Notre Dame football: Irish cannot take USC lightly on Saturday night
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team will be looking to kick off their second half with a win, but they can not afford to take USC lightly in this matchup.
In their first game of the second half of their 2021 college football season, the Notre Dame football team will welcome the hated USC Trojans to Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday night. Like the Irish, it has been an up and down season for the Trojans, but the only difference is, despite their struggles, Notre Dame has stacked wins.
When it comes to USC, they have a 3-3 record and have already fired their head coach.
Still, this is a rivalry game, and anytime programs with such a rich history get together, you can pretty much throw out the records. The truth is, both teams are coming out of their bye week, both are hungry for wins, and in terms of the USC Trojans, they are trying to get their program back on track.
To do so against a hated rival like the Irish would be a best-case scenario for head coach Donte Williams, who took over for the fired Clay Helton. However, to do so, he will have to beat a very tough Notre Dame football team, one that has the advantage in this one, but one that has looked beatable on a near-weekly basis this season.
Notre Dame football a favorite against the Trojans
Despite the rivalry and the storyline, the truth is, this is a Notre Dame football team that is better than the Trojans and should win this matchup. Playing at home in front of a primetime crowd inside Notre Dame Stadium, the Irish will have the advantage, and it will be up to them to see which Notre Dame team comes out to play.
Will it be the team that nearly lost to Toledo, or the one who came blazing back their last time out against Virginia Tech to win the game late? Against USC, they need to establish themselves as the dominant team early on, and they can do so by controlling the clock and pounding the USC defense into submission.
Overall, this is a Notre Dame football team that has more talent than the Trojans, and better coaching, which should lead to a victory. However, as we have seen all season long, upsets happen weekly, and in a rivalry game, you never know what can happen.