Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 OCT. 14, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: USC NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. USC PASS DEFENSE USC's pass defense allows a middling 7.0 yards per attempt, but let 's look at the one game they've played against a passing game comparable to Notre Dame's. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw 45 times for 371 yards (8.2 yards per attempt) with 4 touchdowns and 1 intercep- tion. That doesn't look good, but what looks worse is the lack of interceptions. Through five games, USC has picked off 3 passes, which puts the Trojans on pace for 7.2 picks this season. They had 19 last year, which ranked sec- ond in college football behind Illinois. The one saving grace of an abysmal USC pass defense last season (24th-worst in FBS) was its ability to create turnovers. If that's gone, the Trojans will struggle against the likes of Oregon, Washington, Utah (if star quarterback Cam Rising is healthy) and, yes, Notre Dame. USC's saving grace in the secondary is star safety Calen Bullock, who has an 88.8 PFF coverage grade this season. But he alone isn't enough. The Irish are the 16th-most efficient passing of- fense in the nation, led by graduate student quar- terback Sam Hartman at 10.1 yards per attempt, 14 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. This is despite facing the No. 5 (Duke) and No. 8 (Ohio State) pass defenses in the country in consecutive weeks. If Notre Dame wins this game, it might have to be in a shootout, but Hartman and company might be up to the challenge. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Incredibly, USC redshirt sophomore kicker Denis Lynch — who was recently put on scholarship — has attempted only 4 field goals in the Trojans' first five games. Riley and Williams do not settle for field goals very often. He's made 3 of them, which gives him a better percentage than Notre Dame graduate kicker Spencer Shrader, who is 5 of 10 this season. Their season-long kicks are similar, with Shrader at 54 and Lynch at 53. Lynch went 15 of 22 (68.1 percent) last season, which is better than Shrader's career percentage of 64.7. Advantage USC in the kicking game. Notre Dame sophomore punter Bryce McFerson has a better yards per punt average than USC ju- nior Eddie Czaplicki, but it's only by two yards and Czaplicki actually has a slightly better net punting average. Ironically, Notre Dame has the three highest- graded special teamers on either team in graduate student running back/return man Devyn Ford (who grades well despite his Week 1 fumble) at 86.0, junior defensive tackle Jason Onye and graduate student safety DJ Brown, who plays the most out of the three. Electrifying true freshman Zachariah Branch is already one of only three Trojans since 1971 to notch a punt return touchdown (75 yards ver- sus Stanford), a kickoff return score (96 yards against San Jose State) and a receiving TD (2 total) in the same season. PHOTO COURTESY USC ATHLETICS OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 10 Kyron Hudson 6-1 205 R-So. or 2 Brenden Rice 6-3 210 Sr. 19 Duce Robinson 6-6 225 Fr. WR 4 Mario Williams 5-9 175 Jr. 16 Tahj Washington 5-10 175 R-Sr. 1 Zachariah Branch 5-10 175 Fr. 24 Makai Lemon 5-11 190 Fr. LT 79 Jonah Monheim 6-5 295 R-So. 72 Elijah Paige 6-7 310 Fr. LG 70 Emmanuel Pregnon 6-5 315 Jr. 77 Alani Noa 6-4 325 Fr. C 57 Justin Dedich 6-2 295 R-Sr. 67 Kilian O'Connor 6-1 285 So. RG 52 Jarrett Kingston 6-4 305 R-Sr. 66 Gino Quinones 6-3 300 R-Sr. RT 71 Michael Tarquin 6-5 300 R-Sr. 76 Mason Murphy 6-5 310 R-So. TE 87 Lake McRee 6-5 230 R-Fr. 18 Jude Wolfe 6-5 240 R-Sr. 84 Carson Tabaracci 6-2 230 R-Fr. WR 15 Dorian Singer 6-0 180 Jr. 9 Michael Jackson III 6-0 200 Fr. 89 Ja'Kobi Lane 6-4 180 Fr. QB 13 Caleb Williams 6-1 215 Jr. 7 Miller Moss 6-2 200 R-So. 8 Malachi Nelson 6-3 190 Fr. RB 6 Austin Jones 5-10 200 R-Sr. or 0 MarShawn Lloyd 5-9 210 R-Jr. 22 Darwin Barlow 6-0 220 R-Sr. 21 Quinten Joyner 5-11 205 Fr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Rush 10 Jamil Muhammad 6-1 250 R-Sr. or 6 Anthony Lucas 6-5 265 So. 34 Braylan Shelby 6-5 245 Fr. DT 99 Jack Sullivan 6-5 275 R-Sr. or 47 Stanley Ta'ufo'ou 6-2 275 R-Sr. 56 Elijah Hughes 6-3 270 Fr. NT 90 Bear Alexander 6-3 300 So. or 92 Kyon Barrs 6-2 290 R-Sr. or 79 De'jon Benton 6-1 270 R-Sr. 31 Tyrone Taleni 6-2 280 Sr. DE 51 Solomon Byrd 6-3 250 R-Sr. 2 Romello Height 6-3 230 R-Jr. 0 Korey Foreman 6-4 235 Jr. Will 25 Tackett Curtis 6-2 225 Fr. 18 Eric Gentry 6-6 215 So. 9 Raesjon Davis 6-0 220 Jr. Mike 13 Mason Cobb 6-0 235 Sr. 53 Shane Lee 6-0 240 R-Sr. NB 19 Jaylin Smith 5-11 180 Jr. 17 Christian Roland-Wallace 6-0 200 R-Sr. 24 Christian Pierce 6-1 195 Fr. CB 22 Ceyair Wright 6-0 180 R-So. 17 Christian Roland-Wallace 6-0 200 R-Sr. or 16 Prophet Brown 5-11 190 R-So. FS 4 Max Williams 5-9 185 R-Sr. or 27 Bryson Shaw 6-0 190 R-Sr. 8 Zion Branch 6-2 210 R-Fr. SS 7 Calen Bullock 6-3 190 Jr. 15 Anthony Beavers Jr. 6-1 210 R-Jr. 24 Christian Pierce 6-1 195 Fr. CB 1 Domani Jackson 6-1 190 So. 14 Jacobe Covington 6-2 200 R-Jr. USC Trojans Depth Chart Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 46 Denis Lynch 5-8 190 R-So. 95 Tyler Robles 5-7 170 Fr. KO 37 Eddie Czaplicki 6-1 205 R-Sr. 46 Denis Lynch 5-8 190 R-So. P 37 Eddie Czaplicki 6-1 205 R-Sr. 42 Aadyn Sleep-Dalton 6-1 190 Sr. LS 39 Jac Casasante 6-0 230 R-Sr. 53 Nathan Weneta 6-0 235 R-Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. H 36 Will Rose 6-1 195 R-Sr. 37 Eddie Czaplicki 6-1 205 R-Sr. PR 1 Zachariah Branch 5-10 175 Fr. Michael Jackson III 6-0 200 Jr. KR 1 Zachariah Branch 5-10 175 Fr. 24 Makai Lemon 5-11 190 Fr. SPECIAL TEAMS