Keys To Victory For Notre Dame Over USC - Offense Edition
Notre Dame will look to take a step towards salvaging its 2023 season tonight when it takes on the undefeated and 10th-ranked USC Trojans (6-0). If Notre Dame (5-2) is going to make that happen the offense will need to wake up and start playing good football again.
The good news is USC's defense has not been very good this season, but Noter Dame isn't going to be able to just show up and score a bunch of points. They'll need to earn those plays and play good football, and if the offense is able to do that there is no doubt they'll be able to score points and give the team a chance to win the football game.
There are several keys to victory for the Notre Dame offense, which needed to start early in the week. One of the top priorities - if not the very top priority - for the Notre Dame coaching staff is to build confidence at the player level. Notre Dame also needs to protect the football in this game, because it cannot afford to lose possessions.
There are also four practical keys for the Notre Dame offense that specifically will lead to success against the struggling USC defense.
1. Start Fast - There are several aspects to starting fast in this game. Of course there is the practical need for a fast start. Either the Notre Dame defense is making early stops, and the offense needs to start fast and put points on the board in order to get out to an early lead, or the Irish defense is struggling to make early stops and the offense needs to score early and often to keep up and give the defense time to figure USC out.
Either way, Notre Dame's offense needs to start fast. Actually playing fast would help. Mixing up tempos and being willing to push the pace at times is something that could spark this struggling offense. Notre Dame's game plan also needs to be more aggressive and less methodical, from both a play-calling, play-design and execution standpoint. Play fast.
Early down success is also key, and that's part of starting fast on a drive by drive standpoint. Notre Dame needs to start fast coming out of halftime for the same reasons that were discussed above.
There's also a very important reason that isn't as technical, but more emotional and mental. Notre Dame's offense is struggling with confidence right now. There are a lot of reasons for this, including an offensive philosophy that seems obsessed with constant rotations that limi the ability of the skill players to get into any kind of rhythm. This unit also isn't playing well, there is no urgency, and the offense just doesn't seem to have much fire the last two games.
If the offense starts fast it will give them a much-needed boost in confidence, which should allow them to thrive and move the ball on USC, which will result in a lot of points. If the offense struggles early, the confidence of this unit will continue to dip, and beating USC will be much, much harder.
2. Punish The Pressure - USC's entire game plan in 2022 was to shut down the Notre Dame run game and force Notre Dame to beat them with the pass, and the Irish weren't good enough to do that.
Although Notre Dame put up good numbers in the pass game, it wasn't good enough to beat them with the throwing game. Notre Dame attempted just eight passes in the first half and just 13 in the first three quarters as it fell behind 31-14. Notre Dame attempted as many passes in the fourth quarter as it did the first three quarters combined, and it passed for 135 yards in the fourth quarter.
It took Notre Dame way too long to find answers to USC's pressures and loaded boxes, something that cannot be repeated in 2023.
You can fully expect USC to once again be focused on shutting down Notre Dame's run game, just like every other opponent the Irish have faced this season. Notre Dame will need to find ways to run the football, of course, but it also needs a good plan to punish USC for putting extra resources up against the run, and for its pressure packages. Whether that's gashing them with long runs where they crease the numbers, beating USC outside with RPO's, play-action throws or throwing the ball down the field, Notre Dame must make the Trojans pay for this game plan.
It needs to happen early, and if it does it forces USC to either keep getting gashed, or back off. That is when the run game can start to really take over in this game.
3. Third-Down Success Is A Must - Notre Dame ranks 49th nationally in third-down offense, which is average. Over the last two games the third-down offense has been atrocious. Notre Dame has converted just 6-28 third downs in the last two games, going for just three in each contest.
Notre Dame's third-down plan has seemed disjointed and lacked any purpose, and the execution on third-down in the last two games has been poor. Penalties, assignment mistakes and missed opportunities have plagued the offense on third down, and each area must get a lot better in this game.
Notre Dame will certainly need its fair share of big plays in this game, but winning will require they also thrive on third-down.
4. Step Up - Winning big games like this is about a great game plan, playing with intensity, executing and answering when the opponent has success. Winning big games like this also requires players to step up and shine in the spotlight.
Who will those players be for Notre Dame? I don't know, but I do know that it needs to happen. It can be linemen or skill players, but beating USC will require multiple Irish offensive players to step up and play really good football. They also need offensive coordinator Gerad Parker to step up and lead, throughout the week of practice and with his play-calling.
One player that absolutely needs to step up and play his best football is quarterback Sam Hartman. He was brought to Notre Dame for moments like this. It's imperative at this staff give him a chance to play loose and play aggressive, and it's up to him to make the right reads and accurately get the ball where it needs to go.
There are plenty of skills players that have the ability to do this, and the more that do the better. It can't just be Mitchell Evans, or Audric Estime, it needs to be multiple players, and at least one runner and one other pass catcher besides Evans needs to come out and play at a high level if the Irish are going to beat the Trojans.
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