier. The pass rush did not have the high-impact game it hoped for. USC didn’t get its second sack until garbage time, with the game out of hand in the final three minutes. The pass rush’s flaws left the secondary vulnerable against a Notre Dame passing attack which is not that impressive.

This defense continues to be vulnerable and flawed … but hey, we all knew this going in. The defense just has to be better than terrible over the course of 60 minutes. Moderate competence is usually going to be enough with Caleb Williams on the field … and so it was.

Let’s take you through the night for the USC defense after another Trojan victory:

Caleb Williams + Lincoln Riley + USC = most yards Notre Dame has allowed all year

It’s basic math for #USC: Caleb Williams + Lincoln Riley is hard to beat. #NotreDame found out. The Trojans are 11-1, one win from the playoff.

Notre Dame did not play a bad defensive game on Saturday night. Let’s be clear in beginning our discussion of this game in the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Irish’s first in L.A. since 2018.

USC was sitting on 31 points with five minutes left. The Irish did not allow a 40- or 45-point explosion, unlike most of the defenses which have gone up against the Trojans’ offense. USC had to earn its points. This was not — to draw a contrast — Ohio State’s defense imploding against Michigan, or Oregon completely collapsing versus Oregon State. Notre Dame gave USC’s quality offensive line a strong physical challenge. USC’s offensive front had to work harder than in any game since Washington State on Oct. 8. That was the last game in which USC’s O-line found truly tough sledding.

Why did USC win, 38-27? Caleb Williams simply managed the pocket and the field. He sensed pressure, evaded defenders, and wore out the Irish’s defensive front. He made stacks of next-level plays. He made an authoritative Heisman Trophy argument.

USC topped 400 yards, the first offense to do that against Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish defense all year.

Lincoln Riley’s play selection put Caleb in position to succeed.

Caleb plus Lincoln plus USC is a winning combination: 11-1, to be exact.

One more win, and USC will be in the College Football Playoff.

Let’s take you through the many soaring sequences of a brilliant night for the USC offense, which carried the day once again for the Trojans:

Caleb Williams makes his case vs Notre Dame, becomes clear Heisman front-runner

In 2002, Carson Palmer nailed down the #Heisman by shining vs #NotreDame in prime time. 20 years later, Caleb Williams did the same thing. #USC

There is no argument now. Caleb Williams of USC is the overwhelming favorite to win the 2022 Heisman Trophy. He will play in the Pac-12 Championship Game next week. If he plays poorly, maybe this will become a conversation, but as long as he plays reasonably well in Las Vegas next Friday, this award will be his, and we don’t need to pretend otherwise.

Williams was sensational against Notre Dame on Saturday. He made great throws. He made dazzling runs. He sensed the pocket extremely well. Notre Dame has a legitimately good pass rush, and the Irish made some plays. Caleb Williams simply had the answers for what Notre Dame did, and for what the Irish tried to do. He was the difference in this game.

His performance here carries echoes of Carson Palmer, who nailed down the 2002 Heisman with a similarly brilliant performance against Notre Dame.

Let’s give you video highlights of Caleb’s many great plays, plus some stats and other reactions from USC’s 38-27 win over the Irish:

USC was adrift in the years preceding 2022, which offers a parallel with 2002

20 years before Clay Helton, there was Paul Hackett. #USC found the right replacement for Hackett, much as it found the right guy to replace Helton.

USC was a wayward and aimless college football program the past several years under Clay Helton. Lincoln Riley stepped into this mess and immediately cleaned things up, showing that one year was sufficient for a transformation and renewal project. He didn’t need three or four years to get everything in order.

While the transfer portal did not exist 20 years ago, making it harder to instantly revive a program, it is true that USC needed a reset and found just the right coach to execute the plan. The Trojans’ struggles under Clay Helton, followed by a Riley renewal, offer strong parallels with 2002 and the Paul Hackett years which preceded that special USC season.

College football historian Chris Kreager looks back at the 2002 USC team and the years which immediately preceded that important season in Trojan history, now 20 years old:

(h/t Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire)

2002 USC-Notre Dame game is a reminder of what national relevance feels like

#USC is nationally relevant after a period of slumber and struggle. 2022? Yes, but also 2002. The two seasons have a lot in common.

USC enters this week’s game against Notre Dame with a record of 10-1 and a No. 6 ranking in the College Football Playoff chase. The Trojans are playing the Fighting Irish with a lot on the line. The playoff berth, the Heisman Trophy for Caleb Williams, a New Year’s Six bowl bid, and the Trojans’ first win over Notre Dame since 2016 are all very big goals.

This is how USC-Notre Dame is supposed to feel. This is supposed to be a very big game for the Trojans, but since 2017, it hasn’t been. USC seasons have generally slid into irrelevance.

This year’s game? It’s very relevant on a national level.

In the various note panels below, college football historian Chris Kreager recalls the 2002 USC-Notre Dame game and aspects of the Trojans’ 2002 season, when the Men of Troy became relevant again under Pete Carroll:

(h/t Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire)

USC – Notre Dame football memories from the 1980s and 1990s

While the 1980s and 1990s weren’t as majestic for #USC – #NotreDame compared to the 1960s and 1970s, there were still some special games.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the USC-Notre Dame football rivalry took off and reached a very special place in its evolution.

Nearly every year from 1964 through 1974 — when John McKay faced Ara Parseghian in a battle of two legendary coaches — at least one of the two schools was in the hunt for the national championship in November. USC and Notre Dame joined Alabama under Bear Bryant, Texas under Darrell Royal, and Nebraska under Bob Devaney as consistent powerhouse programs in that time.

The 1980s and 1990s weren’t as glorious for the Notre Dame-USC clash, but there were still some great games (1986) and mountaintop moments (1988’s 1-versus-2 battle). Here are some photos from those decades: