First Half Analysis: Notre Dame Leads USC 24-6

Notre Dame broke things open in the second quarter to take a 24-6 halftime lead against No. 10 USC. The Irish defense forced three turnovers on quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense capitalized.

NOTRE DAME OFFENSE

*** Notre Dame's offense started off slow, but good field position helped them out. After getting the ball on a deep field, Sam Hartman did a good job getting the ball over top of a blitzer and Gi'Bran Payne made a strong catch for the touchdown.

*** For much of the first half the offense struggled to put long drives together as USC loaded the box to stop the run. Notre Dame's line actually did a good job getting early movement and preventing negatives (outside of one carry), but USC had numbers. The pass game was mostly working the short to intermediate throws, and they couldn't connect on the couple early deep shots.

*** After the defense gave the offense a couple of short fields the offense did finally get a bit more aggressive as they put some very important distance between them and USC.

*** Running back Audric Estime ran with authority in the first half and the run game did a good job mixing up inside and outside runs. Two of the best calls of the half were a tunnel screen to Chris Tyree that went for 16 yards, which beat a USC inside pressure. That required a great block from Mitchell Evans to spring Tyree, who did the rest. Notre Dame also finally ran a reverse, which went for 13 yards to Jordan Faison. That call was important because USC was crashing off the edge in the run game, which helped open up that run.

*** Quarterback Sam Hartman had a couple of chances to take deep shots early but was unwilling to do so. On the second drive, for example, Notre Dame ran a frontside crosser to Rico Flores and a backside go to Jaden Greathouse. The backside safety stared down the cross and Greathouse had a one-on-one, and he had a step. Hartman stared down the crosser and threw into tight coverage and the ball was incomplete, partly due to that safety driving down on his cross. On Notre Dame's last scoring drive of the half Hartman did finally take a shot deep, hitting Flores perfectly on a Cover 2 hole throw for a 24-yard gain, and on the next play he made a great read of USC's coverage and took off for 12 yards to set up the final touchdown.

*** Tight end Mitchell Evans did had a couple of mistakes in the first half. He ran a 3rd-down option route short of the first down marker. Against the off coverage he was facing he has to have the situational awareness to push to the first down marker. He also had another third-down drop, which has factored into Notre Dame's 2-5 performance on third-down.

NOTRE DAME DEFENSE

*** Defensive coordinator Al Golden put together a masterful first half game plan for Notre Dame. He'll need to be prepared for USC's adjustments, but the Irish completely shut down the USC offense in the first 30 minutes.

*** A big part of the success is that Golden is letting his defensive line attack the quarterback, and they are rewarding him. The Irish line - for the most part - has completely whipped the USC offensive line. They are resetting the line in the run game, which is a big reason why USC has just 75 yards on 21 carries. The USC running backs have just 28 yards on 13 carries, with the wide receivers accounting for 27 yards and Williams added 20 of his own, including a 4th-down conversion.

*** With the defensive line getting such a strong push, the linebacker stunts are more effective, and it's also allowing the linebackers to play the ball, and for the most part that is allowing them to combine together to shut down the running back rushes.

*** The pressure has Williams on his heels, and the defense is also doing a very good job mixing up coverages. The safeties are doing a lot of post-snap jumping into throwing lanes, which has forced Williams to hold onto the ball several times, and it's taking away a lot of the intermediate throws that USC likes to attack with. The pressure has forced Williams to make bad decisions all half, and that is what forced all three interceptions. He's throwing off his back foot, which is causing him to miss targets. The pressure is also preventing him from seeing defensive backs that are either coming down (Xavier Watts second pick) or coming over to help (Benjamin Morrison interception).

*** Great game plan, great execution so far. USC will come out and attack early and often, and the defense has to adjust according and not back off.

*** Defensive tackle Rylie Mills has been bullying the USC inside players all game long. He and Howard Cross are dominating, and Gabriel Rubio has played a big role as well. Their ability to push USC's blockers around is a big reason for the lack of run game success. Cross beating a USC blocker off the line forced a hold on a Caleb Williams scramble touchdown that negated that call.

*** USC has gone after Benjamin Morrison quite a bit in this game, and he's been solid for the most part. He did have a penalty that gave USC a first down on their first field goal drive. He was also called for an early hold. He has forced a couple of downfield incompletions, and he did a great job breaking off his coverage and jumping in front of the Williams downfield throw for the third interception.

*** Cornerback Cam Hart has been outstanding. He's been sticky in coverage and blew up a perimeter screen that forced a punt. Nickel Thomas Harper has also had an excellent first half. USC has been able to take advantage of Clarence Lewis a bit, but that's about it.

*** Safety Xavier Watts and linebacker JD Bertrand have been stars for Notre Dame so far. Watts took advantage of a bad Williams throw on the first interception, but he has been active all game long coming down against the run and quarterback keeps. He's also done a very good job jumping overs and seam routes. His second interception was a great read and he beat the wideout to the spot. Bertrand has been tremendous against the run, and he's already registered 9 tackles. He blew past a blocker on the fourth down stop, and his speed to the perimeter is giving USC a lot of problems on their attempts to get outside.

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