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Notre Dame Football

Game Thread | No. 3 Notre Dame at USC

November 24, 2018
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No. 3 Notre Dame (11-0) at USC (5-6) 

LA Memorial Coliseum |8:00 p.m. ET | ABC

Game Week Articles | Roster| Depth ChartSchedule | Staff Predictions


 

For All The Marbles 

No.3 Notre Dame will travel to face USC on Saturday in the LA Memorial Coliseum. The Irish have a series lead with a record of 47-37-5 against the Trojans and came out victorious in last year’s meeting with a 49-14 win. Head Coach Brian Kelly is 5-3 against USC and seeks his sixth win in the rivalry.

The matchup to watch with is Notre Dame’s experienced secondary against USC’s youth at wide receiver with true freshman JT Daniels throwing the football. The Trojans have home run threats all over the field that can take it to the house every time they touch the football. They have four wideouts that Notre Dame secondary will have to account for each and every play, Michael Pittman Jr., Tyler Vaughns, Velus Jones Jr., and true freshman Amon-Ra St. Brown who has already shown a connection with fellow freshman Daniels. Led by Julian Love and Alohi Gilman the Irish secondary will have to play with the same discipline they have shown the whole year.

It will also be interesting to see how USC true freshman signal-caller JT Daniels deals with pressure the Irish defensive line accounts for every play, led by Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem.

Another marquee matchup that will be fun to watch will be Notre Dame’s experienced pass catchers against USC’s senior secondary. USC’s secondary is held down by four seniors, Jonathan Lockett, Isaiah Langley, Marvell Tell and Ajene Harris who do an excellent job forcing pass-breakups. They don’t get a lot of take-a-ways but make it hard for receivers to catch the ball cleanly. The Irish will counter USC’s secondary with experience and with receivers Miles Boykin, Chris Finke and Chase Claypool. The Irish wideouts are going to focus heavily on creating separation and completing catches before making their first moves upfield to be successful.


Five Players To Watch

USC WR Michael Pittman
Not only big (6'4" 215), Pittman is explosive. He averages close to 20 yards per reception and has even blocked a punt for the Trojans this year. If they're going to have a chance in this game, they'll need him to be a playmaker and win the one on one battle against Julian Love.

USC S Marvell Tell
Tell has been a bright spot in USC's injury-ravaged defense, but he comes into this game on a bad ankle. That's not good when they'll need him to tackle Dexter Williams to prevent big plays from the Irish running back.

Notre Dame DE Julian Okwara
USC right tackle Chuma Edoga is expected back after missing two games, which is huge for them because his backup had issues the last two weeks. Even a healthy Edoga will have his hands full with Okwara, who has been a consistent pass rush presence all season long for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame S Jalen Elliott 
Elliott has gone from struggling player to ballhawk in one year. With 17 turnover worthy throws and 10 interceptions from JT Daniels, Elliott could have a chance to have a massive impact on this game just like he did against Syracuse.

Notre Dame WR Miles Boykin
His matchup against cornerback Iman Marshall favors Boykin. If he's not making back-shoulder catches down the field, he might be drawing pass interference penalties. 


Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on team loving to be around each other:
“They want to hang out with their teammates. They're looking forward to Wednesday and Thursday, the flight, being there on Friday. They're more interested in hanging out with their teammates. That's important to them. They really enjoy being around their teammates. Then they love to play on Saturdays.

“You add those two things up, yeah, they're sure going to enjoy warmer weather, but I think more than anything else they really enjoy being around their teammates, and they love playing together on Saturday.” 

LB Drue Tranquill on USC rivalry: 
“It’s chippy. Both teams bring it. Guys will be chirping and talking. We’re going to try to keep our talking to a minimum and focus on our business, but there’s a lot of emotions that go into it. 

“When you have two programs with a lot of tradition, it intensifies the game a little bit.”

DL Jerry Tillery on keeping focus on USC:
“We can’t play for the National Championship on Saturday. We can beat USC on Saturday. That’s our focus.” 


Countdown to Kickoff

10 - Syracuse, which averaged 44.4 points per game entering last Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium, managed its only scoring play thanks to a field goal with 10 seconds remaining.

9 - Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State are the only teams in the nation with at least nine wins against Power Five foes after the first 12 weeks of the 2018 season.

8 - Notre Dame forced Syracuse to punt on eight different occasions, tying a season high for the Orange.

7 - Notre Dame has earned seven ranked wins as part of its 20-win surge over the past 22 games.

6 - Notre Dame’s six sacks against Syracuse were the most in a single game for the Irish since the Shamrock Series against Arizona State on Oct. 5, 2013.

