USC Football 2018: 5 reasons Trojans will upset Notre Dame
By Zach Bigalke
2. USC will win the turnover battle for a change against the Fighting Irish
Over the course of the 2018 season, USC has struggled to generate turnovers. They have also had issues with their own propensity for coughing up the football. As a result, the Trojans rank 120th in the entire country in turnover margin.
These general issues with maintaining possession on offense and generating takeaways on defense have been a cause for the downturn this year as much as any lost personnel from the past few seasons. Statistically this year, Notre Dame decidedly has the upper hand when it comes to giveaways and takeaways. But statistics only count for so much when the game actually begins on the gridiron.
On Saturday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, USC’s defense is going to come through with at least three timely turnovers to thwart Irish advances. The Trojans will put themselves in position to keep things close and challenge their higher-ranked opponent thanks to their best ball discipline of the season.