When D’Anton Lynn inherited one of the worst defenses in college football, the expectation was that even a mediocre performance would make a big difference at USC. Especially when paired with one of the most electric offenses in college football.
A year later, Lynn’s defense has made significant progress. USC jumped from 121st to 32nd in scoring defense, from 119th to 43rd in rush defense and from 119th to 65th in total defense, while third-down conversion rate, red zone conversion rate , missed tackles and explosive plays all dropped significantly. . But with one game left in the season, the Trojans are still barely clinging to bowl eligibility.
That’s not Lynn’s fault, whose USC defense is peaking exactly when it was supposed to.
Read more: USC’s improving offensive line faces a big test against Notre Dame
“We’re playing our best ball right now,” cornerback Greedy Vance said. “We communicate at a high level. We play fast. We have fewer mental errors. And you know, we’ve been together for a while now. So it is more pleasant to play together.”
No. 5 Notre Dame has been playing its best ball since mid-September. No team in college football has been more dominant since the Irish were upset by Northern Illinois early in the season. Notre Dame leads the nation by +301 points despite being ranked No. 10 in the schedule according to FPI, and has won each of their last six games by an average margin of nearly 34 points.
Read more: D’Anton Lynn unlocked USC’s defensive potential where others failed
As Lynn sees it, Notre Dame is “the best offense we’ve played.” That should be an ideal benchmark to end his first year at the helm.
“They are very talented,” Lynn said. “Their offensive line is probably going to be the best offensive line we’ve played all year. Both of their backs are very good backs. They have big tight ends. They have speed on the outside.”
Here’s what else to watch during USC’s matchup with Notre Dame on Saturday (12:30 p.m. PST on CBS) at the Coliseum:
A true double threat
In their debut season in the Big Ten, a conference with a rich history of pocket-bound passers, the Trojans didn’t have to worry much about taking off and running from opposing quarterbacks.
That’s where Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard will be at his most dangerous Saturday. Leonard has already rushed 112 times for 671 yards and 12 touchdowns this season – trailing Ireland’s leading rusher Jeremiyah Love by just nine carries and one touchdown.
“He’s very, very fast,” Lynn said of Leonard. “And he’s so long and long that he doesn’t look that fast on tape. But he covers a lot of ground. So containing him will be critical, especially on third downs.”
Read more: ‘Like a Zen thing’: How USC’s Eddie Czaplicki became college football’s best punter
Keeping Leonard in the pocket and challenging him to pass used to be the best way to neutralize the Notre Dame quarterback. But Leonard has been much more efficient at throwing downfield in recent weeks.
Over his past six games, Leonard is averaging two more yards per attempt than he did during the first half of the season. Still, Leonard has yet to crack 229 passing yards this season.
Regret in the red zone
On three consecutive drives in the first half last Saturday, USC had a first down inside the UCLA five-yard line. And for three straight drives, the Trojans were left on the fence, forced to settle for field goals.
Riley brushed off the idea that play calling was to blame, suggesting Tuesday that the three failed trips — with the exception of one call he wanted back — were mainly a result of poor execution. But this week, against one of the best red zone teams in the country, USC won’t be able to get away with squandering such golden opportunities.
“You can’t win on field goals,” quarterback Jayden Maiava said.
Few teams in college football are better at converting red zone trips into touchdowns than Notre Dame, which scores touchdowns on 76% of trips inside the 20. The Irish have only had to settle for field goals on four of their red zones. zone travel this entire season.
Leonard was especially dangerous as he approached the end zone. His thirteen touchdowns rank third nationally among quarterbacks in rushing scores.
“When they get in the red zone, it’s really all about him,” Lynn said.
Risky business
In his first two starts, Maiava has not hesitated to throw the ball upfield fearlessly. That bold approach is part of what makes him dynamic. It has also never been tested by a defense like Notre Dame.
Only two teams in the past decade have allowed fewer than twenty-plus yard pass plays in a season than Notre Dame, which has allowed fewer than two per game this season.
Opposing quarterbacks have also completed fewer than 48 percent of passes against Notre Dame this season — the lowest completion rate allowed since 2016 — and picked off 15 passes, ninth-most among all defenses in college football.
To be fair, Notre Dame hasn’t seen many offenses like USC either. Only one of the Irish’s opponents this year (Louisville) is in the top rankings 50 in passing yards at the national level. Most of them are outside the top 100.
“He has a really good arm and he doesn’t put them in a lot of negative situations,” Freeman said of Maiava. “They play well on offense, but their entire attack hasn’t changed. He just did a really good job of taking care of the football and making some good decisions.”
Not so high stakes
Notre Dame can win their way into the College Football Playoff, while USC hopes to finish on a high note and secure a seventh victory that would send them to El Paso or Las Vegas for bowl season.
The stakes for the two rivals may not be the same. But given the history between them, Riley said this week that it would be “disrespectful not to be as ready as you can be.”
USC wasn’t ready when the two teams met last season. After starting the season 6-0, the Trojans were bombarded in a 48-20 loss to Notre Dame. From there they spiraled, losing four of five.
The pressure is on the Irish this season, a fact that coach Marcus Freeman seems well aware of. This week, he played the tape of USC’s 2022 rivalry victory over and over on all the televisions in the team’s practice facility.
“The noise and the things outside of this game that have nothing to do with this game,” Freeman said, “that’s why it’s a challenge.”
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
