Brian Kelly’s run of success against rival USC came to a screeching halt last year in the Coliseum, with Notre Dame getting run out of South Los Angeles in lopsided fashion. After watching Kelly even things up after Pete Carroll built an ocean between the two programs, Steve Sarkisian’s win over the Irish rebooted the rivalry.
Regardless of injuries, depth issues and quarterback problems, Notre Dame looked like the less talented squad in the Coliseum, with the Trojan offense doing what it wanted while the Irish pulled the plug on Everett Golson and moved to Malik Zaire for a spark in the second quarter. The change literally redirected the programs trajectory, essentially the beginning of the end for Golson in a Notre Dame uniform.
It’s the Trojans’ turn to travel in 2015, and a flock of USC faithful will post up in Chicago while the men of Troy head into Notre Dame Stadium with ambitious goals. A game that very well could have College Football Playoff implications has the chance to be a special one—especially if both teams handle their business beforehand.
To get us up to speed on the state of the Trojans’ USCFootball.com’s Ryan Abraham was nice enough to answer a few questions.
Hope you enjoy:
Last year was one of the most lopsided ND-USC games in a long time, bringing back memories to the Pete Carroll thumpings of Charlie Weis. What do you make of it? Just an injury-ravaged Notre Dame team? The ascent of USC and Sark? Brian Kelly has done well against the Trojans. Does last year reboot this rivalry for you?
Last year’s USC-ND game was interesting to say the least. I expected Notre Dame to play a lot better and I did not expect USC to play as well as it did. The Trojans got thumped the week before against UCLA, and I believe that if the Fighting Irish were playing USC one week earlier, the result would have been significantly different. USC came out flat and not ready to play against the Bruins, so that forced them to focus and play more loose and aggressive the following week against Notre Dame.
It was a key victory for USC and especially Steve Sarkisian. He had high expectations, even for his first year on the job, and losing to both arch rivals in one season doesn’t sit well with the USC fan base. I think that win by Sark does in a way reset the rivalry. Both schools should be poised to make runs at one of the four college football playoff spots over the next few years so this game could be somewhat of an elimination game, adding to the importance.
Both these teams have the on-paper makings of a playoff contender. What needs to go right for the Trojans to fulfill the lofty expectations they bring into 2015?
Talent wise, USC shouldn’t be at a disadvantage against anyone on its schedule. They bring in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, adding much needed depth, so that shouldn’t be much of an excuse going forward.
This team has the makings and the potential to make the college football playoffs, but I think the Trojans goals have to be something smaller, specifically winning the Pac-12 South. That division is deep and tough, so the first step to making the playoff is winning the South and then of course winning the conference title game.
The Pac-12 is strong enough that if USC wins the championship game they should be one of the four teams selected for the college football playoff. The key will be how much Sarkisian and his staff have grown from year one to year two and how they utilize the tremendous talent currently on the roster.
It’s not an offseason without the Trojans losing some elite talent to the NFL. But there are some really talented young kids on this roster. We caught glimpses of JuJu Smith (who ND felt really good about landing as a recruit) and Adoree Jackson. While Nelson Agholor and Leonard Williams are gone, who seem primed to emerge as the next future stars from Troy?
You mentioned two players, Juju Smith and Adoree Jackson, who are really poised to be the next great stars at USC. Both were five-star recruits who chose the Trojans on signing day. If you don’t think recruiting matters, think about how many more games USC would have lost last season if those two players didn’t put on USC hats on signing day.
Linebacker Su’a Cravens, heading into his junior (and likely final) year, should be a very high selection in the NFL Draft and very well could be the best and most important player on the roster right now.
QB Cody Kessler had a ridiculous season, and Notre Dame fans saw firsthand his accuracy and abilities in the Coliseum. It seems like he’s been under-appreciated, with headlines going to the lofty 5-star prospects, but Kessler holding down the job and working his way into some rarified air. How good is Kessler? And is it safe to group him in with some of the recent greats?
Cody Kessler’s numbers were certainly impressive with 39 touchdown passes against only five interceptions. The knock on him last season was that he accumulated the majority of his touchdowns against the weaker opposition.
But after setting records against Notre Dame at the end of the season, it will be interesting to see if he is able to have that kind of success against teams like Oregon, Arizona State and UCLA in 2015. He is a talented kid and a good leader, so we shall see if he can take a step forward during his third season as the starting quarterback.
Let’s talk about Sark. He lost four games last season, laying some eggs but having some nice victories as well. What are expectations entering his second season? Do you feel more or less confident that he’s the right guy to return USC to the land of the elite?
The expectations on Sark in his first year were extremely high. USC was able to win 10 games despite having three different head coaches in 2013. So only winning nine games and losing a couple of last second heartbreakers was a letdown for many Trojan fans.
In February Sark signed the top-ranked recruiting class, which is certainly a positive development in his tenure, but it also puts even more pressure on him to win and win now. The sanctions are over, the depth should be much better, the overall talent is there, so there are no reasons why this team shouldn’t at least win the division. Anything short of that will be a disappointment and I would expect if that happens, the boosters and alumni will start putting pressure on the administration to make a change. Is that fair? Probably not, but Sark had big shoes to fill taking over for the extremely popular Ed Orgeron so the pressure was on from day one.
We’re a long ways away. But what do you expect come October when these two teams face off?
I expect a much more competitive USC-Notre Dame game come October. I have no idea what the outcome will be, but I don’t expect one team to run away with it like last season. Both teams have the potential to be undefeated and highly ranked, so it could be one of the classic matchups in this long and storied rivalry.