A look at the keys to victory for the Notre Dame offense in its matchup against USC
Notre Dame and USC square off in the latest installment of their storied rivalry, and it is a battle between two of the best offenses in college football this season. The 13th-ranked Fighting Irish have been one of the nation's best scoring offenses all season and that side of the ball will need to be on top of its game against the 20th-ranked Trojans.
Here are the keys to victory for the Irish offense in the matchup against USC.
1) Start Fast - This is always important, but it's especially crucial against the better teams on the schedule. It's ramped up even more in this matchup against the USC. Notre Dame needs to be able to start fast on offense in order to give its defense a boost. If the Irish defense is struggling early the offense will need a fast start in order to keep up until the defense can get things figured out. If the defense starts off well the offense will need to put some distance between them and USC. That way if USC starts to find some answers they are well ahead and can hold off the Trojans.
Notre Dame had incredibly fast starts in blowout wins over Purdue and Arkansas, with the offense scoring 70 combined first half points in those two games, which basically decided the game by halftime. In wins over Boise State and NC State, the Irish offense scored just 24 first half points and both games were tight going into halftime. They'll need to reverse that trend against the Trojans and the offense will need to get back to being the balanced, explosive offense we saw for much of the first four games.
2) Push The Tempo - Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has been much more willing to push the tempo and work with pace this season, and it needs to be a key part of the game plan against USC. The weather might play a role in how often they can do this, but I really think this could help the offense really get USC on its heels. USC isn't a very big defense and it is on the thin side from a depth standpoint, and the more plays they have to be on the field the more the offense can wear them down in the second half.
Pushing the tempo also gets the USC defense on its heels. The faster Notre Dame works the more basic USC has to get with its looks. It limits communication with the defense and should allow quarterback CJ Carr to get better presnap looks against the Trojans. Carr should be able to find a lot of holes in the USC secondary, but getting USC on its heels also gives the run game the ability to get a push on the Trojan front.
I think if Notre Dame pushes the tempo early and has success with it, the offense should not only be able to start fast, it should be able to really punish USC in the second half. If the Irish push the tempo and start fast I could see Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price put USC away in the second half.
3) Be Great On First Down - A big part of starting fast and punishing the USC defense is being great on first down. If Notre Dame can get into a lot more 2nd-and-short situations it gives the offense more chances to really get USC on its heels. A 2nd-and-2 with this offense could be a deep shot just as easily as it could be a run. It gives Denbrock a lot more options and he can be a lot more aggressive on early downs. If they miss on a deep shot or a pass, the offense can simply go back at it on 3rd-and-2. When the Irish offense is really rolling they rarely even get to third down, and that's often because of its ability to gash teams on first down.
That needs to continue against USC, and it's a very important factor in starting fast.
4) Win On The Perimeter - Notre Dame can't win this game if the offensive line doesn't play well, that's a given, but a victory will need more than just the line playing well. Notre Dame will needs its perimeter plays to make plays outside the box. That means Malachi Fields making big plays against DeCarlos Nicholson, it means Jordan Faison and KK Smith making plays down the field and after the catch, it means Will Pauling having another productive performance and hopefully we see a healthy Jaden Greathouse finally get going.
I could see this being a game where Love is once again a big factor in the pass game, so you can add him to this part of the keys as well. Love has been a force outside in the pass game and has also stretched the field vertically in the pass game as well.
5) Finish - Moving the ball hasn't been an issue for Notre Dame during its two rough first halves in the games leading up to this matchup. Notre Dame racked up 251 yards and went for 7.4 yards per play in the first half against Boise State, but it went 0-2 on fourth down in scoring situations, which kept the offense in check while scoring just 14 points in the first half.
It was the same story against NC State, as the Irish racked up 241 yards and went for 7.5 yards per play in the first half but scored just 10 points. It had another fourth down failure near the goal line and went just 1-3 in the red zone in the first half.
The Irish will need to finish off those drives in the first half against USC. When they get near the end zone they need touchdowns. That will mean finishing off runs, finishing off blocks and winning more contested catches. A better designed red zone package will also help. The Irish are very close to really dominating in the first half, it just needs to finish better, and that needs to start against the Trojans.
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