This Sat. is the huge game! IMO the best rivalry in college football but some may disagree. It def. is the biggest cross country rivalry! It really is something special and I am glad that I will be making my first trip to South Bend this Sat. 
I look forward to many Carroll vs Weis matchups to come! I think the USC/ND rivalry will get back to old form where the winner goes on to win National Championships.
I'll post my opinions on this game throughout the week until I leave for Chicago on Thur. All opinions are welcomed either for USC or for ND.
My first analysis on the game will be something everyone should take notice. Carroll DC vs Weis OC. Pete Carroll is prob. the best DC in college football. Weis is showing that he might be one of if not the best OC's in CFB. Here is what is interesting.
Weis a while back made some interesting comments and I think he was DEAD ON!
Weis said Carroll is a great DC and to beat him you need "patience." Weis said he installed patience into his team. Let the game come to them, not force anything. Unfortunately USC's young OC's have no patience but that is another story.
Carroll's defensive philosophy in a nutshell is STOP the run and DON'T give up big plays. Therefore, Carroll has to concede giving up the short pass.
Weis said often teams become impatient against USC and force things. (that is exactly what Carroll wants) Only coach who was and is patient with Pete Carroll D has been HC TEDFORD from CAL. Which team has given USC the most trouble? CAL!
Why does Carroll concede short pass? Because he thinks the more times a team runs a play on a drive, the higher % his defense can force a turnover OR for the opposing team to make a mistake! Remember, these are COLLEGE KIDS! Who has lead the country in forcing turnovers the last 3 years? USC!
Weis loves ball control offense with the short passing game. That is what Carroll likes to concede. It will be VERY interesting. Weis knows what he has to do to beat USC and it just so happens that is the offense he likes to run. This is how the Pats kept high powered COLTS offense and RAMS offense from beating them. Weis offense slows down opposing teams offense. Weis knows his D is not going to slow down USC O. He has to do it with his offense. Very smart man! This is Weis philosophy and it works. This is how you beat USC! But you have to be balanced on offense and ND is balanced with a very strong OL. It is almost impossible to beat USC if you are one dimensional.
Maybe for this reason alone, the UNDER might be a great bet. ND has to eat the clock offensively. They cannot get into a shootout with USC. USC has the D to stop/contain ND offense, ND does not have the D to stop USC O. Weis knows this. But the funny thing is USC wants the opposing O to march down the field instead of quick strikes. Kind of odd. So USC has no problem getting into a shootout, but if the opposing team tries too, they have to do so going against what USC D is trying to take away. Thats the reason USC gets TURNOVERS! If USC is giving up short pass but the team throws over the top, that increases the prob. of USC stopping the play OR forcing a turn over. Remember, Carroll takes away the run and deep pass, and concedes the short pass. Once a team gets inside the red zone, USC D tightens up and tries to take away EVERYTHING. That is why USC D is so tough in the red zone. College football coaches don't realize this when playing USC. Carroll always has a field day. Tedford is smart and I think Weis is too based on comments I read from him a while back.
You must play ball control offense but you cannot just run the ball. You must run/pass 50/50 playing ball control offense to beat USC. Tedford knows that and does it and has success against USC. He doesn't have success PTS wise against USC, but he keeps his team in STRIKING distance to beat USC. And that is why he is 1-1 the last 2 years against USC.
Remember, Carroll is prob. the best DC in CFB. USC has NFL caliber defensive schemes they can run anytime. Most of them the opposing offense has not seen on tape. Carroll is a master at using them at key times in a game. There is decent chance USC can hold ND to under 30pts but for ND to hold USC under 30pts they need to eat the clock! Weis knows this. Therefore, the under might be a strong play if Weis executes his gameplan. He has had 2 weeks to do so. The last time a team scored over 30pts against USC was 2 years ago against CAL in triple OT @CAL.
Oh yeah, one more thing I forgot to mention about Carroll's philosophy. He develops gameplans for his D to take away what the opposing O likes to do. Say for example they love to throw to their big time WR or throw to their big time TE etc. Carroll has schemes/plans to take that away and make the opposing O do something they don't like to do often. He sometimes inserts this from the start but often in 2h when the opposing team CAN"T make adjustments. You only can make your big adjustments at halftime. That is one of the big reasons why USC dominates 2h's along with always being the better conditioned team! Opposing team "often" won't adjust and force their gameplan. That is mostly because this is COLLEGE FOOTBALL and not NFL football. But Carroll has USC run like an NFL team. The way they practice and prepare. That is exactly what Carroll does at halftime.
