Blue and Gold Illustrated

UNDER THE DOME Defense By Andrew Owens The jury is still out on defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, now in his second season at Notre Dame. The Irish showed improvement on that side of the ball throughout most of the first half of the season, but lapses here and there in almost every game pre- vented good efforts from being better. Against USC in 2014, the Irish traveled to Los Angeles riding a three-game losing streak and were annihilated by the Trojans' plethora of playmakers. The sit- uation is different this season in what amounts to a playoff elimi- nation game for Notre Dame. For the Irish to have any hopes of reaching the four-team field, they must beat USC. If they do, the schedule lightens until a season-ending trip to Stanford. But a repeat of USC quarterback Cody Kessler's six-touchdown ef- fort last November — or anything close to it — will spell doom for Brian Kelly's squad. Notre Dame must pressure Kessler, but it won't be easy against a stout USC front. The Irish have rarely pressured opposing signal-callers in 2015, but allowing Kessler time to distribute to USC's skill-position players will likely lead to an Irish loss and two defeats before Halloween for a team that eyed the College Football Playoff from the time it beat LSU last December. Notre Dame's offense can typically be counted on to be in the 30-point range, but a champion- ship-caliber performance is needed from the other side of the ball. Offense By Bryan Driskell If the last couple of years of college football have taught us anything, it is that a dynamic offense can overcome a number of defensive woes. Baylor, TCU and Florida State all made a run at the Col- lege Football Playoff last season — with the Semi- noles getting in — with average to below aver- age defenses. All three are currently undefeated and making another run. With questions still surrounding the Notre Dame defense and its ability to defend elite of- fenses like USC, more of a burden will fall on the shoulders of the offense. While that spelled doom a season ago, the 2015 Notre Dame offense has the depth, firepower and skill up front to carry the team even if the defense struggles. Vital to the Irish offense moving forward will be getting off to faster starts. It cannot start slowly the way it did early against Georgia Tech and cer- tainly cannot take three quarters to get rolling like it did against Clemson. In order to carry the team in the manner it is capable of, the Irish offense must come out of the gate faster. Faster starts also benefit the defense by taking some of the pressure off and allowing coordinator Brian VanGorder to play with a lead instead of playing from behind. It will force opponents to get out of their balanced attack and make them more one dimensional, which makes VanGorder's job much easier. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH SIDE OF THE BALL IS MORE IMPORTANT TO SUCCESS AGAINST USC? The Irish defense will have its hands full with Cody Kessler and a talented USC offense. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA

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