Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/753492
36 NOV. 28, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED running the ball tough, and their sec- ondary is among the most talented in the country. "Everyone knows about Adoree' Jackson at corner, so that's the type of guy you can't really throw at him," Swanson said. "Iman Marshall has been a target because of that. He's a former five-star recruit and a really good cornerback as well. "At safety they have a nice rotation going on with some veteran names who have started like Chris Hawkins, Leon McQuay III and Marvell Tell III, who's a young star. It just seems like they're kind of solid at every spot." Tackle is perhaps the weakest spot on the USC defense, and even still, the Trojans ranked 37th in the country for rushing defense through 10 games, allowing 139.4 yards per game. "That's the one position where they're growing up and don't have stars," Swanson said of defensive tackle. "They just need more depth there, and that's a reasonable issue. Outside of that, they're really strong at every position I would say." Thanks to a softer second half of the schedule and Darnold's progres- sion, USC has significant momentum to close out the season. The Trojans were ranked 23rd in this year's pre- season poll, but expectations will be much higher entering 2017. "The expectations for them will be to compete for the conference title and compete for a national ti- tle," Swanson said. "It's USC, they always have that expectation. They had those kinds of expectations even when Steve Sarkisian was here and when Lane Kiffin was there toward the end they were preseason ranked very high. "Especially if they win out, [they could] even be a top-five team [next year in the preseason]." And again, it begins and ends with Darnold. "If he's there, everyone's going to think this kid's eventually going to play himself onto a big stage and win something big," Swanson said. "That's kind of what happens when you're a big-name quarterback at USC." ✦ GAME PREVIEW: USC Sophomore Porter Gustin — who notched 52 total stops, 9.5 tackles for loss and four sacks during USC's 7-3 start — is part of a strong group of Trojans linebackers. PHOTO BY JOHN MCGILLEN/COURTESY USC 2016 USC SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 3 vs. Alabama* L, 52-6 Sept. 10 Utah State W, 45-7 Sept. 17 at Stanford L, 27-10 Sept. 23 at Utah L, 31-27 Oct. 1 Arizona State W, 41-20 Oct. 8 Colorado W, 21-17 Oct. 15 at Arizona W, 48-14 Oct. 27 California W, 45-24 Nov. 5 Oregon W, 45-20 Nov. 12 at Washington W, 26-13 Nov. 19 at UCLA W, 36-14 Nov. 26 Notre Dame (ABC) 3:30 p.m. * at Arlington, Texas 2016 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 4 at Texas L, 50-47 (2OT) Sept. 10 Nevada W, 39-10 Sept. 17 Michigan State L, 36-28 Sept. 24 Duke L, 38-35 Oct. 1 vs. Syracuse* W, 50-33 Oct. 8 at North Carolina State L, 10-3 Oct. 15 Stanford L, 17-10 Oct. 29 Miami W, 30-27 Nov. 5 vs. Navy^ L, 28-27 Nov. 12 vs. Army# W, 44-6 Nov. 19 Virginia Tech L, 34-31 Nov. 26 at USC (ABC) 3:30 p.m. * at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; ^ at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.; # at Alamodome in San Antonio