5 - The home team in the Notre Dame-USC series has been the victor in each of the last five meetings between the squads since 2012.

4 - Syracuse was the fourth team that Notre Dame has held under 250 yards of total offense this season (234 yards). The last time the Irish held four different opponents under 250 yards in a single season was 2006.

3 - On nine total plays from scrimmage in the third quarter last Saturday at Yankee Stadium, the Notre Dame defense limited Syracuse to -8 yards of total offense.

2 - USC is the second-most common opponent in Notre Dame football history (90th meeting on Saturday). Notre Dame and Navy have met 92 times in the most common Irish series.

1 - The first-team Notre Dame defense limited Syracuse to roughly 122 yards of total offense through three-plus quarters last Saturday.


Yoon Watch

Senior kicker Justin Yoon (57) equaled Kyle Brindza (2011-14) for the Notre Dame career field goals lead with three successful attempts against No. 12 Syracuse.


For Your Nerves 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDDEhXr3NEE

http://instagr.am/p/BqiskQhFAyq

Game Thread | No. 3 Notre Dame at USC

214,355 Views | 968 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by Rwolf101
NDTerry
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More from Scott Wolf, predicting ND wins 45-17.


https://insideusc.blog/2018/11/24/pick-the-usc-notre-dame-score/
mattfreeman
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Staff
mattfreeman
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Staff
mattfreeman
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Staff
https://instagr.am/p/BqkR9wqlxV8
mattfreeman
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Staff
https://instagr.am/p/BqkRbMwnVai
mattfreeman
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Staff
https://instagr.am/p/BqkE4WmgLx3
mattfreeman
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Staff
https://instagr.am/p/Bqi0V7bgRpE
mattfreeman
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Staff
mattfreeman
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Staff
The banner has been flying around the stadium for a solid 2 hours already.
mattfreeman
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Staff
mattfreeman
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Staff
Phil Jurkovec and Markese Stepp were some of the first on the field for individual warmups.
mattfreeman
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Staff
Notre Dame specialists on the field. Get a nice cheer from the fans already in the stadium.
mattfreeman
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Staff
Bears, Rams, Chargers, Cowboys, Colts and Bills are in the building tonight.

I also believe Ryan Pace himself will be in the building from what I've gathered from a source.
mattfreeman
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Staff
Very, very pro-Notre Dame crowd.
mattfreeman
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Staff
Notre Dame's skill positions on the field for warmups, including WR Miles Boykin and CB Troy Pride Jr.
pbrad28
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Did they find Dex?
mattfreeman
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Staff
Justin Yoon XP good.

Chris Finke lets a Tyler Newsome punt bounce.

Warmups complete.

Loud cheers from Notre Dame fans as the Irish head into the locker room.

mattfreeman
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Staff
CJ Pollard out. USC could be playing a walk-on at safety.


Rwolf101
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I've only seen kirk herbstreits face for 60 seconds now and I'm already aggrevated.
REMND
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How many yards does Dexter need for 1000 this year? I think it is about 150.
Rwolf101
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REMND said:

How many yards does Dexter need for 1000 this year? I think it is about 150.

That might be obtained in the first half.
IrishRob
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There is no way we can lose to that porn 'stache. No way.
mattfreeman
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Staff
Senior Day introductions
tommynacc
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HISTORY........
Firefighter8196
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Regardless of how bad USC has been...I'm still as nervous as a school boy going on his first date. My wife would appreciate it if this games a blowout early so doesn't have to hear me complain all night haha
pbrad28
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Sure hope they start fast and stomp these guys
gngirish
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Our entire fan base and my over confidence has me nervous
Frankbuz
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If Tillery is focused, he could dominate tonight.
Rwolf101
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Firefighter8196 said:

Regardless of how bad USC has been...I'm still as nervous as a school boy going on his first date. My wife would appreciate it if this games a blowout early so doesn't have to hear me complain all night haha

It's raining here so I can nervously smoke cigars to chill out. This better be a low nerve laugher.
tommynacc
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Give it up for Jake Olson! Great career kid! Wanna see you do great on the golf course again!
mattfreeman
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Staff
Notre Dame receives a much louder cheer when taking the field. Irish fans come out tonight.
irishfan32489
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Hate USC. But seeing Jake Olsen with a smile on his face walking out of the tunnel is incredible. Good for you Jake!
Firefighter8196
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mattfreeman
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Staff
Notre Dame captains Drue Tranquill, Sam Mustipher, Tyler Newsome and Nicco Fertitta.
GulfCoastIrish
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gngirish said:

Our entire fan base and my over confidence has me nervous
Then you're right where you should be.
 
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