(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Notre Dame faces rival USC Saturday in South Bend.
Both teams enter the contest coming off a bye week and, save wide receiver Michael Floyd, the Irish are as healthy as they’ve been since the season opener.
Lately the series has been owned by the Trojans, with seven straight victories by an average margin of 27 points. Over these same seven meetings only the 2005 and 2006 contests have been decided by fewer than 31 points.
As head coach Charlie Weis said in his weekly press conference, Notre Dame fans, coaches and players needs this win in a big way.
USC Version 2009
It is amazing what USC head coach Pete Carroll has accomplished. Carroll is 88-15 (85.4 percent) in his eight years with the Trojans. Since 2002 he is 23-1 against non-conference foes and he consistently fields physical, talented teams despite losses to the NFL and staff turnover.
This year is no exception. Despite the loss of offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Nick Holt from last year’s Rose Bowl champion team, the Trojans haven’t missed a beat.
In typical Carroll fashion the Trojans get off to quick starts, outscoring their opponents by 65 points in the first half, compared to 36 in the second half.
In atypical Carroll fashion this team hasn’t established a decided advantage in turnover margin. The Trojans have nine turnovers on the year (three interceptions and six fumbles) and have only forced eight of their own (three interceptions and five fumbles).
USC is also fairly undisciplined. Entering Saturday’s game the Trojans rank 95th in penalty yards racking up 69.4 per game.
Offense
The 2009 Trojan offense isn’t the juggernaut of the past, but it isn’t bad either. With few exceptions USC’s offense is performing at the rate their competition allows.
New offensive coordinator John Morton has been fortunate to ride a strong running game through the early part of the schedule as there has been little need to open up the playbook and put the game on the shoulders of freshman quarterback Matt Barkley.
The primary offensive weakness is third down and red zone efficiency. The Trojans rank 113th with a 28.8 percent conversion rate on third down and only score 85 percent of the time they cross the oppositions’ 20-yard line. Moreover, a paltry 60 percent (61) of red zone opportunities have resulted in touchdowns.
What they lack in efficiency, they make up for in production averaging 430.6 yards per game and 6.7 yards per play. Most of this production has come on the ground and it’s no secret Morton prefers to run the ball behind the strength of the offense, a veteran and agile front five that may be the best offensive line in the country.
Morton has called 189 runs to 134 pass attempts (58.5/41.5 percent run/pass split) and the yards have come nearly evenly on the ground and through the air (1040 yards rushing, 1113 yards passing).
USC’s offensive line has opened holes for a running game that averages 5.5 yards per carry and 208 yards per game. Throw in 13 rushing touchdowns and the Trojans rank in the top 25 in every rushing category. And these rankings haven’t come with the help of poor competition. While the offense hasn’t faced an exceptional run defense every week, Ohio State and California have solid units and the Trojans have been routinely outperforming their defensive counterparts.
Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford lead the attack. The former averages 7.1 yards per carry while the latter averages 6.5 yards per attempt. McKnight also has six touchdowns on the ground and is the workhorse with 67 carries on the year.
The passing game is rather pedestrian, but that’s really all Morton has wanted from it. Barkley has largely been asked to manage the game—not win it—and he has responded by throwing only two interceptions and completing almost 240 passing yards per game.
The favorite receiving target is Damian Williams who has caught 24 passes for 359 yards (15 yards per reception), but Barkley has spread the ball around as seven receivers have caught five or more passes. The deep threat comes in the middle of the field as tight end Anthony McCoy is averaging 21.9 yards per catch.
Finally, the offensive line has only allowed six sacks but this slightly overvalues the pass protection. With only 134 attempts, the Trojans have allowed one sack per 22.3 attempts, not an overwhelmingly impressive number.
See the tables below for a more in-depth look at the Trojan offense.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Notre Dame Football articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
13 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete