Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1484595
34 NOV. 26, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: SOUTHERN CAL twist of irony, the only one to beat Car- roll was Bob Davie in his final year on the job. Tyrone Willingham never did it, and neither did Charlie Weis. The last 20 years of Notre Dame vs. Southern Cal has been marred by chaos at one of the schools. Notre Dame was in disarray in the 2000s. Southern Cal was a mess in the 2010s. The possibility of both programs being on track in the 2020s is a thrilling proposition. "There's a lot of emotion, intensity and excitement in these games," Riley said of rivalries. "That's what makes them fun for the players, the fans, peo- ple across the country to watch. You have to balance that by playing great football. That can get lost in it some- times in the heat of the battle." Riley said there is a combination of poise and intensity that must be struck to win games like this. His quarterback, sophomore Caleb Williams, has previ- ously shown he's more than up to that task. Last year at Oklahoma, Williams re- placed starter Spencer Rattler midgame in the Red River Showdown at the Cot- ton Bowl vs. Texas. The emotions of that game are among some of the most heightened in college football. As a true freshman, Williams led the Sooners back from down 21 points in a 55-48 victory. He completed 16 of 25 passes for 212 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions through the air. He ran 4 times for 88 yards and 1 score. It was a 66-yard TD run with the Sooners trailing 28-7 that proved to be the i n f l e c t i o n p o i n t in the game. He showed he had the muscle for the mo- ment. He didn't let the game get entirely out of reach. In his first season at Southern Cal, Williams completed 63.7 percent of his passes for 3,010 yards with 31 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions through 10 games. He added 283 yards rushing and 6 scores on 80 rushing attempts. He's the real deal, better than Sam Darnold, JT Daniels and Kedon Slovis — the last three Trojan quarterbacks to start against Notre Dame. Everything about Williams screams superstar sig- nal-caller. Williams credited Southern Cal strength and conditioning coach Ben- nie Wylie for his unflappable demeanor. Wylie has been around at programs like OU, Texas and Tennessee, but he has also spent time providing training and obsta- cle fitness tests for U.S. military person- nel as a staff member of Alpha Warrior. "Before we even got here, he helped me out a lot," Williams said. "We built a really good relationship [at Oklahoma]. When I wasn't starting, I'd go into his office and we'd just talk. I needed some- 2022 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 3 at Ohio State L, 21-10 Sept. 10 Marshall L, 26-21 Sept. 17 California W, 24-17 Sept. 24 at North Carolina W, 45-32 Oct. 8 vs. BYU* W, 28-20 Oct. 15 Stanford L, 16-14 Oct. 22 UNLV W, 44-21 Oct. 29 at Syracuse W, 41-24 Nov. 5 Clemson W, 35-14 Nov. 12 vs. Navy^ W, 35-32 Nov. 19 Boston College W, 44-0 Nov. 26 at Southern Cal (ABC) 7:30 p.m. * at Las Vegas; ^ at Baltimore Sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams is the catalyst of a Trojans attack that ranked No. 3 nationally in scoring (42.4 points per game) and No. 7 in total offense (499.4 yards per outing) through Week 11. PHOTO COURTESY SOUTHERN CAL "The emotions of this game and overall intensity will be a bit different like they are in good rivalry games. So, it should be a lot of fun." SOUTHERN CAL HEAD COACH LINCOLN RILEY 2022 SOUTHERN CAL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 3 Rice W, 66-14 Sept. 10 at Stanford W, 41-28 Sept. 17 Fresno State W, 45-17 Sept. 24 at Oregon State W, 17-14 Oct. 1 Arizona State W, 42-25 Oct. 8 Washington State W, 30-14 Oct. 15 at Utah L, 43-42 Oct. 29 at Arizona W, 45-37 Nov. 5 California W, 41-35 Nov. 11 Colorado W, 55-17 Nov. 19 at UCLA W, 48-45 Nov. 26 Notre Dame (ABC) 7:30 p.m.