Notre Dame Keys To Victory Revisited

Notre Dame earned a much-needed victory over USC, and it did so in impressive fashion. The Irish blasted the Trojans by a score of 48-20, and the game was never really competitive, as Notre Dame led for over 55 minutes in the game.

The Fighting Irish defense put together a brilliant performance, shutting down what was the best scoring offense in college football coming into the game. Before the game we broke down four keys to victory for both sides of the ball. After the game we broke down how Notre Dame performed in those areas.

Here are those keys:

1. Stop The Run - Shutting down the run and making USC one dimensional was a must in this game, especially after the Trojans went for 204 yards against the Irish a year ago. When USC's offense is balanced it is very, very hard to stop. Notre Dame certainly achieved success in this key, holding USC to 103 rushing yards on 37 attempts.

Sacks are part of this breakdown, but even with the context of the pure running game the Irish defense thrived in this matchup. USC's running back duo of MarShawn Lloyd and Austin Jones combined for just 73 yards on 19 carries, including the Lloyd 31-yard touchdown run. That's just 3.8 yards per carry overall, and 2.3 yards per attempt on the other 18 runs outside of the Lloyd touchdown.

It was a group effort, as the line dominated the line of scrimmage, the backs cleaned up action and the safeties were good in space. The Irish linebackers combined for 22 tackles, including 15 solo stops. That's good production against the USC offense.

2. Get Caleb Williams Out Of Rhythm - Prior to the game I made the following statement about this particular key to success:

"Notre Dame needs to shut down the run game primarily with its defensive line. That unit must control action and dominate the USC blockers. If that happens it could also lead to that unit putting pressure on Williams, which is another key to success."

That's exactly what Notre Dame did in this game. The defensive line dominated the USC blockers all game long, which resulted in the run game getting thrown out of sync and the defense was able to get a lot of stops at or behind the line. That aggressive plan of attack bled into the pass game, and once again the defensive line controlled the action.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams was rattled from the outset, with the Irish defensive line getting after him from the first series and not relenting until he was pulled from the game. Notre Dame had a season high six sacks, and Pro Football Focus credited the defense with a season-high 33 pressures and 14 hits on the quarterback. Twenty-one of those pressures came from the defensive line, and that doesn't include the two pressures Jaylen Sneed had rushing off the edge as part of the nickel package.

That constant harassment was a key in Williams throwing a career-high three interceptions, none of which came from a clean pocket. It was a masterful plan by Al Golden and the staff that was carried out brilliantly by the Irish defenders.

3. Tackle, Tackle, Tackle - Notre Dame has been a frustratingly inconsistent tackling team all season, but the performance against USC was outstanding. Notre Dame was able to tackle well in space all game long, and unlike last season the Irish were able to bring Williams down in the backfield. Even when he was able to take off and get out of the pocket it often resulted in short gains or penalties as the USC linemen were forced to hold Irish linemen that were beating them up the field.

4. Make Stops - USC came into this game scoring 51.8 points per game, which led the nation. Notre Dame had to find ways to get stops and allow its own offense to score on the struggling USC defense. The Irish defense went well beyond this, forcing five USC turnovers.

It wasn't just the turnovers, two of which came late after the Irish had racked up a huge lead.

Notre Dame picked Williams off three times on their first six possessions. On the other three USC punted, turned it over on downs, and had to settle for a field goal. USC scored two touchdowns in the second half, but one came on just an 18-yard drive after a long punt return. The remainder of the half they had two punts, turned it over on downs and fumbled the ball on the final two possessions.

Fourteen possessions for USC, and they ended with only two touchdowns, two field goals, three interceptions, three field goals, two fumbles, and two turnovers on downs.

Box checked.

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