Notre Dame and USC Have Plenty to Work On During Bye Week

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With two weeks before bitter rivals Notre Dame and USC face each other, these teams have a couple of things in common. For one, they both have a bye this week and have identical records of 4-1. But that is where the similarities stop.

Notre Dame has one of the most prolific offenses in the nation and are on pace to break some school records. Even with the injury to star receiver Michael Floyd, the Irish are loaded with firepower in guys like Golden Tate, Armando Allen, and Kyle Rudolph. A much improved offensive line has enabled Jimmy Clausen to utilize these weapons.

Once again, USC has a top five defense even with all the losses to graduation. The linebacking corps was the heart of that defense last year, and they are now all gone. Rey Malaluaga and company have left, but Chris Galippo, Mike Morgan, and Malcom Smith have all picked up where the others left off. Senior Taylor Mays seems to be establishing himself as a leader in the backfield.

When the schedule came out, I noticed that the Irish would have the bye to prepare for USC. I was happy to see that. I then decided to look at USC's schedule to see who they played during this week. I was hoping they would play a Pac 10 power like Oregon. Instead, I saw that they also have a bye.

Then I thought about how good that was.

If Notre Dame beats USC, we want it to happen with no excuses. Besides, the bye would be more beneficial to the Irish than it would for the Trojans. That's what I thought because Notre Dame would have to bring their A game to beat USC.

I thought USC's best value would be to get a few guys healthy and rested. Looking at it now, I think USC definitely benefits from having a bye for more than that. They have some things they need to work on as well. Notre Dame and USC both have areas of their game that they need to work on.

For the Irish, they still have a lot to work on on defense. Jon Tenuta is known for his blitzing defenses. Blitzes are exciting to watch when they work. The result is a loss of yards or hurried passes leading to a turnover. However, when they don't work, it leads to over running the play and missing tackles.

Better tackling and fewer dumb penalties have to be of vital importance for the Irish during this bye week. Stuffing the run has improved, but still needs work. Those are the areas that have hurt the Irish on defense and need to be fixed.

On offense, they just need to get Allen and Clausen nice and healthy. They still haven't replaced Michael Floyd and need to find the guy to fill that role.

For USC, their main focus for the bye week will be the offense. They really have only had one offensive weapon in Joe McKnight. True freshman quarterback Matt Barkley has shown flashes of brilliance, but still looks pretty raw. During this time, he needs to work on his timing with Damian Williams and David Ausberry.

I really don't see much they have to work on on defense, other than just staying healthy and continuing to grow as a unit.

This year's game could be the most exciting one since the Bush Push. Certainly, USC will be favored, but there is one thing that might make odds makers scratch their heads as to how much they will be favored by; that is the Washington Huskies.

This is the team that shocked USC a few weeks ago. Then last week, they dropped a thriller in South Bend.

I know USC was without Barkley and had to go with backup Aaron Corp; but the Irish are still going into the bye beating a team that beat USC.

That is reason for optimism.

Notre Dame's explosive offense against USC's dominating defense will certainly be fun to watch. However, the ironic thing is that the two units that are still finding themselves, might be the difference between winning and losing for Notre Dame and USC.

This article is also posted on http://fightingirishgameday.com/

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