USC Trojans – October 22nd, 2011 6:30 CT, NBC at Notre Dame Stadium
Head Coach – Lane Kiffin
Career Record – 20-12
- 7-6 in one season at Tennessee (2009)
- 13-6 in two seasons at USC (2010-2011)
2010 Season (8-5)
| Opponent | W/L | USC | OPP |
| at Hawaii | W | 49 | 36 |
| Virginia | W | 17 | 14 |
| at Minnesota | W | 32 | 21 |
| at Washington State | W | 50 | 16 |
| Washington | L | 31 | 32 |
| at Stanford | L | 35 | 37 |
| California | W | 48 | 14 |
| at Oregon | L | 32 | 53 |
| Arizona State | W | 34 | 33 |
| at Arizona | W | 24 | 21 |
| at Oregon State | L | 7 | 36 |
| Notre Dame | L | 16 | 20 |
| at UCLA | W | 28 | 14 |
SERIES FACTS
The Fighting Irish lead the series 43-34-5.
STRENGTHS
- Rushing Defense – The Trojans have given up 597 total yards rushing in 6 games thus far. That’s an average per game of only 99.5. USC is allowing 3.4 yards per carry and a total of 8 TD’s in those 6 football games. USC must continue this trend if it hopes to win.
- First Quarter Dominance – Lane Kiffin’s team owns the opening period thus far this season. They have outscored their opponents 46-10 in the first quarter. If this continues in South Bend versus the high powered Irish offense, it would mean that Notre Dame could be in big trouble.
- Field Goal Kicking – USC FG kicker Andre Heidari hardly misses. He is 10 of 11 for 90.9 % this season. He was 3 of 3 against the California Golden Bears in a 30-9 victory. He has kicked a long FG of 47 yards this year. His lone miss was between 40-49 yards.
WEAKNESSES
- Inability to keep teams 6 foot under – Other than this past weekend against the California Golden Bears, USC has allowed their opponents to rally and stay in games. Building up big leads, maybe it is just a trend to pace itself, but it nearly cost them the game versus the Arizona Wildcats.
- Lane Kiffin teams road woes – In his three years as a head football coach, Kiffin’s record on the road is 7-6. One of those wins was in overtime. His teams are competitive but seem to have trouble on the road as the visitors. Prime Time in South Bend might be just as difficult.
- Intangibles favor the Irish – This is the second night game in Notre Dame Stadium history. Last season in L.A., Notre Dame ended an eight year losing streak to the Trojans. The Irish know this contest is a make or break game for them, lose and it is back to mediocrity.
GAME ANALYSIS
USC is 5-1 losing on the road to the ranked Arizona State Sun Devils 22-43. Lane Kiffin needs to appease the Trojan faithful after the Irish ended an eight year streak of futility against USC. This series goes in winning streaks versus each other. The USC Trojans would like nothing better than to stop that right now. QB Matt Barkley has asserted himself in the long lineage of Trojan leaders. He missed the 16-20 loss to N.D. last season and hopes to make up for that lost opportunity. The key for USC in this game though may very well be to control the Irish rushing attack.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish offense is running on all cylinders. Can the Irish defense stop Matt Barkley? Giving up 33 points to the Air Force Falcons showed that N.D. still has a long way to go defensively. If Notre Dame is to return to being a prime time player in the world of collegiate football, this is a must victory. Prime time game under the lights against one of their biggest adversaries. Sooner or later the Notre Dame defense must really become a definitive force if it ever intends to return to football glory. For Notre Dame, no turnovers, keep the penalties down.
PREDICTION
For the 2011 season, this game is put up or shut up for the Irish. A loss and there will be no chance for this to be a glorious season. A win and Notre Dame can set up a big time game later against Stanford. This is going to be a great game.
NOTRE DAME 28
USC 26
About MadIrish
