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I'm sure all USC fans are as excited as I am that football is going to be played again on Saturday. Again all hail Bill Connelly and keep the glossary open when you have questions
USC Offense vs ND Defense
| USC Offense | ND Defense | |||||
| Category | Avg. | Rk | Avg. | Rk | ||
| Overall | Explosiveness | IsoPPP | 1.38 | 21 | 1.39 | 105 |
| Efficiency | Success Rate | 50.7% | 4 | 35.4% | 31 | |
| Field Position | Avg. FP | 27.9 | 104 | 26.8 | 24 | |
| Finishing Drives | Pts per trip in 40 | 6.03 | 4 | 3.97 | 30 | |
| Rushing | Rushing S&P+ | 141.7 | 3 | 104.6 | 55 | |
| Rushing Success Rate | 57.0% | 2 | 38.5% | 47 | ||
| Rushing IsoPPP | 1.08 | 53 | 1.27 | 116 | ||
| Passing | Passing S&P+ | 136.3 | 8 | 143.1 | 10 | |
| Passing Success Rate | 45.6% | 29 | 30.7% | 16 | ||
| Passing IsoPPP | 1.68 | 21 | 1.5 | 99 | ||
| Standard Downs | Standard Downs S&P+ | 151.2 | 1 | 105.6 | 47 | |
| Stadard Downs Success Rate | 59.6% | 2 | 44.7% | 56 | ||
| Standard Downs IsoPPP | 1.17 | 37 | 1.25 | 106 | ||
| Passing Downs | Passing Downs S&P+ | 122 | 34 | 176 | 4 | |
| Passing Downs Success Rate | 28.1% | 84 | 17.0% | 2 | ||
| Passing Downs IsoPPP | 2.53 | 3 | 2.11 |
115 |
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ND offense vs USC Defense
| ND Offense | USC Defense | |||||
| Category | Avg. | Rk | Avg. | Rk | ||
| Overall | Explosiveness | IsoPPP | 1.37 | 24 | 1.22 | 60 |
| Efficiency | Success Rate | 48.1% | 22 | 38.3% | 48 | |
| Field Position | Avg. FP | 30 | 65 | 26.9 | 26 | |
| Finishing Drives | Pts per trip in 40 | 5.16 | 41 | 3.11 | 8 | |
| Rushing | Rushing S&P+ | 139.3 | 4 | 106.1 | 53 | |
| Rushing Success Rate | 48.1% | 25 | 40.5% | 56 | ||
| Rushing IsoPPP | 1.25 | 13 | 1.05 | 65 | ||
| Passing | Passing S&P+ | 122.6 | 19 | 112.8 | 36 | |
| Passing Success Rate | 48% | 15 | 36% | 35 | ||
| Passing IsoPPP | 1.5 | 58 | 1.44 | 64 | ||
| Standard Downs | Standard Downs S&P+ | 120 | 23 | 116.4 | 28 | |
| Stadard Downs Success Rate | 51.2% | 34 | 42.6% | 45 | ||
| Standard Downs IsoPPP | 1.1 | 62 | 1.12 | 81 | ||
| Passing Downs | Passing Downs S&P+ | 141.8 | 9 | 94.8 | 83 | |
| Passing Downs Success Rate | 40.6% | 8 | 30.4% | 77 | ||
| Passing Downs IsoPPP | 2.2 | 13 | 1.49 | 19 | ||
The numbers favor the Trojans? I guess so as they're favored by 2.4 points. This game has the potential to be a shoot out as these teams are almost looking in the mirror when they see the opponent. For the Trojans to have any hope of winning they have to rely on their run game as that appears to be Notre Dames biggest weakness defensively. Hopefully new HC Clay Helton learns from his reluctance against Washington last week and feeds his stable of RBs the ball. Given how woefully my predictions turned out last week, I am reluctant to say USC wins this game given the turmoil of this past week. I'm going to go with Vegas, (sorry Bill) and say ND wins this game 38-30.