Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: USC BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 30, 2024 39 ball 51 times like Maryland did against USC or 47 times like Rutgers. The Irish's running game is too good for that. Notre Dame's sweet spot for passing attempts is somewhere between 20 and 30. When senior quarterback Riley Leonard lives in that range and gets his looks on the ground, he's an awfully tough quarterback to prepare for in both phases. He spreads the ball around, often finishing games with double-digit pass catchers, which also makes him a difficult quarterback to read. The ball is getting out to a number of different options, too many for USC to account for. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS It's been a tough year for USC sophomore Zacha- riah Branch in the return game. As a freshman, he took a kick and a punt back for touchdowns. In his second season, he averaged 21.0 yards per return on 5 kickoff returns and 5.7 yards per return on 11 punt returns. About as much of a non-factor as it gets. Notre Dame has not been overly prolific in the re- turn game either, even with All-American Jayden Har- rison on the roster, so that's a wash. And if graduate student kicker Mitch Jeter is not himself, the kicking game could also be a wash — in the worst way. In the way that could significantly affect the game. Notre Dame missed multiple field goals with Jeter coming back from a hip injury suffered in October, and Jeter even missed one himself against Florida State in early November. USC, though, has a kicker in Michael Lantz who began his season just 10 of 16 on field goal attempts. It's a crapshoot for Lantz from 40 yards and beyond; he was just 4 of 8 in that range through 10 games. USC and Notre Dame don't believe in punting; the Trojans ranked tied for 101st in total punts through 10 games with 34 while the Irish were tied for 93rd with 35. USC had a significantly better average than that of Notre Dame, though, 48.6 to 41.3. Arizona State transfer Eddie Czaplicki is one of the best in the nation at what he does for USC. James Rendell for Notre Dame, not so much. Where Notre Dame does have the edge in this area is creativity. Coordinator Marty Biagi has proven that time and again this season. Don't doubt him. He's always cooking up something … special. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING Remember when USC head coach Lincoln Ri- ley was 66-13 in five years at Oklahoma plus his first in Los Angeles? Seems like a distant memory. Through Week 12 of 2024, Riley had a record of 13- 10 in the last two seasons. In the same span, Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman was 19-4. Whether it's because of who each head coach has surrounded himself with or Freeman coming into his own while Riley is losing a step, or a combi- nation of many things, it's impossible to give Riley an edge over Freeman right now. It just is. That would have been almost impossible to fathom two years ago when Riley had USC ranked fifth in the country with a 10-1 record preparing to host Notre Dame, but things can change in a hurry. They've changed for the worse for Riley and the better for Freeman since then. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Notre Dame has lost three of its last four games in Los Angeles and eight of its last 12. Southern California is a great place to spend the holidays if you're a Midwesterner looking for some warmth, but the Los Angeles Coliseum has been a cold, dark place for the Fighting Irish for decades now. They're going to need to get over that hurdle. Still, the battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh is a rivalry Notre Dame has owned of late. The Irish have won five of the last six meetings. This ver- sion of USC plays right into Notre Dame's ability to make it six of seven, but rarely is it easy to win in Los Angeles. Notre Dame's last three wins at USC have come by an average of 6.7 points per game. Don't be surprised if this is another game de- cided by one score or less, even though Notre Dame is vastly superior on paper. Advantage: Even Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 5 Beaux Collins 6-2 206 Gr. or 83 Jayden Thomas 6-2 218 Sr. WR 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 So. or 2 Jayden Harrison 5-10 198 Gr. LT 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-4 294 Fr. 79 Tosh Baker 6-8 325 Gr. LG 74 Billy Schrauth 6-5 310 Jr. 75 Sullivan Absher 6-7 321 So. C 78 Pat Coogan 6-5 310 Sr. 72 Sam Pendleton 6-4 310 So. RG 50 Rocco Spindler 6-5 325 Gr. 72 Sam Pendleton 6-4 310 So. RT 59 Aamil Wagner 6-6 291 Jr. 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 323 Fr. TE 88 Mitchell Evans 6-5 260 Sr. 87 Cooper Flanagan 6-6 257 So. or 9 Eli Raridon 6-7 250 Jr. WR 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 184 So. or 10 Kris Mitchell 6-0 186 Gr. or 11 KK Smith 6-0 178 So. QB 13 Riley Leonard 6-4 216 Sr. 18 Steve Angeli 6-2 208 Jr. RB 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 210 So. or 24 Jadarian Price 5-10 206 Jr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. VYP 40 Joshua Burnham 6-4 251 Jr. 44 Junior Tuihalamaka 6-2 246 Jr. DT 99 Rylie Mills 6-5 295 Gr. 97 Gabriel Rubio 6-5 316 Sr. NT 41 Donovan Hinish 6-2 278 Jr. 88 Armel Mukam 6-3 302 So. or 59 Sean Sevillano Jr. 6-1 320 Fr. DE 9 RJ Oben 6-3 265 Gr. 30 Bryce Young 6-7 258 Fr. WILL 24 Jack Kiser 6-2 231 Gr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So. or 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 240 Fr. MIKE 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 239 So. 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 240 Fr. ROV 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 224 Jr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So. CB 15 Leonard Moore 6-2 191 Fr. 16 Tae Johnson 6-2 188 Fr. SS 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 200 So. 28 Luke Talich 6-4 211 So. or 23 Kennedy Urlacher 5-11 196 Fr. FS 0 Xavier Watts 6-0 203 Gr. 2 Rod Heard II 5-11 195 Gr. CB 29 Christian Gray 6-0 189 So. 21 Karson Hobbs 6-1 192 Fr. NIC 1 Jordan Clark 5-10 182 Gr. 21 Karson Hobbs 6-1 192 Fr. Special Teams Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 98 Mitch Jeter 5-11 195 Gr. K 98 Mitch Jeter 5-11 195 Gr. P 16 James Rendell 6-6 224 Gr. 90 Eric Goins 6-2 209 Gr. LS 49 Andrew Kros 6-3 220 So. or 96 Joseph Vinci 6-4 232 Fr. SS 39 Rino Monteforte 5-7 200 Jr. 96 Joseph Vinci 6-4 232 Fr. H 26 Chris Salerno 5-11 208 Sr. 81 Jack Polian 6-0 183 Sr. PR 37 Max Hurleman 5-11 202 Gr. or 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 184 So. or 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 So. KR 2 Jayden Harrison 5-10 198 Gr. or 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 210 So. or 24 Jadarian Price 5-10 206 Jr. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART