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Notre Dame football: Will Irish continue dominance over USC in 2021?

By Daniel Morrison

BERKELEY, CA - SEPTEMBER 23: The USC Trojans mascot drives his sword into the field before the game against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Berkeley, California. The USC Trojans defeated the California Golden Bears 30-20. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
BERKELEY, CA - SEPTEMBER 23: The USC Trojans mascot drives his sword into the field before the game against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Berkeley, California. The USC Trojans defeated the California Golden Bears 30-20. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 12: Kurt Hinish #41 and Jonathan Jones #45 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish sack Kedon Slovis #9 of the USC Trojans in the first half of the game at Notre Dame Stadium on October 12, 2019, in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 12: Kurt Hinish #41 and Jonathan Jones #45 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish sack Kedon Slovis #9 of the USC Trojans in the first half of the game at Notre Dame Stadium on October 12, 2019, in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame football: Will Irish continue dominance over USC in 2021?

USC’s Offense

When Graham Harrell came to USC to be the offensive coordinator, he brought his own variation of the Air Raid offense with him. It’s done a lot to turn around Clay Helton’s luck as head coach and turned Harrell into a top head-coaching candidate.

So, let’s break down the USC offense by the numbers.

USC was 31st in scoring offense in 2020, with 33.3 points per game on offense. Incidentally, Notre Dame football was 30th with 33.4 points per game. Turnovers were more of an issue, though, allowing 11 of them in just six games.

For comparison, Notre Dame’s offense had 11 turnovers in 12 games. All of this was on the back of 416.7 yards per game, which was 46th in the country. All of this points to a good, but not great offense.

Of course, the offense needs quarterback Kedon Slovis to succeed if it has any hope of succeeding itself. Last season, Slovis was 18th in the country with a 67% completion percentage. He threw 17 touchdowns, which was good for 30th in the country. Meanwhile, he threw for 320.17 yards per game, which came on the back of just 10.85 yards per completion.

Those were good for 6th and 83rd respectively in 2020. That immediately tells you a few things about the USC offense. They throw all the time, Slovis is good at finding targets consistently, and USC doesn’t stretch the ball downfield much.

Still, the expectation is that Slovis puts up massive numbers in a season that shouldn’t be as interrupted as 2020 was.

To do that, USC is going to need to find help for him. The Trojan offensive line was bad last season, with major leaks. This is part of why there were so many turnovers, as Slovis spent a lot of time on his back. Still, with tons of talent on the offensive line, a proper offseason, and four returning starters, there is a chance for growth here.

At wide receiver, USC needs to reload. Tahj Washington and KD Nixon are both transferring in to try and fill this role, from Memphis and Colorado respectively. However, both those wide receivers are under six feet tall.

The Trojans make up for that height issue with the 6-foot-5 Drake London, who was second-team All-PAC-12 with over 500 yards receiving. Meanwhile, Bru McCoy is going to be expected to step up into a much larger role. To put it bluntly, a lot of talent is moving on from wide receiver, but there is always a lot of talent leftover at USC.

Then there is the running back question. USC has trouble running the ball last season, but how much of that is on the offensive line, and how much is on the Air Raid system? It’s hard to say. Vavae Malepeai is going to get the majority of the carries for the Trojans, but he only managed 238 yards all of last season.

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