EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Saturday, November 24^th, the (11-0) Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be on the road to take on the (5-6) USC Trojans.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of Notre Dame 34.7 – USC 22.2 with an over/under of 56.9.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of Notre Dame 41 – USC 14.

Mark is predicting a final score of Notre Dame 37 – USC 13.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: Notre Dame 257.7 YPG (39^th) > USC 240.0 YPG (57^th)

Rushing offense: Notre Dame 196.8 YPG (45^th) > USC 137.1 YPG (102^nd)

Scoring offense: Notre Dame 34.6 PPG (27^th) > USC 26.9 PPG (83^rd)

Scoring defense: Notre Dame 17.3 PPG (15^th) > USC 27.3 PPG (69^th)

Passing defense: Notre Dame 184.3 YPG (21^st) > USC 211.5 YPG (50^th)

Rushing defense: Notre Dame 137.1 YPG (39^th) > USC 168.4 YPG (69^th)

Turnover Margin Per Game: Notre Dame +0.4 (37^th) > USC -0.7 (113^th)

Strength of Schedule:

Notre Dame is a perfect (11-0) with wins over #14 Michigan, Ball State, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, #7 Stanford, #24 Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Navy, Northwestern, Florida State, and #12 Syracuse.

USC is (5-6) with victories over UNLV, Washington State, Arizona, #19 Colorado, and Oregon State.  They were defeated by #10 Stanford, Texas, Utah, Arizona State, California, and UCLA.

Betting Trends: 

-Notre Dame is 6-4-1 against the spread this season while USC is 3-8.

-Notre Dame is 6-5 against the over/under this season whereas USC is also 6-5.

Bottom Line:

USC is reeling having lost four of their last five games.  J.T. Daniels has struggled to replace Sam Darnold at quarterback and turnovers have plagued the Trojans all season.  After dominating #12 Syracuse 36-3 last week, Notre Dame is clicking on all cylinders.  Ian Book looked healthy which is vital because Notre Dame is averaging 38.4 points per game with him as the starting quarterback.  USC has talent but they aren’t ready to compete with the juggernauts of college football this year.

Notre Dame wins 36-17

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