I look forward to many Carroll vs Weis matchups to come! I think the USC/ND rivalry will get back to old form where the winner goes on to win National Championships. I'll post my opinions on this game throughout the week until I leave for Chicago on Thur. All opinions are welcomed either for USC or for ND.
My first analysis on the game will be something everyone should take notice. Carroll DC vs Weis OC. Pete Carroll is prob. the best DC in college football. Weis is showing that he might be one of if not the best OC's in CFB. Here is what is interesting.
Weis a while back made some interesting comments and I think he was DEAD ON!
Weis said Carroll is a great DC and to beat him you need "patience." Weis said he installed patience into his team. Let the game come to them, not force anything. Unfortunately USC's young OC's have no patience but that is another story.
Carroll's defensive philosophy in a nutshell is STOP the run and DON'T give up big plays. Therefore, Carroll has to concede giving up the short pass.
Weis said often teams become impatient against USC and force things. (that is exactly what Carroll wants) Only coach who was and is patient with Pete Carroll D has been HC TEDFORD from CAL. Which team has given USC the most trouble? CAL!
Why does Carroll concede short pass? Because he thinks the more times a team runs a play on a drive, the higher % his defense can force a turnover OR for the opposing team to make a mistake! Remember, these are COLLEGE KIDS! Who has lead the country in forcing turnovers the last 3 years? USC!
Weis loves ball control offense with the short passing game. That is what Carroll likes to concede. It will be VERY interesting. Weis knows what he has to do to beat USC and it just so happens that is the offense he likes to run. This is how the Pats kept high powered COLTS offense and RAMS offense from beating them. Weis offense slows down opposing teams offense. Weis knows his D is not going to slow down USC O. He has to do it with his offense. Very smart man! This is Weis philosophy and it works. This is how you beat USC! But you have to be balanced on offense and ND is balanced with a very strong OL. It is almost impossible to beat USC if you are one dimensional.
Maybe for this reason alone, the UNDER might be a great bet. ND has to eat the clock offensively. They cannot get into a shootout with USC. USC has the D to stop/contain ND offense, ND does not have the D to stop USC O. Weis knows this. But the funny thing is USC wants the opposing O to march down the field instead of quick strikes. Kind of odd.
So USC has no problem getting into a shootout, but if the opposing team tries too, they have to do so going against what USC D is trying to take away. Thats the reason USC gets TURNOVERS! If USC is giving up short pass but the team throws over the top, that increases the prob. of USC stopping the play OR forcing a turn over. Remember, Carroll takes away the run and deep pass, and concedes the short pass. Once a team gets inside the red zone, USC D tightens up and tries to take away EVERYTHING. That is why USC D is so tough in the red zone. College football coaches don't realize this when playing USC. Carroll always has a field day. Tedford is smart and I think Weis is too based on comments I read from him a while back. You must play ball control offense but you cannot just run the ball. You must run/pass 50/50 playing ball control offense to beat USC. Tedford knows that and does it and has success against USC. He doesn't have success PTS wise against USC, but he keeps his team in STRIKING distance to beat USC. And that is why he is 1-1 the last 2 years against USC.
Remember, Carroll is prob. the best DC in CFB. USC has NFL caliber defensive schemes they can run anytime. Most of them the opposing offense has not seen on tape. Carroll is a master at using them at key times in a game. There is decent chance USC can hold ND to under 30pts but for ND to hold USC under 30pts they need to eat the clock! Weis knows this. Therefore, the under might be a strong play if Weis executes his gameplan. He has had 2 weeks to do so. The last time a team scored over 30pts against USC was 2 years ago against CAL in triple OT @CAL.
Oh yeah, one more thing I forgot to mention about Carroll's philosophy. He develops gameplans for his D to take away what the opposing O likes to do. Say for example they love to throw to their big time WR or throw to their big time TE etc. Carroll has schemes/plans to take that away and make the opposing O do something they don't like to do often. He sometimes inserts this from the start but often in 2h when the opposing team CAN"T make adjustments. You only can make your big adjustments at halftime. That is one of the big reasons why USC dominates 2h's along with always being the better conditioned team! Opposing team "often" won't adjust and force their gameplan. That is mostly because this is COLLEGE FOOTBALL and not NFL football. But Carroll has USC run like an NFL team. The way they practice and prepare. That is exactly what Carroll does at halftime.
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