Gary A Vasquez
Keys To Victory: #9 Notre Dame vs. USC
It’s game day for #9 Notre Dame (4-1), and tonight the Fighting Irish take on their biggest rival, the USC Trojans.
We’ve spent the week breaking down the game, now it’s time to focus on the keys to victory for Notre Dame.
One goal that involves both sides of the ball is the turnover margin. Notre Dame winning the turnover battle would go a long way towards winning the game, and if they dominate the turnover battle they will likely dominate the game.
Notre Dame enters this matchup with a +10 turnover margin, which ranks second in the country. USC ranks 122nd in turnover margin at minus-7, and it is minus-5 in its two road games.
OFFENSE
1. Control The Line Of Scrimmage - When Notre Dame wins at the line scrimmage the offense is a handful. Against a USC defense that wants to attack, the line must be at its best both physically and mentally. The Irish dominated up front in this matchup two years ago, and that gave quarterback Brandon Wimbush time to throw and opened up a lot of running room.
Offensive coordinator Chip Long needs to find ways to establish the ground game early, and the line must be the key in making that happen. The tackles must get a good push on the edge and the interior blockers need to have a big game against USC’s talented defensive tackles. The more movement they get the more effective the offense will be.
Giving quarterback Ian Book a clean pocket will allow the Irish signal caller to have a big game ….
2. Book Must Be At His Best - And that leads to point two, a big game from Book is vital to an impressive victory over the Trojans. The better the line protects Book the more comfortable he will be, and if he can take advantage he could have a big game.
USC is going to attack the Irish offense in a way that forces Book to beat them, and likely beat them down the field at times. They had a similar game plan in 2017 and Wimbush ripped them early, and now it’s Book’s turn. The Trojans are young in the secondary, but they are quite talented. Book will need to be on top of his game to take full advantage of the USC defense.
That means making good decisions, showing good anticipation, getting the ball out on time and throwing with confidence.
3. Start Fast - I would like to see Notre Dame start fast in this game. Starting fast is about performing in two areas, and both are important.
The longer this game remains competitive the more dangerous USC becomes. For the Irish offense that means being able to match USC score for score early, which gives the defense time to adjust. If the Notre Dame defense is strong early, the Irish offense must be able to put a lot of points on the board early and put pressure on USC.
Playing fast from a tempo standpoint could help accomplish this agenda.
4. Keep USC Off Balance - Playing fast early would help keep the USC defense on its heels, which is a key to success. USC wants to pin its ears back and attack, and the more Notre Dame can slow that down the more successful the offense will be in this game. The faster Notre Dame plays and the better it executes the more effective it will be, and the more stress it will put on the USC defense.
DEFENSE
1. Put Pressure On The Line - There is a lot of justified concern about the USC skill players. One way to limit their effectiveness is to dominate the line of scrimmage. Notre Dame must be able to put pressure on the USC backfield in both the run game and pass game.
Quarterback Kedon Slovis will look to get the ball out quickly, executing a pass attack that is built on timing, making quick decisions and accuracy. The more comfortable he is in the pocket the more effective he will be. If Notre Dame can pressure the backfield he’ll be less effective.
Pressure in this instance means more than just getting hits and sacks, which are important. It means getting a push, getting into the backfield, getting Slovis to move, or hold the ball longer while he moves around, it means getting hands up and batting down passes.
It’s about being disruptive. That is also true in the run game. USC has been up-and-down with its run game, but I would expect the Trojans will look to ride it a bit more than usual early in the game in an attempt to slow down the Irish pass rush and take pressure off Slovis. Notre Dame must be able to control the run game with its front four and inside backers, which means attacking and making plays at or behind the line.
2. Mix Up The Looks - Slovis is a savvy young quarterback, but he’s still a freshman with very limited game experience. I’d like to see defensive coordinator Clark Lea show him some looks he has yet to see.
What I have in mind here is showing different looks with the box alignments, perhaps using some three-man fronts that allow Lea to bring pressure from different angles. That would allow the Irish to drop seven or eight just as effectively as it can bring five or six. It would also allow him to use his edge players to more effectively zone drop underneath quick throws, which could create big mistakes by the freshman.
Showing Slovis different looks from a coverage standpoint could also be effective. Make Slovis think the secondary is playing off and then drop underneath the outside coverage, or come up, or show press and drop, etc. The more indecision Slovis has the longer he’ll hold onto the ball, which could result in big plays for the defense.
3. Limit The Quick Game - USC throws a lot of short passes, which is a key principle of the Air Raid. Not throwing short for the sake of throwing short, but the quick game serves as an extension of the run game. The quick game is used to win on early downs, to put the offense in position to move the chains, and to get the skill players the ball in space as often as possible.
USC ranks 10th nationally in completion percentage, and Slovis ranks second in the country with an absurd 77.9-percent completion rate. Being able to limit the effectiveness of the quick game will have two significant impacts on the game.
One, it gets USC out or rhythm by forcing more incompletions. Two, jumping the quick game forces Slovis to hold onto the ball longer, and the longer he has to hold onto the football the more impactful the pass rush will be.
4. Be Disciplined - Notre Dame cannot have the assignment and mental mistakes that have plagued it at times this season. It cannot miss gaps in the run game, there can’t be coverage mistakes, there can’t be misses on the quarterback when there’s a chance to get a sack, and the defense cannot miss tackles.
USC’s skill players are talented enough to turn those mistakes into huge plays, and giving up a lot of chunk plays is something that could allow the Trojans to stay in this game and possibly pull off the upset.
If Notre Dame plays disciplined football it should have a great deal of success.
SPECIAL TEAMS
1. Win The Field Position Battle - Lengthening the field for the USC offense and shortening the field for the Irish offense is one way the Notre Dame special teams can impact this game. USC ranks near the bottom of the country in both kick and punt return coverage and in kick return average. Notre Dame needs to keep that going.
2. No Mistakes - No missed field goals, no turnovers, no bad penalties. The Irish need to play a clean game in all three phases.
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/IrishMaven/
